BOULDER — The season is over.
Colorado lost 76-68 to St. Bonaventure in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday in Boulder. Colorado came into the game as the fourth-seed in its quadrant of the 32-team bracket and was a 4.5-point favorite in the game. Colorado finishes its season with a 21-12 record.
The Buffs held a 10-point lead early in the second half, but the Bonnies cut that lead to one in just over two minutes. Tristan converted an and-one with 2:16 to play to tie the game, but the Bonnies outscored CU 8-0 down the stretch.
The final turning point came when Jabari Walker missed a wide open bunny that would have tied the game with 1:36 to play. St. Bonaventure scored on the other end and the Buffs were essentially buried.
The miss was part of one of Walker’s worst outings of the season. He scored six points on 2-of-10 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists. Not including the CSU-Bakersfield game, which he left after four minutes due to injury, this was the second time all season that Walker didn’t finish with at least 10 points.
Some of Walker’s troubles came on uncontested looks but the big problem was St. Bonaventure center Osun Osunniyi, who finished with four blocks. Ossuniyi dominated in the paint and got his hands on two of Walker’s shots. Walker, on the other hand, didn’t provide as much resistance as we’ve come to expect from him on the defensive end.
The Bonnies are a small team, four of their five starters are 6-foot-5 or shorter, but they’re anchored by a three-man rotation at center. For a CU team without anybody over 6-foot-9, their length provided problems at the rim.
The Bonnies are also a veteran team. All five starters are seniors and they don’t sub much other than the centers. Two of them played the entire game and two more played at least 36 minutes. The veterans locked into the do-or-die situation and the Buffs couldn’t match the intensity.
“It just felt like St. Bonaventure wanted to be here more than we did,” sophomore guard Keeshawn Barthelemy said.
Barthelemy provided some pop off the bench after the starters sleep walked through the first few minutes of the game. He wound up making six of his seven shots, good for 15 points and a pair of assists. Colorado won his 27 minutes by four points, the best mark on the team. The CU bench scored a combined 24 points, while the St. Bonaventure bench put up 6.
Senior forward Evan Battey was right behind Barthelemy on the scoresheet with 14 points and five boards. Tristan da Silva was the final Buffalo in double-digits with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. He added five boards and four assists.
Colorado dominated the glass and outscore the Bonnies by 14 in second-chance points, but St. Bonaventure’s efficiency from deep was insurmountable. The Bonnies hit 10 of their 20 3-point shots—Colorado was 7-for-25—and they aren’t known as a team of shooters; the Bonnies finished 12th out of 14 Atlantic 10 teams in 3-point efficiency and 13th in 3-pointers made.
But the Buffs couldn’t provide any resistance defensively and their offense wasn’t sharp enough to make up the difference.
Now, the Buffs will head into an eight-month break before taking the court once again late next fall.
