LAS VEGAS — Early in the season, when Colorado was a fully healthy, high-scoring squad, it was point guard KJ Simpson who set the tone.
The Buffaloes have morphed into a more rugged bunch defensively, and still it is Simpson leading the way.
While CU extended its win streak to eight games with a 58-52 win against Washington State in the Pac-12 semifinals on Friday night, Simpson extended his defensive run against some of the top perimeter players in the conference.
Simpson talked openly since the outset of the season about his desire to land on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team. He fell just short, gaining honorable mention all-defense instead, but in Las Vegas Simpson is attempting to let his play do the talking.
“I’m just really priding myself on defense,” Simpson said. “Coach talks about it. It doesn’t just take one person. It takes a whole team, not just me. A lot of guys are going out there and guarding tough positions. J’Vonne Hadley’s doing a great job guarding the other guys’ forward position. But for me personally, I think I just have a chip on my shoulder not being first team all-defense. Just going out there and proving everybody wrong. Just trying to be a leader on the defensive end for this team.”
Simpson took the lead on Friday in guarding Washington State point guard Myles Rice, who entered the contest averaging 15.2 points with a .445 field goal percentage. Against Simpson and the Buffs, Rice went 4-for-13, missing all six of his 3-point attempts, before finishing with 10 points and a game-high five turnovers.
It continued an impressive defensive run for Simpson. In a must-win situation for CU in the regular season finale last week at Oregon State, he helped hold Beavers leading scorer Jordan Pope to 10 points on a 3-for-12 showing. Utah guard Deivon Smith nearly recorded a triple-double (15 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) in the Utes’ Pac-12 first round win against Arizona State, but against CU and Simpson in the quarterfinals, Smith went 2-for-12 with five points.
“KJ Simpson is the best defensive point guard in this league. And it’s not even close,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “He doesn’t get enough credit. His teammates know. His coaches know. The CU fans know. He plays both sides of the ball, and there’s so few college basketball players that do that.”
To foul, or not foul?
Boyle is old-school in almost everything he does. That includes his belief in not fouling when up three points in the waning moments of a game.
Yet with a berth in the final Pac-12 title game on the line, Boyle called for a foul as CU freshman Bangot Dak hacked WSU’s Jaylen Wells. But Wells missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5.4 seconds left, and the Buffs sealed the win.
“That’s not my style,” Boyle said. ”Those of you who know, that’s not what we do. I was really afraid. Wells is such a good shooter, I didn’t want one (3-pointer) to go in. I felt like the time was right.”
Notable
Washington State’s 19 turnovers was the most by a CU opponent this season. … CU’s eight consecutive wins against conference foes is the program’s most since winning 11 in a row in the Big 8 in 1961-62. … Saturday’s championship game will be Boyle’s 600th as a Division I head coach, including four seasons at Northern Colorado. … Backup point guard Julian Hammond III missed his seventh consecutive game due to a knee injury.
