Colorado falls to Oregon in Pac-12 Championship 75-68, NCAA tourney hopes in the air
No. 4 seed Oregon took care of No. 3 Colorado with a 75-68 win in the Pac-12 title game on Saturday. The Ducks grabbed an NCAA Tournament bid with the victory, leaving the Buffs fate uncertain
Oregon's N'Faly Dante scored a game-high 25 points and nabbed eight rebounds. He went 12-for-12 from the field.
Tad Boyle's Buffs saw their eight-game win streak come to an end. KJ Simpson led the way with 23 points and Luke O'Brien added 11 as CU fell to 24-10 on the season. Oregon ends with a 23-11 record.
Colorado was down by three at the half and fought back to take the lead with five minutes remaining. But Oregon was too much down the stretch.
However, neither team shot particularly well and both were under 50 percent from the field for the game. Colorado had a -10 turnover margin that led to 23 Oregon points.
"I'm proud of our guys," Boyle said. "I'm proud of what they've done over the last four, four and a half weeks, and we're not going to let this one game define us because what these guys have done over that period of time is nothing short of amazing. We've really come together. We've played well, well enough to win. Unfortunately tonight we didn't. Oregon had a lot to do with that."
The loss in the title game stings for Colorado and might keep them out of the NCAA tournament. CBS Sports Bracketology expert Jerry Palm predicts CU will be out on Selection Sunday. This mark the end on an era with the final Pac-12 Tournament in the books.
