Colorado
8-2,0-0Big 12
South Dakota State
8-5,0-0Summit League
Hammond Propels Buffs Past South Dakota State
December 13, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado's Julian Hammond III scored a career-high 23 points Friday to lift the Buffaloes to an 81-70 win over South Dakota State at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs won their third in a row to improve to 8-2 overall while SDSU fell to 8-5.
Hammond scored 10 of his 23 in the final four minutes of the game, including a clutch 3-pointer and free throw with 49 seconds remaining to salt away the win. He also had seven assists and just one turnover. Elijah Malone had 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and nine rebounds for CU and RJ Smith added 11 points.
Joe Sayler led the Jackrabbits with 16 points.
While the Buffs led for almost the entire game, they never pushed their lead into double digits until the final minutes. SDSU stayed close by hitting 11 3-pointers, including seven in the first half, but the Buffs shot 50 percent from the floor (28-for-56) for the game to make the difference.
Colorado finished with a 35-26 edge on the boards and the Buffs were better defensively after the break, holding the Jackrabbits to just 4-for-12 shooting from long range.
CU also hit 18 of its 19 free throw attempts, including 16 in the second half.
"I've got a lot of respect for them, and I knew it wasn't going to be easy," Boyle said. "I was disappointed in our ability to guard the 3-point line tonight … I thought we did some really good things offensively, but defensively, if we take away their threes and make those tough twos, you know, it's a 20-point game. But overall it's a good win and we'll take it."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado led by as much as nine in the first half and had a five-point edge at the break, 40-35.
But the Buffs couldn't break away from the Jackrabbits. CU used quick buckets from Malone and Hammond to build a nine-point edge early in the second half, but the Jackrabbits answered with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 46-46 seven minutes in.
Colorado then went ahead again and protected its narrow margin over the next three minutes. But SDSU finally took its first lead of the game, 56-55, at the 10:08 mark on back-to-back baskets inside.
But CU quickly answered. After missing their first seven 3-point shots of the half, the Buffs got back-to-back treys from Malone and Hammond to take a five-point lead with 8:17 to play.
"Elijah did a good job," Boyle said. "If he can learn from terms of handling double teams, he'll be a really, really good player in the Big 12."
SDSU stopped the run with a quick basket inside before Colorado put up six more unanswered points. Assane Diop hit two free throws, Andrej Jakimovski scored a transition layup and Trevor Baskin hit two free throws to complete a 12-2 CU run and give the Buffs a 67-58 edge with under six minutes to play.
CU then built its lead to 10 on a Hammond floater with 2:22 to play and the Buffs held the Jackrabbits at bay over the final minutes. Hammond hit a 3-pointer and free throw with 49 seconds remaining to give CU a 79-70 lead, then added two more free throws with 36 seconds remaining to put the game away.
"Julian was terrific," Boyle said of his senior point guard. "That was a big time three at the end that we needed to put that thing away. You look at his line, he had 23 points on 14 shots, six assists, one turnover. That's what you need from your senior point guard."
The victory was the Buffs' 10th in a row on their home court.
The Buffs jumped out to an early lead, taking a quick 13-4 edge after six quick points from Malone and a Smith 3-pointer.
But CU's lead never hit double digits in the first half as the Jackrabbits stayed close with 3-pointers.
SDSU pulled within three, 22-19, on a Jaden Jackson 3-pointer before the Buffs pushed their edge back to eight, 30-22, when Smith drained his third trey of the half.
But the Jackrabbits didn't go away quietly. CU led by seven with just 1:35 left in the half on another Malone bucket inside but SDSU cut the margin to five, 40-35, by the halftime break.
Colorado shot a comfortable 17-for-34 in the first half but just 4-for-12 from long range. The Jackrabbits, meanwhile, were more accurate from long range — 7-for-13 — than they were from 2-point range (5-for-13).
DECISIVE MOMENT: Colorado's lead was down to five with just more than a minute to play. But Hammond hit a long 3-pointer just before the shot clock buzzer, was fouled and hit the free throw to give CU a 79-70 edge with 49 seconds remaining.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado is now 200-40 at home under Boyle, including 103-8 in non-conference home games.
NEXT UP: The Buffs return to action Saturday, Dec. 21, with a 1 p.m game against Bellarmine at the CU Events Center. Colorado then opens Big 12 play on Dec. 30 with a 7 p.m game against Iowa State.
