LAS VEGAS — Colorado’s upset bid came up short Thursday as the Buffaloes dropped an 80-69 decision to second-ranked UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Arena.
Tad Boyle‘s ninth-seeded Buffs fell to 17-16 and will wait to see if an NIT invitation is extended. The top-seeded Bruins improved to 28-4 and will play in Friday night’s semifinals.
In a game that featured 17 lead changes and six ties, this one wasn’t settled until the final minutes. Colorado had the lead for 15 minutes of the game and held a 61-60 edge with five minutes to play. But the Buffs came up empty on some key possessions down the stretch and the Bruins hit their free throws in the final minute to clinch the win.
Tristan da Silva led four Buffs in double figures with 17 points. Julian Hammond III added 14, Jalen Gabbidon scored 12 and Ethan Wright chipped in 10 as the Buffs hit 10 3-pointers.
Amari Bailey scored 26 for UCLA.
Colorado shot 51 percent (26-for-51), including 10-for-23 from long range. The Bruins shot 25-for-55 and were just 6-for-19 from 3-point range. But UCLA also hit 24 of 31 free throw tries — nine in the final 1:40 — while CU was 7-for-11 from the line. Colorado also committed 15 turnovers that led to 24 UCLA points.
“I was really proud of our guys’ fight and the way they scrapped,” Boyle said. “I believe in this team a lot and I was really pleased with our effort. I’m never pleased with this result, but it was a frustrating game on a lot of fronts. But our guys fought and that’s all you can ask as a coach.”
Boyle was obviously frustrated with the officiating at several junctures of the game and was hit with two technical fouls and ejected in the final minute.
“We didn’t lose this game because of officiating,” Boyle stressed. “We lost this game. Amari Bailey was terrific. UCLA’s a good basketball team. They’re well coached. They’re tough. To me, the difference in the game was our inability to get to the free throw line. Our inability to get to the free-throw line was the difference in the game, and our turnovers. Take away the four points they got on me, it was a seven-point game.”
HOW IT HAPPENED: The first half featured 10 lead changes and three ties, with Colorado taking a 38-37 lead into the break.
The Buffs led early, getting two quick 3-pointers from Hammond and da Silva — the first…
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