Stanford guard Michael Jones, left, vies for the ball against Colorado forward Tristan da Silva during the second half at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Thu Dec 29, 2022 (AP News photo)
Stanford Loses In Final Seconds to Colorado 73-70
By Barbara Mason
Thursday evening the Stanford Cardinal (5-7) took on the Colorado Buffaloes (8-5) at Maples Pavilion. Colorado is back at full strength with Luke O’Brien and Lawson Lovering returning to the rotation. The Cardinal are struggling and took full advantage of a long holiday break trying to come up with a game plan that will bring them more success.
The Cardinal got to rest and reorganize getting ready for the next 18 Pac 12 Conference games. If Stanford wants to make a run for the NCAA Tournament they have the challenge of winning at least 14 of those games if not even more. The Cardinal have not played in a March Madness since 2014. They lost in the last few seconds of Thursday’s contest 73-70 to the Buffaloes to start the two game homestand.
Colorado took an early lead in the first half. They led at one time 17-8. The Cardinal came roaring back to pull to within one point 17-16 with 10:30 left in the half. Stanford took their first lead 19-17 when Spencer Jones hit a shot from downtown. Stanford had momentum going leading 28-21 before letting the Buffaloes back in the game.
With under five minutes left in the opening half Colorado had tied the game at 28. The Cardinal had eight turnovers which hurt them. The Cardinal were using their size to punish Colorado on the glass. This put tremendous pressure on the Buffaloes. After the slow start the Cardinal had really turned this game around. The pace of this game had turned up a notch in the closing minutes. After the first 20 minutes of play Stanford led 37-33.
In the first half both teams were shooting over 50% on the floor. Spencer Jones had 17 points in the half and was three of six from beyond the arc. KJ Simpson had 13 points for the Buffaloes.
With under four minutes left in the game the Cardinal had held onto the lead the entire second half. They had cashed in on a couple of Colorado turnovers. With 3:45 left on the clock Stanford led 68-64. With a lot of time in the second half this was still anybody’s game.
This was a one point game more often than not in the final minutes. With 2:04 left Colorado took their first lead of the second half 69-68. At 0.28 seconds remaining Stanford was clinging to a 70-69 lead. The Buffaloes took the lead 71-70 and Stanford had 0:17 to win this game.
The Cardinal would foul sending Colorado to the line. Stanford had led for the majority of the game but when push came to shove they could not finish. Colorado comes away with the win.
Stanford’s Spencer Jones finished with 25 points. KJ Simpson had an amazing game with 31 points for the Buffaloes. This game went right down to the wire but Colorado had just enough to power past the Cardinal.
On Saturday Dec 31st the Stanford Cardinal will host Utah. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
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