The Buffs finish the season with a record of 14-21.
At long last, Colorado’s season has officially come to an end.
After having their 20-loss season revived by an invitation to the College Basketball Crown, a third-tier postseason tournament backed by the brass at Fox, the Buffs are finally done hooping for the year after suffering an 85-64 first-round loss to the Villanova Wildcats.
Both the Buffs and Wildcats entered this game in precarious situations. Villanova is in between coaches after firing Kyle Neptune and poaching Kevin Willard from Maryland, while Buffs head coach Tad Boyle made it very clear that this tournament is being used as a test run for next year for Colorado.
Unfortunately for Boyle and the Buffs, that test run didn’t quite go as planned. Colorado’s youngsters had no answer for an average Big East squad like Villanova.
To start, things didn’t look so bad for Colorado. The Buffs crushed the offensive boards to open the game, snagging four offensive rebounds in a little over four minutes. Elijah Malone started hot, hitting all of his first three shots and scoring 6 of CU’s 14 points, but that’s where the good news ends.
Villanova would hit back-to-back-to-back threes to fuel an 11-1 run early, which started to shut the door on Colorado’s chances of winning. Nova’s Wooga Poplar and Eric Dixon would fully slam that door shut shortly after.
The Wildcats would rip off another 13-0 run shortly afterward, where all 10 of those points came solely from Poplar and Dixon. Poplar was unstoppable in the box, sinking eight of his 10 attempts from the floor in the first half. Meanwhile, Dixon’s two three-pointers acted as a catalyst for the Wildcats.
Colorado did their best to answer Poplar and Dixon’s onslaught, as Felix Kossaras hit back-to-back threes over the Wildcats, but it was too little, too late. Poplar (16 pts) and Dixon (13 pts) combined for 29 points in the first half, while Colorado scored just 30 as a team. Headed into halftime down 30-45, things weren’t looking great for the Buffs.
After Villanova hit two consecutive three-pointers to open the second half, this game was all but over. Colorado center Elijah Malone did his best to keep Colorado alive, finishing the game with a team-high 17 points, but there’s only so much you can do when your team has no juice.
Poplar and Dixon never slowed, finishing the game with 46 combined points, and Colorado was completely defeated and deflated with around 15 minutes left to play. When it was all said and done, Colorado’s ticket to the offseason was punched by a 21-point loss to Villanova in Las Vegas.
Still, the Buffs’ trip to Vegas wasn’t all bad. Elijah Malone played well. Players like Bangot Dak, Assane Diop, Felix Kossaras and RJ Smith all got valuable first-team minutes as primary options. Going into next season, Boyle can use film from this Villanova game for teaching opportunities. Also, the extra two weeks of practice ahead of the tournament is a huge booster for the youngsters’ development.
With the offseason officially here, Boyle and his staff can turn their full focus to hitting the portal hard and trying to find some hidden gems. When any transfer news breaks about Buffs Basketball, we’ll be here to update you at Ralphie Report.