KJ Simpson had 16 points and made the go-ahead 3-pointer in the closing seconds as Colorado beat Washington State 58-55 on Sunday in Boulder, Colo.
Tristan da Silva scored 27 for the Buffaloes (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12), who improved to 12-0 at home against the Cougars all-time.
TJ Bamba scored 18 points and Andrej Jakimovski added 12 for Washington State (9-12, 4-6).
Bamba scored with 40 seconds left to put the Cougars back in front after they had trailed by four with 3:30 to play. Simpson made two free throws with 35.6 seconds left and Bamba split a pair with 25 seconds left to tie it.
Simpson made Colorado’s second 3-pointer of the day from the top of the circle and Bamba missed at the buzzer.
The Cougars took advantage of early Colorado turnovers to grab a 10-point lead with 5:58 left in the first half, but the Buffaloes rallied.
Simpson’s layup got it started and da Silva had a three-point play and two more buckets during a 13-0 run that gave Colorado the lead. Jakimovski hit a jumper to end Washington State’s drought, and it had a chance to take the lead at intermission but two poor possessions let the Buffaloes grab a 26-25 advantage at halftime.
The Cougars took a 34-30 lead early in the second half but went cold. Washington State missed seven straight shots and turned it over twice during a scoreless stretch of 5:13.
DJ Rodman’s 3-pointer started a 6-0 run that put the Cougars back in front 40-39, and the game was tied at 43 with 8:01 left.
While Washington State went quiet again, J’Vonne Hadley, da Silva and Jalen Gabbidon combined for four free throws to put Colorado back in front 47-43 with 4:57 left.
Rodman made two foul shots to cut the Buffaloes’ lead to 47-45 but Simpson’s driving dunk made it a four-point game again. The teams traded layups and Washington State called a timeout trailing 51-47 with 3:23 left.
Jakimovski hit a 3-pointer, Hadley made a hook shot for Colorado and Bamba made a jumper to trim it to 53-52 with 1:43 left.
–Field Level Media