Colorado pulls away from No. 15 Miami for 90-63 win

NEW YORK — Tristan da Silva just missed a triple-double Sunday afternoon, when he fueled a decisive second half that helped Colorado pull away from No. 15 Miami 90-63 in an NABC Brooklyn Showcase game at Barclays Center.

da Silva finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He was 2 for 7 from the field in the first half before collecting 18 points, three rebounds and four assists over the final 20 minutes, when Colorado outscored Miami 53-27.

“I told myself before the game I can’t rely on my shot too much,” da Silva said. “I just kept to it. Started rebounding, started sharing the ball, taking care of the ball.”

KJ Simpson scored 20 points while Luke O’Brien scored all 13 of his points during the game-ending 47-17 run for Colorado (7-2). J’Vonne Hadley, Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Julian Hammond III all added 11 points apiece.

The Buffaloes won without star freshman guard Cody Williams, who is day-to-day with a wrist injury.

“That’s a helluva win against a really good, good basketball team,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said.

Matthew Cleveland scored 17 points, Norchad Omier had 12 points and Wooga Poplar added 11 points for Miami (7-2), which lost a homecoming for coach Jim Larrañaga, who was born in the Bronx and graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens.

“Credit goes to Colorado, they really took over in the second half,” Larrañaga said.

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The Buffaloes held a trio of eight-point leads and never trailed in the first half, but Miami pulled within 37-36 by heading into the locker room on a 10-3 run over the final 1:35. Cleveland opened the surge with a 3-pointer and capped it with an old-fashioned 3-point play with fewer than two seconds left.

Nijel Pack opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give Miami its first lead. The Hurricanes went ahead 46-43 on a layup by Bensley Joseph with 15:46 left but Colorado scored on 10 of its next 12 possessions and took its first double-digit lead at 62-50 on a 3-pointer by O’Brien with 10:05 left.

“I think the way they play offense really tore us apart — moving without the ball, setting really good screens, constant movement and cutting,” Larrañaga said.

The Buffaloes tied a season-high with 28 assists, including 16 on 21 second-half field goals. Colorado forced Miami into 14 second-half turnovers and 20 overall, the Hurricanes’ most since they had 21 turnovers against Florida State on Jan. 18, 2020.

“Man, our guys answered the bell in the second half,” Boyle said. “We talked a lot about how when we don’t get kills defensively — three stops in a row. First half, we only had one and it’s a one-point game. Second half, we got four and kind of blew it open.”