On Thursday, Stanford men’s basketball fell to Colorado on The Farm by a final score of 73-70. Colorado guard K.J. Simpson led the way for the Buffaloes with 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists while guard Luke O’Brien had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Stanford forward Spencer Jones was the top performer for the Cardinal with 25 points and 6 rebounds, while forward Brandon Angel had 10 points and 4 rebounds. Jones surpassed 1,000 career points in his Cardinal career, the 50th player in program history to reach that milestone. Colorado improves to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 5-8 overall and 0-3 in the Pac-12.
“One thing as a head coach is I would love to be able to take the hurt away from the guys in the locker room because we have a group that's highly invested in what we're doing and as a head coach it's hard because I want them to be rewarded for their efforts,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said after the game. “At the same time, hopefully we can that hurt to rebound and find a way to get over the top. The truth is as a head coach it's my responsibility to find ways to are they gonna stop, score a basket in late game situations to be able to get us the wins that we need.
“Certainly Colorado I thought played a great game. I thought they came out early, jumped on us; I thought our resiliency in the first half was good. Second half we struggled to score the basketball. Proud of the way my guys compete, but I also understand we need to win some games.”
Early on, Colorado had a slight 6-4 lead with 15:49 to go in the first half. Both teams were off to slow starts offensively, but Colorado had the slight edge as Stanford was having the more difficult time getting into a rhythm.
With 10:51 to go in the half, it was a 17-16 lead for Colorado as Stanford was starting to find life. Especially Spencer Jones, who was really heating up with 10 points. The Cardinal were on an 8-0 run.
Stanford would lead 23-19 with 7:37 to go in the half as they were on a 15-2 run. Spencer Jones was up to 13 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and 3-4 shooting from the foul line. At this point, Jones surpassed 1,000 career points.
“It means I’m old,” Jones joked when asked about the milestone. “I haven't thought about being close to that, so it's just you know, it's nice. It's a nice milestone but you know I'm obviously more focused on wins but you know it's nice. It's nice to have something like that under your belt.”
With 3:34 to go in the half, Stanford would lead 30-28. Jones was up to 15 points after getting a nice bucket inside. Simpson was up to 13 points for Colorado. Both guys were really carrying the load for their teams.
“We tried a lot of different things,” Haase said of how they defended Simpson. “We tried a couple times doubling the ball screen, we tried different matchups on him, we tried different coverages with switching with a kind of a little higher hedge with the bigs and a kind of a drop coverage where we put the bigs back at the rim, and none were overly effective. And I thought our length could be something that could be beneficial. Wasn't for lack of trying. Our guys, all those defenses we practice enough to feel comfortable with. He's a heck of a player and had a heck of a game and I didn't have the answers for him.”
At halftime, Stanford led 37-33. Spencer Jones (17 points & 5 rebounds) was leading the way for the Cardinal while Ryan Agarwal was up to 6 points on 2-2 shooting from 3-point range. Simpson was leading Colorado with 13 points while O’Brien had 6 points.
Early on in the second half, Stanford led 41-40 with 15:44 to go. Colorado was on a 7-0 run over the last 2:42. Stanford hadn’t scored in the last 3:00, really needing to wake up offensively.
Stanford would lead 52-48 with 11:42 to go. Jones (21 points & 6 rebounds) was leading the way for the Cardinal while Agarwal was up to 9 points on 3-3 shooting from 3-point range. Stanford was staying in front, but Colorado was keeping within striking distance.
Stanford would maintain a four point lead (63-59) with 5:48 to go after Angel nailed a pair of free throws and then a technical free throw. He now had 10 points.
Stanford would continue to lead, up 67-64 with 3:45 to go. Spencer Jones was leading the Cardinal with 23 points and 6 rebounds. Michael O’Connell was up to 7 points for the Cardinal after a couple of nice layups in transition.
“I don't think I changed too much since, from my last games,” Jones said. “I mean, shots just went in. Maybe play just a little bit slower pace but nah, I mean to me, I feel like I’ve just been consistent with it and this will happen more and more games so.”
Stanford would lead 70-69 with 55.0 to go. The Cardinal had the ball and called for time. Spencer Jones was up to 25 points after making a pair of free throws. It would then be a 71-70 lead for Colorado after Simpson got a bucket inside. 17.6 to go. Stanford would fail to score on the next possession as James Keefe couldn’t get a hook shot inside to drop. Simpson got the rebound, was fouled, and made two free throws to make it a 73-70 game with under four seconds to go. Stanford would not be able to force overtime as a 3-point attempt by Michael Jones fell short from the corner.
For Stanford, this is a really disappointing loss. I had them winning this game and they were not able to finish the job. Harrison Ingram was virtually non-existent, scoring just one point and in general, Spencer Jones just didn’t get enough help from his friends. Even then, Stanford still had a chance to win the game at the end, but Colorado made winning plays in crunch time while Stanford came up just short. This has become an unfortunate pattern for Stanford and they desperately need to buck this trend if they are to salvage this season.
“I do believe that’s possible,” Haase said of bucking this trend. “I believe it’s realistic and I believe it’s gonna happen. Our guys have worked so hard, they believed in everything from the style of play to the offense and the defense and how we practice and how we prepare and scouting reports and again right now it's me looking in the mirror and finding out as a head coach getting over the top right now. It's obvious we're close against a lot of good teams and we need to find a way to squeeze out another basket or one more stop to be able to finish the deal.”
As for Colorado, this is a nice win. It’s always good to get wins on the road. Especially against a solid team like Stanford that is truly is capable of beating some good teams on any given night. Stanford is never easy to beat at Maples Pavilion and to come out with a win in this game speaks to the kind of team that the Buffaloes are.
“Coach Boyle’s been there while, is a phenomenal culture they've, they rebound well they generally shoot the ball well from the perimeter,” Haase said of Colorado. “You know McKinley Wright, now K.J. Simpson, who’ve had an elite point guard with some really good pieces around him. Tristan da Silva obviously we know him well, Oscar's brother, we certainly knew about him before he was in college as well and I think the world of him as a player and as a person. They have good players and they have good coaching and they have been a tough out for us to be able to get them but as time goes on we're gonna find a way to go to the top with them and others.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game on Saturday against Utah. That will tip-off at 1:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
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