Colorado falls 84-74 to Creighton in first round of the NCAA Tournament

BOULDER — That’s all, folks.

The Colorado Buffaloes fell 84-74 to the Creighton Bluejays in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Iowa City. Colorado hadn’t made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2013. The Buffs finish their season with a 22-9 record.

CU point guard Jaylyn Sherrod led the way for the Buffs on Friday with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting. She scored the first five points of the game by driving into the paint and provided 16 in the second half as the Buffs tried to mount a comeback. She also grabbed five boards, dished out five assists and recorded two steals.

Colorado’s defense, led by Sherrod, put the clamps on Creighton early. The Buffs led through most of the first half but a 9-0 Bluejay run in the final 1:28 of play gave them a 36-31 lead going into the bare. That run set the tone the rest of the way.

A couple of early steals and fast break layups allowed the Buffs to tie the game a 41 early in the second half. But Creighton quickly built its lead back and led the rest of the way.

Colorado cut the lead to four with 2:21 to play. Then Lesila Finau collided with a teammate and went down in the backcourt while Creighton played 5-on-4 on the break. When Creighton missed, the Buffs pushed the ball in transition. Finau wasn’t a threat on the possession even though she stood at the 3-point line. Instead of calling one of its three remaining timeouts to sub a healthy player onto the court, Colorado ran its halfcourt offense at a disadvantage. The Buffs didn’t score and gave the ball back to Creighton with a 4-point lead and 1:44 on the clock. Creighton scored and made its free throws when the Buffs were forced to foul.

The Buffs struggled from deep all season—their 30% clip was dead last in the Pac-12—and that didn’t change on Friday. CU shot 4-for-19 from three, including two hits in the final minute when the game was already decided.

Meanwhile, Creighton came into the game as one of the top deep-ball attacks in the country and that continued on Friday. Creighton ranked third in 3-pointers made and 11th in percentage before Friday.

Colorado attacked the 3-point line defensively in the first half and prevented Creighton’s run and gun offense from getting any open looks from deep. But the defense collapsed into the paint more often in the second half and the Bluejays found their rhythm. After shooting 3-of-9 in the first half, they made 5-of 10 in the second.

Senior forward Mya Hollingshed was Colorado’s second-leading scorer with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting with five rebounds. Bench center Quay Miller was third on the team with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She also had five boards.

Outside of those three, the Buffs couldn’t get much going. Senior Peanut Tuitele provided a couple of timely buckets as the game wound down as part of her eight points. Freshman Kindyll Wetta also had 18 points but it took her 14 shots to get there. She was 0-for-5 from three.