Over the last few weeks, Colorado has been patiently waiting for reinforcements.
One of those reinforcements came on Saturday night in the form of Tristan da Silva, who returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with an ankle injury. However, the star forward’s return wasn’t enough to get the Buffs over the hump on the road, as they fell to Arizona State, 76-73.
“We lost that game in the first half,” coach Tad Boyle said. “Our guys battled their tails off in the second half. But they had 20 points off our 10 turnovers in the first half. That's the ballgame.”
The Buffs (11-4, 2-2 Pac-12) came into this one looking to bounce back after a disaster in Tucson on Thursday night, where they were blown out by No. 10 Arizona by 47 points, and they came out of the gates with a lot of energy. A pair of buckets by da Silva spurred an 8-0 run that gave the Buffs an 18-10 lead midway through the opening half, which would end up being their biggest of the night.
The Sun Devils responded to that initial punch with a flurry of blows, jumping all over the still-shorthanded Buffs throughout the remainder of the first half. Colorado’s offense stalled out, still clearly missing the ball handling capabilities of freshman Cody Williams (wrist) and Julian Hammond III (back), who were both unavailable. Williams missed his seventh consecutive game, while Hammond didn’t suit up on Saturday after aggravating his back injury on a hard fall against Arizona.
“We're shorthanded, but that's not an excuse,” Boyle said. “It just means our margin for error is very, very thin.”
Without their usual complement of ball handlers, the Buffs couldn’t get out of their own way in the first half. They turned the ball over 10 times before intermission, leading to 20 Sun Devil points, allowing Bubby Hurley’s club to regain control. Arizona State guard Adam Miller caught fire, scoring 11 points in the final 5 minutes of the half to give his team a 44-38 lead going into the break.
“If we guard the 3-point line in the first half like we guarded it in the second half, we win the game,” Boyle said. “If we take care of the ball in the first half like we took care of the ball in the second half -- we had three turnovers in the second half -- we win the game.”
The second half started with more of the same. The Buffs struggled offensively and Arizona State (10-5, 4-0) took advantage, but this time it was Jamiya Neal doing the damage on the offensive end. Neal scored seven of his 19 points to spark a 14-5 run, giving the Sun Devils their biggest lead of the night at 63-53 with 9 minutes to play.
The Buffs, trying to avoid an 0-2 road trip, fought back admirably. They responded with a run of their own, as star point guard KJ Simpson came alive to bring Colorado all the way back and tie the game at 68. But in the end, it was Miller who gave ASU the lead with two free throws, and a huge block by Alonzo Gaffney on Simpson’s tying layup attempt that salted the victory away for the Sun Devils.
Simpson was a little less efficient than he has been during his blistering start to the season, but still led all scorers with 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting. J’Vonne Hadley had an excellent game for the Buffs once again, scoring 19 points on just seven shots, and da Silva added 17 points in his return. The rest of the Buffs struggled, making just three field goals.
“I was not planning on playing him for 36 minutes,” Boyle said of da Silva’s return. “That was not the plan. I kept asking him how he is and he wanted to play. Obviously, he showed great toughness tonight, without a doubt.”
Neal was excellent for the Sun Devils, finishing with a team-high 19 points and adding seven rebounds and four steals. Miller wasn’t far behind, finishing with 18 and splashing three 3-pointers. The win improves Arizona State to 4-0 in Pac-12 play, leaving it as one of just two unbeatens in league play, along with Oregon.
The Buffs will stay on the road for their third and final game of this road trip as they head to Berkeley to take on Cal on Wednesday night. Tip-off will be at 9 p.m. MST on ESPNU.
