Still alive: CU Buffs dominante second half to rally past West Virginia at Big 12 tourney

Fast break

Why the Buffs won: CU shot .609 in the second half and forcred 11 second-half turnovers out of the Mountaineers.

Three stars

1. CU’s Elijah Malone. The fifth-year center had his biggest game as a Buff, going 7-for-10 and scoring 12 of his 14 points after halftime.

2. CU’s RJ Smith. Went 3-for-5 on 3-pointers, including a dagger-like bomb on a wide-open look at the top of the arc with 57 seconds left, before finishing with 13 points and five rebounds.

3. WVU’s Javon Small. Scored a game-high 23 points, but between his 13 points in the first 11-plus minutes and a pair of last-minute, desperation 3s, Small was held to four points while the Buffs took control.

Up next: The 16th-seeded Buffs face a huge challenge in keeping their season alive when they take on top-seeded, third-ranked Houston in the quarterfinals on Thursday (1 p.m. MT, ESPN2).

KANSAS CITY — In a season marked by far more lowlights than highlights, the Colorado men’s basketball team is putting together a few thrills at the end.

The Big 12 Conference tournament will be the extent of CU’s March Madness. Yet after the misery that marked January and most of February, hope springs eternal once again for Buff Nation.

For the second consecutive day the Buffs kept their season alive in dramatic fashion, ambushing West Virginia in the second half to rally for a 67-60 second-round win on Wednesday at the T-Mobile Center. In the 29-year history of the Big 12-era of the conference, CU became just the second last-place team to win two games at the league tournament.

The Buffs will face top-seeded Houston in the quarterfinals on Thursday. CU outscored the Mountaineers 44-31 in the second half and shot .609 after halftime against a West Virginia team that ranked fifth in Big 12 games in defensive field goal percentage.

“We just felt like when we scratching and clawing to get back in the game, whether it was the first half or the second half — especially the second half — we felt like if we could get back and get it tied or take the lead they might tighten up a little bit,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “You shoot 61% in the second half against one of the best defenses in the league, that’s a credit to these guys.

“I thought we had great, great performances in the second half by Elijah Malone, who was a beast down low. And also Felix Kossaras defensively, and he made some big plays on offense as well.”

CU trailed by 13 points in the first half and by nine with less than 10 minutes remaining before the Buffs put together a dominant season-saving run. The Buffs reeled off 15 consecutive points in a 17-1 burst, taking a 54-47 lead with 3 minutes, 45 seconds remaining.

The Mountaineers rallied to within three points, but an inside bucket by Malone followed by a 3-pointer from RJ Smith gave CU breathing room down the stretch.

CU committed six turnovers in the game’s first 10:19 but recorded only five the rest of the way. On the other end, the Buffs forced 11 turnovers from the Mountaineers in the second half. CU recorded a 15-7 advantage in points off turnovers after halftime.

“We just switched our defense a lot. In the second half we threw some zone press, back to zone,” CU’s Andrej Jakimovski said. “We played great. We’ve got the potential to be a really great defensive team. And if we continue to play like this, and try to commit with the players we can get stops against one of the probably best players in the league (West Virginia’s Javon Small). He made some tough shots, but we made it hard on him. That was the key to win the game.”

Small was 4-for-6 with 13 points 11 and a half minutes into the game, and while he hit a couple 3-pointers late to keep West Virginia close, a defensive effort spurred by Kossaras kept one of the Big 12’s most explosive players in check after his fast start.

Kossaras, who scored a season-high seven points after grabbing four rebounds in the first-round win against TCU, typified the Buffs’ team effort. Malone had by far his most impactful game since the start of Big 12 play, finishing 7-for-10 while scoring 12 of his Big 12-high 14 points after halftime. Smith went 3-for-5 on 3-pointers, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds. Jakimovski and Julian Hammond III combined to go just 4-for-16, but they went 10-for-10 at the free throw line, with Jakimovski grabbing a team-high six rebounds and Hammond posting five assists against just one turnover.

“We’ve had our hardship this year. But we just stuck together,” Kossaras said. “We knew we were a good team. We just weren’t able to get over that hump in the beginning. But I think we started to get it toward the end of the season and that boosted our confidence coming into the Big 12 tournament. It’s a new season.”

Colorado 67, West Virginia 60

COLORADO (14-19)

Baskin 2-3 3-4 7, Dak 1-5 0-0 3, Jakimovski 3-11 4-4 11, Hammond 1-5 6-6 8, Ruffin 0-2 0-0 0, Malone 7-10 0-0 14, Smith 4-7 2-2 13, Kossaras 3-4 1-2 7, Diop 0-0 1-2 1, Rancik 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 22-49 18-22 67.

WEST VIRGINIA (19-13)

Hansberry 0-5 2-2 2, Harris 2-4 0-0 4, Okani 4-7 2-4 11, Powell 3-9 1-1 8, Small 7-15 5-6 23, Yesufu 2-6 0-0 4, Andre 2-3 2-5 6, Tenner 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-51 12-18 60.

Halftime: West Virginia 29-23. 3-point field goals: Colorado 5-13 (Smith 3-5, Dak 1-1, Jakimovski 1-3, Malone 0-1, Ruffin 0-1, Hammond 0-2); West Virginia 6-19 (Small 4-11, Okani 1-1, Powell 1-3, Hansberry 0-2, Yesufu 0-2). Rebounds: Colorado 31 (Jakimovski 6); West Virginia 30 (Hansberry 6). Assists: Colorado 10 (Hammond 5); West Virginia 12 (Small 5). Turnovers: Colorado 11 (Ruffin 5); West Virginia 15 (Small, Andre 3). Total fouls: Colorado 15, West Virginia 18. A: 12,922.