Colorado wins 3rd straight, beats Cal 88-78 behind Simpson's 27 points and Da Silva's 22

Updated Feb. 28, 2024 10:15 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — KJ Simpson scored 27 points, Tristan da Silva added 22 and Colorado beat California 88-78 on Wednesday night for its third straight win.

Colorado (19-9, 10-7) avenged an 82-78 loss at Cal in January, and the win keeps the Buffaloes in contention for a top-four conference finish and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. The Buffs entered in a fourth-place tie with UCLA, which plays at Washington on Thursday.

Simpson and da Silva were a combined 15-of-28 shooting and 16 of 18 from the free-throw line. The pair also had 14 of Colorado's 18 assists.

J’Vonne Hadley added 13 points and Eddie Lampkin Jr. had 12 for the Buffaloes, who shot 50% (29 of 58) from the floor.

Jaylon Tyson scored 25 points to lead Cal (13-16, 9-9), which had its three-game win streak snapped.

Colorado took the lead for good three minutes into the game and ended the first half on a 12-6 surge for a 45-31 halftime advantage. Da Silva scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and made all five of his free throws. Hadley and Lampkin combined for 15 first-half points. Jalen Celestine scored nine of his 11 points in the first half for the Bears.

Tyson's 3-pointer pulled Cal to 58-53 with 13 minutes to play, but the Bears didn't get closer. Simpson scored 18 points in the second half.

Cal plays at Utah on Saturday. Colorado hosts Stanford on Sunday.

——- Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

share

in this topic

Colorado Buffaloes

KJ Simpson

Pac-12

College Basketball

Colorado Buffaloes

California Golden Bears