INDIANAPOLIS — KJ Simpson capped a wild second half with a baseline jumper that hit the rim five times before rattling in with one second left to lead No. 10 Colorado to a dramatic 102-100 win over No. 7 Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Simpson finished with a team-leading 23 points while Eddie Lampkin Jr. added 21 for Colorado (26-10), which advances to play No. 2 Marquette on Sunday in the second round of the South Region.
“There (were) multiple actions out of it,” Simpson said of the winning play design. “(I) happened to break free and was just looking to drive, create something, whatever was the best play, and noticed the defender got a little bit off balance, and that’s a shot I shoot a bunch of times.
“Credit to my teammates, and Cody (Williams) threw me a great pass that was able to guide me and lead me in that direction, and just stepping up and hitting a shot.”
Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. scored a game-high 33 points and hit the backboard on a desperation miss at the final buzzer as the Gators (24-12) ended their season in heartbreak after erasing a 13-point deficit in the final 4:28 with improved effort.
“Obviously we just got a little bit more aggressive defensively,” Gators coach Todd Golden said. “I probably should have got us in that a little earlier.
“With that being said, I, again, thought they kept their composure really well. Even though we were down a little bit and we were struggling, our guys weren’t hanging their heads. They were staying positive and staying together.”
The teams combined for 112 points in the second half and combined to shoot 17-of-35 from 3-point range on the day.
The game turned controversial in the second half after officials awarded a pair of and-one calls to Colorado. Williams couldn’t convert his chance with 9:41 left.
But following Lampkin’s layup with 7:44 left that also drew a bonus free throw, Golden erupted on the sidelines and was assessed a technical.
J’Vonne Hadley sank both technical free throws and Lampkin then converted his free throw to complete the five-point swing, doubling Colorado’s lead to 10 points at 82-72.
Trailing 94-81 with 4:28 left, Florida cut the deficit to six on a 7-0 run. But Florida big man Alex Condon fouled out with 2:11 remaining. Florida drew within 97-93 with 1:16 to go before Simpson answered with a layup with 48.5 seconds left.
Florida made it a 99-96 game when Clayton drained a 3 from the left wing with 37.2 seconds remaining.
The Gators’ Riley Kugel stole a pass as Colorado attempted to advance the ball, and Clayton drove to the basket and was fouled. He made one of two free throws.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle tried multiple approaches to counter Florida’s second-half run.
“I thought we didn’t do a great job of guarding them off the bounce,” he said. “They got some and-ones. We wanted to take away 3s. That’s one of the reasons we went small, so we could switch everything. But they kept coming, and we weren’t great.”
Colorado overcame a 24-14 first-half deficit thanks to the work of Hadley, Lampkin, Simpson and Tristan da Silva. The four players combined for 34 of Colorado’s 45 first-half points.
A 3-pointer from Hadley brought the Buffs within 35-34. Lampkin then picked off a pass underneath the Florida basket and started a fast break that ended with his spin to the basket and a layup, giving Colorado its first lead since the opening two minutes.
There were four lead changes and two ties in the final three minutes of the half, which ended in a 45-45 deadlock.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
