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Rout of Oregon State completes home sweep for CU Buffs men's basketball

pat rooney, daily times-call, longmont, colo.
·5 min read

Jan. 20—Fast break

Why the Buffs won: CU played strong defense, holding Oregon State to a 3-for-17 mark on 3-pointers, while posting a .525 field goal percentage.

Three stars:

1. Tristan da Silva: Finished with a full stat line with a game-high 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

2. Cody Williams. Went 6-for-10 from the floor with 16 points, six rebounds, two steals and no turnovers.

3. Eddie Lampkin Jr.: Nearly posted a double-double, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Up next: CU plays its next three games on the road, beginning Wednesday at Washington (9 p.m. MT, ESPNU).

The Colorado men's basketball team returned to the CU Events Center last week reeling from an awful road trip and in need of a reboot in its quest to play a factor in the Pac-12 Conference race.

The Buffaloes put the final touches on achieving that feat on Saturday.

CU completed a three-game home sweep by dominating Oregon State, posting a 90-57 victory at the Events Center. The Buffs improved to 12-0 at home and joined CU's 1968-69 Big Eight championship squad as the only teams in program history to win their first 12 home games.

After playing consecutive games with the top seven rotation players all healthy for the first time in more than a month, CU once again played shorthanded on Saturday as starting forward J'Vonne Hadley was sidelined due to a knee injury.

"Another really good win. Workman-like effort," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "I thought our guys were pretty dialed-in on the defensive end, which is what we have been challenging about over the last week, week and a half of practice or so. Guarding the 3-point line is something we've talked about that we haven't done a great job of at times, but tonight we were terrific. Had some really good defensive efforts."

The Buffs scored the game's first five points and never trailed, using a 14-0 run in the first half to take control and build a 22-point lead late in the first half.

CU led 45-23 at halftime and reeled off a 14-1 run early in the second half, pushing the lead to 33 points.

CU shot at least 50% for the 11th time this season, finishing at .525, while holding Oregon State to a .333 mark and a 3-for-17 showing on 3-pointers. CU matched a season-low with only eight turnovers. After being the most turnover-prone team in the Pac-12 for the bulk of the season, the Buffs have recorded a season-low turnover total in three of the past four games.

"I think our guys, they're making more simple plays," Boyle said. "It's getting rid of the silly ones. It's just making simple plays and taking what the defense gives you. We're making progress in that area, too."

Six players scored in double figures for the Buffs, led by a 19-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance from senior forward Tristan da Silva. Freshman Cody Williams went 6-for-10 with 16 points and a season-high-tying six rebounds, while center Eddie Lampkin finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. CU point guard KJ Simpson recorded 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

While the Buffs have cruised at home, and regained some much-needed momentum with three wins at the Events Center in a week, CU will look to finally get over the hump away from home when it takes an 0-4 mark in true road games into Wednesday's date at Washington to begin a run of three consecutive road games.

"Every game matters. We can't be lackadaisical with certain opponents," da Silva said. "We got to make sure we dig in every single time that we step on the floor, whether that's from one half to another or that's one game to another. We're about to go on the road, so I feel like this little momentum that we've got going right now is going to be good for us on the road, too. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing."

OREGON ST. (9-9, 1-6 Pac-12)

Bilodeau 8-12 2-2 18, Ndong 1-1 0-0 2, Akanno 0-6 0-0 0, Pope 3-11 3-4 10, Rochelin 0-3 1-2 1, Lake 2-4 6-6 10, Rataj 4-12 1-3 11, Craig 0-2 0-0 0, Marrs 1-3 1-1 3, Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Ibekwe 1-4 0-0 2, Stevens 0-1 0-0 0, Marial 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 14-18 57.

COLORADO (14-5, 5-3)

Williams 6-10 2-3 16, da Silva 6-10 6-7 19, Lampkin 7-13 3-4 17, O'Brien 4-6 1-2 10, Simpson 4-8 4-4 13, Hammond 1-6 0-0 2, Diop 3-4 4-4 10, Ruffin 1-2 0-0 3, Dak 0-1 0-0 0, Hurlburt 0-0 0-0 0, Pease 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-61 20-24 90.Halftime — Colorado 45-23. 3-point field goals — Oregon St. 3-17 (Rataj 2-5, Pope 1-3, Craig 0-1, Rochelin 0-1, Bilodeau 0-2, Lake 0-2, Akanno 0-3), Colorado 6-15 (Williams 2-3, O'Brien 1-1, Ruffin 1-2, Simpson 1-2, da Silva 1-3, Dak 0-1, Pease 0-1, Hammond 0-2). Rebounds — Oregon St. 31 (Rataj 6), Colorado 41 (Lampkin 8). Assists — Oregon St. 10 (Lake, Rataj, Craig 2), Colorado 19 (Hammond 5). Turnovers — Oregon State 10 (Akanno, Rataj, Ibekwe 2); Colorado 8 (Lampkin, Hammond 2). Total fouls — Oregon St. 22, Colorado 17. Fouled Out — Rochelin. Technicals — Ndong, Lampkin, Simpson. Attendance — 7,944.