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Writer's pictureOliver Hayes

Colorado runs No. 15 Miami off the floor in huge second half

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – With question marks surrounding whether or not the Colorado Buffaloes could play on the road, the Buffs stormed into the Barclays Center and knocked off the No. 15 Miami Hurricanes by a score of 90-63 on Sunday afternoon.


With freshman Cody Williams out with a wrist injury while redshirt freshman RJ Smith remains out indefinitely, head coach Tad Boyle played a consistent six-man core of KJ Simpson, Julian Hammond III, J’Vonne Hadley, Tristan da Silva, Eddie Lampkin Jr., and Luke O’Brien. Despite the thin bench, the six experienced Buffs (four seniors and two juniors) won in dominating fashion as each of them scored in double digits.


The injured Williams scored 21 points in both of Colorado’s last two contests but the former five-star’s absence didn’t matter as the Buffs went on to win by 27 points.


After winning the opening tip, da Silva found his starting point guard to kick off the scoring with Simpson getting to the rim on the game’s opening possession for the forward’s first of his career-high nine assists on the game. On the opposing side, Miami’s Matthew Cleveland responded with a layup of his own.

Tristan da Silva lines up a three from the corner against No. 15 Miami. The senior forward scored 22 points in a near triple-double on Sunday afternoon. (Picture by @CUBuffsMBB/X)

Cleveland, who transferred from Florida State this past summer, scored 13 points in the first half on 4-of-5 shooting (2-of-2 3PT, 3-of-3 FT). He finished with a team-high 17 points.


After going up 8-4 just three minutes into the game thanks to Lampkin’s first points of his 11-point first half, the Buffs had four of their five starters on the board. A Lampkin layup later, Hammond, CU’s only starter who was yet to score, netted his first basket of the game to go up 12-6.


Miami fought back, however, and stayed within reaching distance for the rest of the half. Despite giving up multiple runs, their ability to force Colorado turnovers while hitting shots from deep came up huge. The Canes forced nine first half turnovers and hit four of their six attempts from three.


Even when the game started to slip, momentum-gaining plays kept the Canes in the game. Amidst a Colorado run with just over seven minutes left in the half, Miami’s Norchad Omier caught a two-handed alley-oop and slammed it home before Nijel Pack swatted a Simpson shot off the backboard.


As the Buffs could only extend the lead to eight, Miami led a 10-3 run with just under two minutes left. Cleveland hit a three and scored an and-one before the half to make it a 37-36 Colorado lead.


Coming out of the break, another Colorado turnover led to a tough step-back three over Lampkin by Miami’s starting point guard. As Pack ran back on defense after giving the Hurricanes their first lead of the game, Lampkin gave his foot-shorter opponent his props. Pack finished with seven points.


From that point on, the black and gold would outscore the Canes 53-24 to end the game, fueled by Miami turnovers and scorching hot shooting. In the second half, the Buffs forced the Hurricanes to turn the ball over 14 times while CU shot 70% from the field (21-of-30).


With only four first half points and having started the second half 0-of-2 with a turnover, da Silva scored a hook shot with 17:17 left in the game. Having gained some confidence, Colorado’s star senior went on to assist his senior counterpart in Hadley to allow the Buffs to retake the lead for the final time in the contest. The dime marked the forward’s sixth assist as well as a career-high as he also went on to score 16 more points across the rest of the game.


With 10:45 left, da Silva nailed his first three on the road of his senior season to put the Buffs up 59-48.


As the forward shined, so did Hammond, who was enjoying his first start of his junior year, as well as O’Brien. Hammond and O’Brien combined for 24 points as the senior of the duo hit three threes in the second half.


The Buffs cruised to the 27-point win in the home of the Brooklyn Nets as da Silva and Simpson added exclamation-point dunks before getting checked out. As da Silva walked to the bench, he was one assist shy of a triple-double as he finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Simpson ended the day with 20 points, three rebounds, and five assists.


In the resounding win, Boyle and the Buffs saw themselves find their own as their defense finally accompanied their smooth offense while their star in da Silva refound the game that’s projected him on NBA draft boards. Colorado also shut down Miami’s leading scorer on the year, Wooga Poplar, who was averaging 16.5 points per game before only scoring 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting against CU. Omier, who was averaging 16.1 points per game and almost 10 rebounds, only finished with 12 points and five boards.


Following the victory, the black and gold return to the CU Events Center to face the (4-4) Northern Colorado Bears on Friday, Dec. 15, at 6 p.m. MST.


Cover photo by @CUBuffsMBB/X

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