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. They 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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