LOS ANGELES — Two victories separated Colorado from its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003 as the sixth-seeded Buffaloes arrived for a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal late Friday night at the Staples Center against No. 2 seed California.
Players, coaches, fans, everybody could feel the pressure. But CU coach Tad Boyle felt good about his team’s chances.
Boyle knows his team. The Buffaloes (22-11) defeated the Bears 70-59.
“We executed the entire second half and controlled the tempo,” Tad Boyle said. “I can’t say enough about the toughness these guys have shown. It’s galvanized our team.”
CU advanced to today’s 4 p.m. championship game against No. 4 seed Arizona (23-10), a 72-61 winner over No. 9-seeded Oregon State in Friday’s earlier semifinal.
The league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is at stake.
“I think it’s really appropriate that the two best defensive teams are playing for the championship,” Boyle said. “We’re going to be playing with a lot of emotion tomorrow and I’m sure they will too. There’s a lot at stake.”
The Buffs were picked in a preseason Pac-12 poll to finish in tie for 10th.
“These are competitive guys,” Boyle said. “They didn’t like that.”
An 8-0 run keyed the victory. Ahead 49-46 with 7:52 remaining, senior guard Carlon Brown made a free throw, a layup and a jumper, and three free throws by Austin Dufault made it 57-46 with 4:51 left.
California wouldn’t quit. The Bears twice pulled to within seven points, but a tomahawk jam by Brown with 58.9 seconds left finished off the Buffs’ upset victory with an emphatic exclamation mark.
“It’s not satisfying until we go to center court to get that trophy,” Brown told Root Sports after the game. “It’s going to take the same amount of work and athleticism today.”
André Robinson and Brown had 17 points to lead the Buffs. Austin Dufault added 15 points.
Sophomore guard Allen Crabbe led California with 18 points.
Roberson added a game-high nine rebounds.
On Saturday, the Buffs will be playing their fourth game in four days.
“We can rest when the tournament is over,” Dufault said. “We’ll be playing on adrenaline tomorrow.”
This is a new conference for Colorado and the venue is different. But the Buffs advanced to a conference semifinal for the second consecutive year, having lost to Kansas last March in the Big 12 Tournament.
“I think we found our heart here in Los Angeles,” Boyle said.
Colorado entered the game 4-1 in Pac-12 games decided by seven points or fewer, 10-3 for all games. That included Thursday night’s 63-62 squeaker over third-seeded Oregon in the quarterfinal round.
Dufault, playing in his school-record 133rd game to break his tie with former Buff Cory Higgins (2007-11), got off to a slow start offensively, hitting just two of seven shots in the first half. But he caused one of the biggest roars from the crowd — a running, one-handed dunk that began at the foul line.
At least it was the biggest roar until the final horn sounded.
