UNLV was close to a come back, but the 20 point lead it spotted Colorado was too much to overcome.
No.11 Colorado won its first NCAA Tournament game in 15 years when it upset No.5 UNLV 68-64 Thursday night at The Pit.
The Buffaloes had a 20 point lead with 15:05 remaining, but UNLV went on a 22-4 run to cut the lead to two with 3:51 remaining but CU held on to win.
CU was spurred on by a 16-5 run to open the contest and was never behind in the game.
“We did just enough,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. “We found a way to do it and it’s a testament to these guys in the locker room.”
CU started the game on a 14-4 run in the first six minutes after shooting 7-13, including 2-2 from behind the arc.
The same couldn’t be said for UNLV.
With 6:41 left in the first half the Rebels had just 10 points and was 4-20 shooting.
The Buffaloes shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half and took a 36-25 lead into the break.
After surprisingly winning the PAC-12 Tournament last week CU’s Andre Roberson said this win shows how good the team really is.
“It feels great,” he said. “It’s a great accomplishment. Our hard work really paid off.”
Colorado hit three straight 3-pointers five minutes into the second half to take a 20 point lead, it’s largest in the game.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
In the following 10 minutes UNLV went on a 22-4 run to close the deficit to just four with 3:51 remaining.
Boyle said his team looked like a deer in the headlights during UNLV’s comeback but did enough to hold on for the win.
“We didn’t handle our lewd in the second half as much as we would have liked to,” he said. “We got stops when we had to get stops though.”
That would be the closest the Rebels would get as they went just 3-13 shooting to finish the game.
CU shot 22-48 and 7-12 from behind the arc. UNLV was 23-71 and only 9-36 from three.
Both teams had four players in double figures. Anthony Marshall led the Rebels with 15 and Askia Booker led the Buffaloes off the bench with 16.
CU will now play No.3 Baylor on Saturday and Roberson said his team will have the upper hand on the rebounding end because of the zone Baylor plays.
“One thing we can do is offensive rebound over them,” he said. “We can mix it up for them. They are a great team overall and we are ready for it.”
