Quick break
Why the Buffs misplaced: CU allowed Cal to go 14-for-30 on 3-pointers, with the Bears making 9 throughout a second-half rally.
Three stars
Cal’s Jaylon Tyson: Went 8-for-8 within the second half with 23 of his career-high 30 factors. Tyson additionally was 7-for-7 on free throws.
CU’s Eddie Lampkin Jr.: Posted his fifth double-double of the season with a career-high 22 factors alongside a game-high 11 rebounds.
CU’s Tristan da Silva: Matched a career-high with 4 3-pointers, ending with 20 factors and 6 rebounds.
Up subsequent: The Buffs will attempt to snap a three-game shedding streak at residence on Saturday in opposition to USC (8 p.m., ESPN2).
BERKELEY, Calif. — The Colorado males’s basketball group has turned in some forgettable performances at Haas Pavilion since becoming a member of the Pac-12 Convention.
This one ranks up there with any of them.
The Buffaloes welcomed freshman Cody Williams again to the beginning lineup nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient to forestall one other meltdown in Berkeley, as CU squandered a 20-point lead earlier than saying farewell to Haas with an 82-78 defeat.
The Buffs additionally fell to 3-16 all-time at Cal with a 2-9 mark at Haas since becoming a member of the Pac-12.
Cal hit 9 3-pointers within the second half and completed 14-for-30 from the arc total whereas handing CU its fourth loss in as many true street video games this season.
“We wasn’t actually speaking, after which it was simply making errors,” mentioned CU middle Eddie Lampkin Jr. “Each group does it. We’ve simply received to go have a look at the movie, work at it, and get higher at our 3-point protection.”
Though guard Julian Hammond III missed his second consecutive sport as a result of a again harm, Williams returned after lacking the earlier seven video games as a result of a left wrist harm, returning to the beginning lineup one sport after senior ahead Tristan da Silva returned from a three-game absence as a result of a sprained ankle.
For the primary 20 minutes, the reunion of CU’s common beginning lineup appeared impressed. Working largely by means of Lampkin, the Buffs shot .577 within the first half whereas holding the Bears to a .235 mark. On the break, Lampkin was 6-for-6 with 15 factors and three assists, and the Buffs held a 40-26 lead.
Nevertheless, the seeds of Cal’s comeback had been planted late within the first half, because the Bears put a dent in CU’s 20-point lead with back-to-back 3-pointers to finish the body. CU nonetheless led by 19 factors, 50-31, after consecutive 3-pointers from KJ Simpson and da Silva early within the second half, however the Buffs collapsed from there.
The Bears outscored CU 51-28 over the ultimate 17 minutes. Whereas Cal’s 3-point taking pictures highlighted the rally, the foundation reason for the Buffs’ defensive struggles was much less about guarding the arc than an incapability to protect the ball. Highlighted by Jaylon Tyson, who went 8-for-8 within the second half and completed with a career-high 30 factors, Cal’s ball-handlers routinely beat CU defenders off the dribble, and when assist defenders collapsed on the ball, the Bears knocked down open seems from lengthy vary.
Cal took its first lead with 5 minutes, 38 seconds remaining when Tyson merely drove to the ring for a straightforward dunk. He did it once more with 48 seconds left, after calmly dribbling down the shot clock, to offer the Bears a four-point lead.
“We over-helped loads,” CU head coach Tad Boyle mentioned. “We didn’t guard the ball nicely sufficient, so we received in rotations. These are the 2 issues that I’d say harm us. I believe our defensive struggles are attributable to 2 issues — our incapability to protect the ball, and ball-screen protection. Neither one among them had been adequate tonight, the second half particularly.”
Even after losing the lead, the Buffs nonetheless had their probabilities. Following Tyson’s late drive-and-dunk, da Silva knocked down a 3-pointer that received CU again inside some extent. Tyson hit a pair of free throws and Williams answered with a floater to maintain the deficit at one, and the Buffs nonetheless had a shot when Cal’s Jalen Cone made simply one among two free throws.
Da Silva completed 4-for-7 on 3-pointers, however he missed an open look on a possible go-ahead three within the waning seconds. Cone then hit a pair of free throws to finish the Cal comeback.
Cal’s 14 3-pointers had been probably the most allowed by CU since Northern Iowa hit 14 whereas successful in Boulder on Dec. 10, 2019.
“Our ball-screen protection wasn’t adequate. Our potential to protect the ball wasn’t adequate,” Boyle mentioned. “And also you surrender (14) threes and 9 within the second half. You place a lot stress in your offense, and our offense was adequate tonight. We performed nicely sufficient to win.
“Everybody seems at ultimate scores. And I get that. Profitable, it means loads. It means all the things. Nevertheless, we’re two possessions from being 4-1 on this league. However we’re not. We’re 2-3 as a result of we couldn’t get a cease at Arizona State once we wanted to, and we couldn’t get a cease tonight once we wanted to. And we nonetheless had an opportunity to win it. However defensively, we’re simply not adequate for 40 minutes.”
COLORADO (11-5, 2-3)
Williams 5-13 6-7 16, da Silva 8-14 0-1 20, Lampkin 7-11 8-9 22, Hadley 3-6 0-2 6, Simpson 5-13 0-0 12, O’Brien 1-2 0-0 2, Diop 0-0 0-0 0, Ruffin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 14-19 78.
CALIFORNIA (6-10, 2-3)
Aimaq 3-8 0-0 6, Kennedy 2-8 0-2 5, Cone 4-17 5-6 17, Tyson 10-15 7-7 30, Celestine 2-7 2-2 8, Brown 2-4 1-2 7, Newell 3-5 0-0 8, Curtis 0-1 0-0 0, Larson 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 26-65 16-21 82.
Halftime — Colorado 40-26. 3-point area objectives — Colorado 6-15 (Williams 0-3, da Silva 4-7, Simpson 2-4, O’Brien 0-1); Cal 14-30 (Kennedy 1-2, Cone 4-12, Tyson 3-5, Celestine 2-5, Brown 2-3, Newell 2-3). Rebounds — Colorado 39 (Lampkin 11); Cal 35 (Aimaq 10). Assists — Colorado 12 (Lampkin, Simpson 3). Turnovers — Colorado 10 (Williams 5); Cal 5 (Tyson, Newell 2). Whole fouls — Colorado 16; Cal 17. Fouled out — Aimaq. A — 2,258.
