Mar 8, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; TCU Horned Frogs forward Micah Robinson (5) shoots the ball over Colorado Buffaloes guard RJ Smith (5) and forward Sebastian Rancik (7) in the first half at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Julian Hammond III scored 19 points in his return to the lineup after a one-game absence, RJ Smith added 12 and the Colorado Buffaloes beat the TCU Horned Frogs 76-56 in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday afternoon.
Bangot Dak added 10 points and Trevor Baskin had a season-high 16 rebounds for Colorado (12-19, 3-17 Big 12 Conference), which snapped a three-game skid.
Trazarien White had 21 points and Noah Reynolds contributed 12 for TCU (16-15, 9-11).
Javon Ruffin opened the second half with a long 3-pointer to push Colorado’s lead to 40-31 before immediately picking up his third foul.
The Horned Frogs cut the deficit to 44-39 on White’s layup but Elijah Malone then had two dunks and Hammond drained a 3-pointer to give the Buffaloes a 51-39 lead.
TCU answered with a rally to get within a possession. White made four free throws and Malick Diallo, Micah Robinson and Reynolds hit layups during an 11-0 run to pull within 51-50 with 10:11 left.
Colorado recovered to retake control. Smith hit a jumper, Baskin tipped in a rebound and Smith had a steal that led to a three-point play and a 58-50 lead.
Reynolds had a layup wiped away by a moving screen and Vasean Allette was called for a technical foul. Hammond made the two free throws and Dak drained a short jumper to give the Buffaloes a 62-50 lead.
David Punch made a layup but Hammond hit a jumper and Baskin split a pair of free throws to increase the advantage to 65-52.
The Horned Frogs went ice cold, missing nine shots in a row, and went without a field goal for the final 6:43. Hammond’s two free throws and his third 3-pointer pushed the lead to 73-54 with 2:07 left on the clock before the Buffaloes closed it out.
Colorado led by as many as nine points in the first half but didn’t make a field goal for the final 4:18. They held the Horned Frogs to one basket in the last 5:23 of the period and took a 37-31 lead into intermission.
–Field Level Media
