TEMPE, Ariz. — The rotation for the Colorado men’s basketball team still isn’t fully healthy.
The Buffaloes, however, got a little bit closer on Saturday with the very welcome return of senior forward Tristan da Silva.
Unfortunately for CU, da Silva’s presence wasn’t enough for the Buffs to salvage a split of the two-game swing through Arizona, as Arizona State took advantage of a mistake-prone CU club to hand the Buffs a 76-73 defeat in a Pac-12 Conference battle on Saturday night at Desert Financial Arena.
After a slow start offensively for both teams, they both warmed up as the first half progressed. ASU and CU both finished the first half at 53%, but CU’s 10 first-half turnovers led to a 20-7 edge for the Sun Devils in the opening frame as the hosts took a 44-38 lead into the break.
ASU converted the first bucket of the second half to push its lead to eight, but the Buffs chipped away and got within one point on a J’Vonne Hadley 3-pointer. ASU answered with seven consecutive points but CU reeled off a 13-3 run, capped by a da Silva 3-pointer, to tie the game at 66-66.
The game also was tied at 68-68 and at 70-70, but ASU scored the next five points. A KJ Simpson 3-pointer with 8.3 seconds left got CU within 75-73, and the Buffs still had a chance when ASU’s Frankie Collins made just one free throw with 7 seconds left. ASU then fouled Simpson in the backcourt, but after he missed his free throw attempt the rebound was batted around long enough for the clock to expire.
Simpson paced the Buffs with 23 points, while Hadley finished with a CU career-high 19 points. Da Silva, who had missed the previous three games with a sprained ankle, finished with 17 points in his return.
The Buffs (11-4, 2-2 Pac-12) still played without freshman Cody Williams, who missed his seventh consecutive game due to a left wrist injury, and CU played without junior guard Julian Hammond III as well. Hammond aggravated a back injury late in the first half of Thursday night’s loss at Arizona and did not return.
COLORADO (11-4, 2-2 Pac-12)
da Silva 6-14 3-4 17, Lampkin 2-4 4-6 8, Hadley 6-7 6-6 19, O’Brien 1-3 0-2 3, Simpson 8-17 4-5 23, Ruffin 0-2 2-2 2, Diop 0-1 1-2 1, Dak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 20-27 73.
ARIZONA ST. (10-5, 4-0)
Gaffney 1-4 0-0 3, Collins 3-11 5-8 12, Miller 5-13 5-7 18, Perez 3-9 2-4 9, Neal 7-13 4-5 19, Selebangue 3-4 1-1 7, Lands 2-2 0-0 5, Phillips 1-1 1-2 3, Green 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 18-27 76.
Halftime — Arizona St. 44-38. 3-Point Goals — Colorado 7-20 (Simpson 3-6, da Silva 2-8, Hadley 1-1, O’Brien 1-3, Ruffin 0-2), Arizona St. 8-22 (Miller 3-8, Lands 1-1, Gaffney 1-3, Neal 1-3, Perez 1-3, Collins 1-4). Fouled Out — O’Brien. Rebounds — Colorado 35 (Lampkin 6), Arizona St. 30 (Neal 7). Assists — Colorado 11 (Simpson 4), Arizona St. 13 (Collins, Perez 4). Total Fouls — Colorado 18, Arizona St. 20.
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