Javon Small, No. 21 West Virginia hold off Colorado

Field Level Media|published: Sun 12th January, 17:37 2025

NCAA Basketball: West Virginia at Colorado

Jan 12, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Javon Small (7) passes the ball away from Colorado Buffaloes forward Andrej Jakimovski (23) in the first half at CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Javon Small scored 26 points, Joseph Yesufu added 18 points and No. 21 West Virginia beat Colorado 78-70 on Sunday in Boulder, Colo.

Eduardo Andre had 12 points before fouling out and Jonathan Powell contributed 10 points for West Virginia. The Mountaineers (12-3, 3-1 Big 12 Conference) have won eight of the last nine.

Julian Hammond III scored 21 points and Assane Diop finished with 15 for Colorado (9-6, 0-4), which made more free throws (24) than field goal attempts (20).

West Virginia increased its 11-point halftime lead to 49-35 early in the second, but the Buffaloes tried to claw their way back into the game. Hammond made four free throws and a baseline jumper, Bangot Dak hit two from the line and Harrison Carrington made a free throw to get Colorado within 54-48 with 12:37 left.

After a timeout, Sebastian Rancik made two more from the stripe to get the Buffaloes within four, the closest since midway through the first half.

Yesufu hit a long 2-pointer to end a Mountaineers scoring drought of 3:11 that allowed the Buffaloes to get close. Colorado got 12 straight points from the free-throw line to pull within 57-55 with 8:20 left.

Andre and Sencire Harris had dunks sandwiching a layup by the Buffaloes to make it 61-57.

Colorado continued to rally from the line, getting four more free throws from Hammond to make it 63-61. After Yesufu split a pair of free throws for West Virginia, Trevor Baskin had a follow dunk and made it a 66-63 game.

Yesufu converted a three-point play to extend the lead to 71-65, and West Virginia held on.

The game was close early before the Mountaineers started to get some separation. Harris made two free throws, Andre converted a three-point play and Toby Okani made a short jumper in the lane to kickstart run that turned a four-point lead into a 36-23 advantage.

Colorado hit two straight layups to get within nine in the final minute of the first, but Andre converted a dunk at the buzzer and West Virginia went into halftime with a 40-29 lead.

--Field Level Media

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