Colorado coach Tad Boyle has touched many lives on his journey to 262 wins, and after the CU victory song subsided this evening, many of those faces flashed across the big screen congratulating him for achieving the most wins in program history and thanking him for his impact.
After beating Southern Utah, 86-78, former Buffs such as Derrick White, McKinley Wright, forward Evan Battey and many more along with coaching pals like Mark Turgeon shared their thoughts on Boyle’s achievement.
Once the video concluded, Boyle addressed the crowd and said, “We’ve built something special.”
"I had no idea what was in store after the game so it's probably better off that way because I was really nervous before the game," Boyle said in his postgame press conference. "We were without Lawson Lovering, without Luke O'Brien. Jalen Gabbidon was up till 5 in the morning puking his guts out last night. He sucked it up and got an IV and gave us good minutes. So we did this shorthanded tonight. Again, that's just a testament to our players and our program."
Without the size of Lovering and the contributions of O'Brien, the Buffs had to get creative in their defensive approach to take on Southern Utah's scrappy, high-scoring offense, which was averaging 91 points per game.
In the majority of the first half, both teams were burdened by the opponent's defense. The Thunderbirds shot 34.3 percent while the Buffs were hitting a more respectable 43.3 percent, but the Buffs did most of their work in the paint while shooting just 1 of 8 from 3 in the half.
However, Tristan da Silva kept the Buffs going. He was coming off two consecutive career-high games, and on Wednesday, he delivered another feat with his first career double-double. He’s the first Buff to score 20-plus in three-straight games since the aforementioned White in his final three games (two Pac-12 Tourney, one NIT) of the 2016-17 season. With his recent surge, da Silva is now averaging 18.4 points over the last seven games.
“I think when he rebounds the ball well for us, we’re really good because J’Vonne Hadley, he’s going to rebound, Nique Clifford’s a good rebounder,” Boyle said. “Lawson [Lovering] and Luke [O’Brien], we’ve got to get those guys back to help us rebound, but even shorthanded tonight we still out-rebounded Southern Utah, which is a testament to our toughness. Tristan is coming. You can just feel it, you can see it, you can sense it and we need it because he’s important as we head into Pac-12 play.”
Both da Silva and KJ Simpson maintained their pace going into the second half. Where Simpson contributed this most was on the free throw line, hitting 11 of 13 attempts. The aggressiveness that the Thunderbirds brought was a bit too much as they fouled 22 times.
Harrison Butler, Cameron Healy and Tevian Jones kept the Thunderbirds within single digits to the Buffs in the second half, but foul trouble loomed for Butler and Jones, in addition to Drake Allen fouling out and Jason Spurgin reaching four. Southern Utah coach Todd Simon reached to his bench, but the bench couldn’t reach the basket.
A few shoves were exchanged between Simpson and Thunderbirds, bringing Simpson to the line on three occasions in the final minute. With 5 seconds remaining Simpson hit the last free throw of the game.
Boyle and the team walked away with not only custom Tad Boyle T-shirts but a win for the history books.
“The reason that we coach, the reason we come to work every day is about the student-athlete and building those relationships that are lifelong and not just four years,” Boyle said.
