Colorado cruises to 89-65 win over Utah

Buffs move past Utes for 18th win of the season, keeping tournament hopes alive

KJ Simpson scored 28 points as Colorado turned up the heat on the way to a 89-65 win over Utah on Saturday night. 

J'Vonne Hadley had 17 of his 20 points in the first half, along with 13 points from Eddie Lampkin Jr. and 12 from Tristan da Silva. 

Colorado (18-9) took a 43-34 lead going into halftime and didn't look back. The Buffs went on a 25-8 run starting midway in the second half. A 3-pointer by Luke O'Brien stretched the lead to 31 with under two minutes remaining. Utah (16-11) scored the final seven points to close the gap. 

Gabe Madsen scored 18 points and Deivon Smith had 15 for the Utes in a losing effort. A terrific night shooting for Craig Smith's team who went 27-for-61, including 4-for-23 beyond the arc. 

The Buffaloes shot 54 percent (32-for-59) with 10 made 3-pointers. Outside of scoring, they took care of the ball with just four turnovers on the night. Colorado entered the game dead last in the Pac-12 in turnovers, and tied the fewest ever by Tad Boyle's team in a conference game.

"That was fantastic, and 19 assists to go with it," Boyle said after the game. "If you do that, you're going to win a lot of games. We were efficient offensively, we showed great patience, we shared the ball and defensively we cranked it up in the second half. KJ did what he's been doing for us all year and J'Vonne was phenomenal both offensively and defensively."

UP NEXT 

Colorado stays home to face California on Wednesday. They will try to avenge the 82-78 loss from eariler in the season.