Colorado
5-1,0-0Big 12
UConn
4-2,0-0Big East
Boyle's Buffs Knock Off No. 2 UConn in Maui Invitational
November 26, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Colorado's Andrej Jakimovski hit a driving layup with 8 seconds left Tuesday for the winning bucket as the Buffaloes staged a big second-half rally to knock off No. 2-ranked UConn, 73-72, in the Maui Invitational.
Tad Boyle's Buffs improved to 5-1 with the win while two-time defending national champion UConn lost its second straight to slip to 4-2.
Colorado, which lost to Michigan State in the tourney opener, will now renew an old Big 12 rivalry when they play fifth-ranked Iowa State in a 12:30 p.m. (MT) matchup Wednesday.
Julian Hammond III and Elijah Malone each had 16 points for the Buffs while Jakimovski had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, his first as a Buff.
Liam McNeely led UConn with 20 points. Both of UConn's starting big men, Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr., fouled out of the game in the second half, with CU's Malone drawing the majority of those fouls.
Colorado trailed by as much as 11 in the first half and by eight at the half, 40-32. The Huskies rebuilt their edge to nine early in the second half, but the Buffs used an 11-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 48-45, with 14:02 to play.
The lead then see-sawed for the remainder of the game, leading to Jakmovski's winning basket. UConn had one last chance to win the game but the CU defense forced the Huskies to settle for a tough 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining. The shot drew iron to give Colorado the win.
"Less than 24 hours ago, I was sitting here questioning the fight of these guys," Boyle said in his post-game press conference. "I said we'd find out a lot about our team in the next 18 to 24 hours and I think we found out about this team, the fight that they have … To beat a program like UConn, that's not easy to do. Our guys really battled all game long. Coming down the stretch, win or lose, I was gonna be proud of this group. We got the stop at the end and Andrej made a hell of a shot there. Everybody that played for us played well, contributed to this win, and I couldn't be more proud of this group."
Colorado shot just 38 percent from the floor (8-for-21) in the opening half but came back to blister the nets at a 62.5 percent clip after the break (15-for-24), including 5-for-9 from 3-point range.
At the same time, the Buffs held UConn to just 41 percent shooting after the break (11-for-27), including 4-for-15 from beyond the arc.
CU also finished with a 28-26 edge on the boards and outscored the Huskies 26-22 in the paint.
"We made open shots, which you have to do when you get it against UConn, because they are a physical team defensively, and that's one of the reasons they foul a lot," Boyle said. "But you'd better be strong with the ball from the guard position to the five spot, and we were."
The win was Colorado's third ever against a No. 2 team (Oklahoma State in 1992 and Arizona in 2022) and the highest-ranked team CU has ever beaten away from home. It was also the first CU win over a defending national champion since the 1953, when the Buffs beat 1952 champ Kansas in Boulder.
The winning basket came on a play that gave Hammond the choice to either feed the ball inside to Malone or hit Jakimovski cutting for the basket.
When Jakimovski made his cut, Hammond delivered.
"Coach trusted me to make the last play and he called a good play for me and I knew I had to go down there and finish," Jakimovski said. "It's a great team win, great bounce-back after a bad game yesterday. We showed character, and we defended our butts off."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado trailed by 11 late in the first half and still faced an eight-point deficit, 40-32, at the break.
But the Buffs refused to fold. After UConn built a nine-point edge, Colorado put together an 11-0 run to take its first lead of the game.
Hammond started the run with a 3-pointer, Malone scored on an alley-oop layup and Hammond tallied a bucket in transition. Bangot Dak then hit one free throw before Hammond connected on another trey — the Buffs' sixth straight successful field goal attempt — to give CU a 48-46 lead with 14:02 to play.
"I thought we just started to grind out possessions and make them work because they run a lot of action on offense," Hammond said. "We wanted to make them work as much as they were making us work, and we just tried to wear them down."
The Huskies regained the lead with a quick 5-0 surge but Colorado had another answer. Malone scored inside to cut UConn's lead to one before RJ Smith drained a long 3-pointer to give CU a 57-56 edge with 9:14 to play.
At that point, CU had hit 10 of 13 field goal tries in the second half, including a 4-for-5 effort from long range.
UConn came back to take a 61-59 lead before Jakimovski drained a corner trey for the Buffs to tie the score at 63-63 with 5:16 to play, then hit two free throws to tie it again at 65-65.
But the Huskies responded with a quick 5-0 run, getting a 3-pointer and layup from Solo Ball to take a 70-65 lead with 3:28 to play.
Still, CU refused to give in. The Buffs answered with a Trevor Baskin bucket inside, then two free throws from Malone after a steal to cut UConn's lead to one, 70-69, with two minutes to play.
The steal sent UConn's Reed to the bench with his fifth foul, and he and Johnson finished with just 11 points combined.
"We don't go into a game necessarily trying to foul somebody out," Boyle said. "You always want to be aggressive. UConn is an aggressive defensive team. They play physical, and it's one of those games where it's hard to officiate because they put so much pressure on the officials. We had a strong crew today that called it like they saw it."
The Huskies pushed their lead back to three on their next possession, getting a tip-in to take a 72-69 edge with 1:34 on the clock.
But Colorado cut it back to one again, getting a Malone jump hook inside. CU then got a block from Javon Ruffin on the defensive end to take possession with 47 seconds left.
The Buffs missed a 3-point try but Baskin grabbed the rebound and called time out with 21 seconds remaining.
Jakimovski then gave the Buffs the lead with an off-balance right-hand drive to the hoop, giving Colorado a 73-72 lead with 8 seconds to play.
UConn inbounded the ball and then called time out. The Huskies took a difficult 3-point try with just a few ticks remaining and the ball bounced off the rim, handing the Buffs the win.
"It takes character," Boyle said of the comeback. "It takes toughness, it takes belief in yourself, and our guys had that. Again, I mentioned the fact that we're going to learn a lot about this team in this tournament, and we learned from last night and we turned around tonight."
Colorado stayed close for the first 10 minutes, with Hammond scoring eight points in the first six minutes. With 9:34 to play in the half, Ruffin hit a pair of free throws to pull the Buffs to within 18-14.
But the Huskies then reeled off a 7-0 run to push their lead to 11 as Colorado endured an 0-for-7 stretch from the floor.
CU answered, pulling to within six on a Smith 3-pointer and two Bangot Dak free throws to cut UConn's lead to 30-24 with five minutes left in the half.
That, though, was as close as CU could come in the first half as UConn pushed its lead back to 11 at one point before taking an eight-point cushion into the halftime break.
The Buffs left seven points at the free throw line in the first half, hitting just 12 of their 19 attempts. UConn, meanwhile, shot 56 percent from the floor (14-for-25), including 8-for-16 from long range.
Colorado shot 38 percent (8-for-21) in the opening half.
DECISIVE MOMENT: Colorado trailed by nine, 46-37, with 17:33 to play. But the Buffs put together an 11-0 run to take their first lead, and while UConn regained the edge at several junctures, Colorado produced the critical plays down the stretch.
WHAT IT MEANS: The win should be a huge confidence boost for Colorado as they continue to prepare for play in the Big 12.
NEXT UP: The Buffs will play fifth-ranked Iowa State at 12:30 p.m. (MT) Wednesday. The Cyclones lost to Auburn, 83-81, in their tournament opener before beating Dayton, 89-84, on Tuesday.
