Andrej Jakimovski’s hot second half lifts Colorado over TCU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andrej Jakimovski scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half to lift No. 16 seed Colorado to a 69-67 victory over TCU in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

The Buffaloes will face eighth-seeded West Virginia in the second round Wednesday.

The Buffaloes (13-19) also got 16 points from Julian Hammond III.

No. 9 seed TCU (16-16) was led by Noah Reynolds, who scored all 17 of his points after halftime. Trazarien White added 13.

Colorado, which closed the regular season with an emphatic 76-56 victory over TCU, proved that it was not a fluke.

The Buffaloes stormed out of the gate to start the second half, using a 13-1 run to open up a 39-28 lead at the first media timeout. They maintained the lead the rest of the game, though TCU got it close.

TCU used a 7-0 run to turn a 13-point deficit into a 63-57 score. But Vasean Allette missed two free throws for TCU, and after a defensive stop, Reynolds hit a corner 3-pointer to make it 63-60 with 1:39 left.

Bangot Dak got an open dunk to stretch it to 65-60, but Jace Posey hit a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left. Hammond hit two free throws to make it 67-63. Reynolds’ layup cut it to two again,

Javon Ruffin hit two free throws with five seconds left before Reynolds’ layup just prior to the buzzer.

TCU opened the game by missing its first 13 shots. They didn’t hit a field goal until Posey hit a 3-pointer at the 12:06 mark of the first. Fortunately for the Horned Frogs, the Buffaloes weren’t much better and Posey’s bomb cut the deficit to 8-5.

The Frogs gradually chipped away, cutting the deficit to 16-15 with a little more than six minutes left. TCU finally grabbed its first lead with 1:06 left on a short jumper by White.

White led the Horned Frogs with nine points as TCU led 27-26 at the break. Colorado was led by Hammond with 10 points.

–David Smale, Field Level Media