The season won’t be recalled as one full of fond memories for the Colorado men’s basketball team.
But at least the Buffaloes’ seniors will always be able to say they bid farewell to Boulder with a victory.
CU capped a frustrating 2024-25 regular season with a celebratory victory on Senior Day, topping TCU 76-56 on Saturday at the CU Events Center. Following an 0-13 start in Big 12 Conference play, Saturday’s win gave the Buffs three victories in their final four home games and provides a small measure of momentum going into next week’s Big 12 tournament.
CU held TCU to a .316 shooting mark and outrebounded the Horned Frogs 45-29. Those numbers qualified as the Buffs’ best defensive field goal percentage and rebounding margin in Big 12 play.
“It’s amazing when you defend at a high level, and you rebound at a high level, the score kind of takes care of itself,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “We did both those things today at a high level. Didn’t take care of the ball well early, and midway through the second half we didn’t do a very good job of that, either.
“I’m really happy for our five seniors. I really challenged our guys today to play for them. Get out of yourself. Don’t worry about you. And let’s give everything we’ve got for those five guys. And I thought our guys did that.”
Boyle went with an all-senior starting lineup of Julian Hammond III, Javon Ruffin, Andrej Jakimovski, Trevor Baskin and Elijah Malone, who did not go through Senior Day festivities because he has another year of eligibility remaining. All five of those seniors made key contributions in the victory.
Tops among them was Hammond, a four-year guard who missed the Buffs’ loss earlier in the week at No. 9 Texas Tech due to a back injury. Hammond return to the starting lineup and appeared 100%, going 3-for-5 on 3-pointers and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line before finishing with 19 points and a career-high-tying seven assists.
Ruffin went 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, matching a career high for made 3-pointers. Baskin grabbed 16 rebounds, setting a career-high (including his four seasons at Division II Colorado Mesa) while posting the top rebounding mark by any Buffs player this season. Malone continued his improved play down the stretch by going 3-for-3 with six points. And while Jakimovski finished just 1-for-6, he recorded eight rebounds and two assists without a turnover.
“We’ve seen a lot of ups and downs throughout our time here and stuff like that,” Hammond said. “It’s just great to go out on a win and have a good game, too. It’s just kind of crazy that I’m done playing here.”
CU never trailed, building a 37-31 lead at halftime, and the Buffs pushed their lead to 12 points before a familiar turnover problem reared its ugly head.
CU committed five during a span of 2 minutes, 41 seconds while TCU put together an 11-0 run that cut the Buffs’ lead to 51-50. CU responded, though, scoring the next 11 points in a 14-2 run that gave the Buffs control down the stretch. After the Horned Frogs pulled to within a point, CU outscored TCU 25-6 the rest of the way.
The Buffs finished with 14 turnovers but committed just one in the final 11 minutes.
“It’s heartwarming, because they’re such great kids,” Boyle said of his seniors. “I feel blessed to coach young men that have the character that they have. Losing does not build character. I think it reveals character. This team could’ve sacked their bats and gone home a month ago. They could’ve quit. They could’ve started pointing fingers. There were times we felt sorry for ourselves a little bit this year, and I tried to get us out of that mode.
“But, high character group. To see them rewarded on senior night is really special.”
Fast break
Why the Buffs won: CU posted its best Big 12 game in terms of defense and rebounding, holding TCU to a .316 mark while outrebounding the Horned Frogs 45-29.
Three stars
1. CU’s Julian Hammond. The senior guard shook off a back injury to put on a show in his final home game, going 3-for-5 on 3-pointers with 19 points and seven assists.
2. CU’s Trevor Baskin. Finished just 3-for-9 with eight points, but he led CU’s dominant effort on the glass with a career-high 16 rebounds.
3. TCU’s Trazarien White. Scored a game-high 21 points to bolster what otherwise was a tough offensive day for the Horned Frogs.
Up next: The Buffs will play either Utah or TCU again in the second first round game at the Big 12 Conference tournament on Tuesday at 1 p.m. MT.
Colorado 76, TCU 56
TCU (16-15, 9-11 Big 12)
Punch 1-4 0-1 2, Udeh 0-0 0-0 0, Allette 3-8 1-2 7, Posey 0-8 3-6 3, Reynolds 5-13 0-0 12, White 6-15 7-8 21, Robinson 1-4 3-5 5, Diallo 2-4 2-2 6, Wenzel 0-0 0-0 0, Manning 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-57 16-24 56.
COLORADO (12-19, 3-17)
Baskin 3-9 1-2 8, Jakimovski 1-6 0-0 2, Malone 3-3 0-0 6, Hammond 5-9 6-6 19, Ruffin 3-6 0-0 9, Dak 3-4 4-4 10, Smith 5-10 1-1 12, Kossaras 1-1 1-2 3, Diop 1-2 1-1 3, Rancik 1-5 1-2 3, Pease 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 26-57 16-20 76.
Halftime: Colorado 37-31; 3-point field goals: TCU 4-18 (White 2-4, Reynolds 2-5, Manning 0-1, Punch 0-1, Allette 0-2, Robinson 0-2, Posey 0-3); Colorado 8-21 (Ruffin 3-4, Hammond 3-5, Baskin 1-1, Smith 1-5, Jakimovski 0-3, Rancik 0-3). Rebounds: TCU 29 (Udeh, Diallo 5); Colorado 45 (Baskin 16). Assists: TCU 6 (Allette 4); Colorado 17 (Hammond 7). Total fouls: TCU 19, Colorado 17. A: 7,057.
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