INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Kolek had 21 points and 11 assists, David Joplin made two free throws with 7.4 seconds left, and Marquette finally defeated Colorado in Sunday’s second round of the NCAA Tournament. Defeated 81-77.
In his third season under coach Shaka Smart, the second-seeded Golden Eagles (27-9) defeated the 10th-seeded Buffaloes (26-11) and their dynamic offense, winning their first sweet game since 2013. advanced to 16th.
Marquette had Cam Jones with 18 points and Joplin with 14 points, shooting 61.8% from the field, but could not sway Colorado until the final minute. Chase Ross made the tie-breaking 3-pointer off a pass from Kolek with 2:53 remaining, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
KJ Simpson scored 20 points and Tristan da Silva scored 17 points for Colorado, which trailed by 11 points at halftime, but rallied and took a 55-54 lead just over five minutes into the second half. Kolek put the Golden Eagles back on top with a short jumper, and Marquette never trailed again, but Colorado tied it twice, the last on Da Silva’s 3-pointer with 4:02 left. .
The Buffs trailed 79-77 and had to foul three times to force Joplin up 1-on-1. He defeated both, setting up a South Regional semifinal matchup with No. 11 seed North Carolina State on Friday in Dallas.
Kolek, playing in his second game after missing six games with an oblique injury, was efficient on 10-of-14 shooting for the Golden Eagles and regularly found available teammates. Ta.
Eddie Lumpkin Jr. scored 13 points and Cody Williams added 12 points for the Buffs, who had already set a program win record and were playing their third game in five days. They beat Boise State in the First Four and defeated Florida State 102-100 in one of the most entertaining games of the first round.
This could have been even better.
Marquette led 45-34 at halftime, but Da Silva and Simpson were active in the second half. They made five 3-pointers during a 21-9 run in the first 5 minutes, 19 seconds.
