LOS ANGELES – Seconds after the opening tip Issac Hamilton knocked down a long two to give UCLA the lead, it would be a harbinger of things to come in multiple ways. One being UCLA leading, the other being Hamilton hitting nothing but the bottom of the net. When all was said and done, Hamilton had 22 on 9-12 shooting and the Bruins won 77-53.
It would be the end of a road trip to forget for Colorado. Pick your poison, Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss or Saturday’s blowout? Either way, as predicted here, the Buffaloes left Southern California without a victory.
On so many road trips this season, it’s been one thing that’s plagued the Buffs, whether it was turnovers, perimeter defense, cold shooting etc. On Saturday night, it was the works, the Buffs shot 31-percent from the floor, turned it over 12 times and allowed the Bruins to shoot 50-percent from the floor and 55-percent from three.
Xacier Talton’s 12 points on four three-pointers led the scoring for the Buffaloes on a night where they simply couldn’t get anything to fall from inside the arc (10-36).
Despite the pain of the weekend from the perspective of the fans, it really didn’t hurt Colorado all that much, the two losses only dropped the Buffs eight spots in the RPI and only two spots from this loss. Still, it is two more opportunities off of the board for the Buffs to snag their 20th win and effectively seal their spot in the NCAA Tournament.
HIGHLIGHTS
(Editors note: Colorado had no highlights on the night)
Tony Parker, back in the starting lineup, quickly makes his presence known with this bucket and the foul! #CUvsUCLA pic.twitter.com/0ye67pypPw
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 21, 2016
Aaron Holiday with the acrobatic block! #UCLA up 14-11 over Colorado (11:40 left in 1st half) #CUvsUCLA https://t.co/L2ymv2gXvA
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 21, 2016
Isaac Hamilton with the 💪 move through the lane.#UCLA up 28-20 with 6:12 left in the half. #CUvsUCLA #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/mSaTqznIwl
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 21, 2016
Holiday to Hamilton. 💦 #UCLA up by 13 with 1:00 to go in the half. #CUvsUCLA pic.twitter.com/zrXmZUbswX
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 21, 2016
Aaron Holiday with his 7th assist! #UCLA up 58-35 with 15:35 left in the game. Tune in now to @fs1. #CUvsUCLA pic.twitter.com/mYRi01YTGM
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 21, 2016
Thomas Welsh with the sweet pass to Isaac Hamilton to put #UCLA up 62-38 with 11:46 left in the game. #CUvsUCLA pic.twitter.com/4Ipg4FtVrD
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) February 21, 2016
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Issac Hamilton
Hamilton must have had a great shootaround because he came out hot and stayed hot. The junior guard made it look easy, scoring in every possible way on his journey to 22 points on 9-12 shooting.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Guy at BST saw me writing and asked if I was writing a "Late-night f*** you email."
I said, "Basically."— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) February 21, 2016
BY THE NUMBERS
0 – The amount of time Colorado lead the game for.
4 – The Buffaloes fell short of all four of Tad Boyle’s magic numbers on the night (shoot over 40-percent, hold the opponent under 40-percent, outrebound the opponent by eight, turn the ball over less than 12 times)
19 – The Buffaloes only made 19 field goals on the night.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Buffaloes welcome in the Arizona schools to the Coors Events Center, first up the Wildcats, win that and this weekend will be forgotten.
