Colorado finishes strong to defeat Washington 73-69 in Pac-12 opener

BOULDER, Colo. — KJ Simpson had 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, Eddie Lampkin also had a double-double and Colorado finished strong to defeat Washington 73-69 in a Pac-12 opener on Friday night.

After making 4-of-14 3-pointers in the first half, the Huskies made five of their first nine after halftime and surged ahead 59-56 with a little less than eight minutes remaining.

Keion Brooks Jr. scored 13 points and made three 3-pointers in the extended 33-24 run. Washington went up by seven when Brooks threw down an alley-oop dunk with 5:56 remaining but the Huskies missed eight of their last 10 shots.

Colorado outscored Washington 17-6 in the final 5-plus minutes as J’Vonne Hadley scored six points, Simpson five and Lampkin four. Hadley scored in the paint to give the Buffaloes the lead for good, 66-65 with 2:23 left.

Lampkin finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Luke O’Brien added nine rebounds and Colorado had a 49-31 advantage on the boards. Hadley, O’Brien and Julian Hammond III all scored 11 points for Colorado (10-2).

Brooks scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Washington (8-4). Sahvir Wheeler scored 17 and added seven assists and Moses Wood scored 14 for the Huskies. Those three combined to go 18 for 51 from the floor, accounting for 78% of the Huskies’ shot attempts.

After Washington led for most of the first eight minutes of the game, Colorado went ahead 16-15 on a fastbreak layup by O’Brien. The Buffaloes led for the remainder of the half and took a 32-26 lead into the break.

The Buffaloes have won five straight and six of their last seven.

UP NEXT

Colorado will host Washington State on Sunday.

The Huskies, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, will play at Utah on Sunday.

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COLORADO 73, WASHINGTON 69

WASHINGTON (8-4) — Brooks 7-17 2-3 20, Wood 4-13 2-3 14, Meah 3-4 1-1 7, Mulcahy 2-4 2-2 6, Wheeler 7-21 3-4 17, Johnson 2-5 0-0 5, Breidenbach 0-0 0-0 0, Holland 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 10-13 69.

COLORADO (10-2) — Lampkin 5-11 7-12 17, Hadley 5-13 0-0 11, Hammond 4-8 0-0 11, O’Brien 5-10 0-0 11, Simpson 6-14 8-12 21, Carrington 1-2 0-0 2, Diop 0-0 0-0 0, Ruffin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 15-24 73.

Halftime—Colorado 32-26. 3-Point Goals—Washington 9-27 (Brooks 4-8, Wood 4-11, Johnson 1-2, Holland 0-1, Mulcahy 0-2, Wheeler 0-3), Colorado 6-15 (Hammond 3-6, O’Brien 1-2, Hadley 1-3, Simpson 1-3, Ruffin 0-1). Fouled Out—Meah. Rebounds—Washington 25 (Brooks 8), Colorado 46 (Lampkin 12). Assists—Washington 14 (Wheeler 7), Colorado 14 (Simpson 7). Total Fouls—Washington 21, Colorado 16. A—7,799 (11,064).