KANSAS CITY, Mis. – The Colorado Buffaloes (13-19, 3-17 Big 12) defeated the TCU Horned Frogs (16-16, 9-11) in the first round of the Big 12 Championship tournament by a score of 69-67 on Tuesday. This marks the Buffaloes’ second win against the Horned Frogs in four days as they keep their underdog hopes alive in the conference tournament championship race.
The Buffaloes continued their momentum from Saturday’s win over the Horned Frogs early in the game with guard Javon Ruffin nailing a 3-pointer to open the game’s scoring.
The Buffs held an 8-2 lead through the first eight minutes of play until a 3-pointer from TCU forward Jace Posey cooled them down. Offensive rebounding became a glaring issue from this point forward for Colorado as it only registered two in the first half and finished the game with 10.
“It’s hard playing a team three times in a short period of time,” Jakimovski said postgame. “They got 22 offensive rebounds, which is unacceptable. We’ve got to do a way better job there.”
The Horned Frogs struggled mightily on offense, however, with their shooting percentage dropping as low as 17.2% with 3:42 remaining in the first half.
The Frogs found their rhythm after the three-minute mark though, as they strung together a 10-0 run which allowed them to take the lead with a minute to play in the first half. The Buffaloes responded with a go-ahead bucket but a layup from TCU forward Trazarien White gave the Horned Frogs a 27-26 lead at halftime.
The Buffs appeared to have made the necessary adjustments in the locker room as they came out of the gates hot to start the second half. Forward Andrej Jakimovski was shooting the lights out from three, as he quickly regained the lead for his team with a 3-pointer and tacked on two more to help extend the Buffaloes' lead to 13 with 13:17 remaining in the game.
TCU continued to struggle offensively through the first 15 minutes of the second half, namely from beyond the arc. With five minutes remaining in the game, it shot 4-of-18 from 3-point range (22.2%). This was a credit to Colorado’s physical defense which prevented high-percentage shots down the stretch. The Buffs found themselves on the opposite end of the scoring spectrum, however, as they held an eight-point lead with 3:53 remaining in the game despite attempting 13 less shots than the Horned Frogs. But, TCU brought the game close again via a 10-0 run, spearheaded by senior guard Noah Reynolds.
Colorado’s Achilles’ heel this season has been its ability to close out close games. That ability was tested in the final minutes of the game with TCU cutting the lead to just two points with one minute to play. Ruffin was sent to the free throw line with 5.8 seconds remaining and with the game and his CU career on the line, he nailed both free throws to put the game out of reach.
“It says something about our guys,” said Colorado head coach Tad Boyle. “This team has come a long way, we've been through a lot together and they've stuck together, and to see them with the fight today, even though we didn't play our best.”
The Buffaloes will play the No. 8 seeded West Virginia Mountaineers (19-12, 10-10) in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday at 1 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
Cover photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports
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