INDIANAPOLIS — Colorado guard KJ Simpson rattled in a baseline jumper in the final seconds to give the No. 10 seed Buffaloes a 102-100 win over the seventh-seeded Florida Gators in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Colorado (26-10) advances to square off with the No. 2 seed in the South Region, the Marquette Golden Eagles on Sunday.
Simpson finished the day with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists. Eddie Lampkin Jr. scored 21, Tristan da Silva added 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and J’Vonne Hadley had 16.
“We always go through preparation with time and score, situations like that in practice, and it was just another one of those times,” Simpson said. “Obviously, it was a play that was set up for multiple actions out of it. I happened to break free, was looking to just drive and create something, whatever was the best lane, and noticed the defender got a little off balance. I just shot what I shoot a bunch of times.”
Florida (24-12) began to make a furious comeback that was led by Walter Clayton Jr., who scored the final 16 points for the Gators.
Clayton finished as the high-point man, with 33 points and was 4 of 10 from behind the arc for the game.
Colorado seemed to have the game well in hand, as they held a 94-81 lead with 4:28 left to play.
But then Clayton single-handedly began Florida's comeback. He completed a three-point play with 1:12 on the clock to make it 97-93. Then Clayton later drained a three with 37 seconds left to make it 99-96.
Then it appeared the game was heading into overtime when Clayton buried a shot from well-behind the three-point line, tying the game at 100-all with just nine seconds left.
But on Colorado's final possession, Simpson put up a shot that hung on the rim for a moment before falling through.
And when Clayton's final heave missed, the Colorado bench emptied onto the floor in celebration.
Will Richard scored 15 points and Zyon Pullin had 13 for Florida.
Yale 78, Auburn 76
SPOKANE, Wash. — John Poulakidas scored 28 points and the No. 13-seeded Yale Bulldogs became the latest Ivy League team to pull off an upset, beating the 4th-seeded Auburn Tigers 78-76 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
Yale will now face No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs in the second round on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (23-9) had to rally in the final five minutes of the game in order to notch the second win in the program's history. And Poulakidas was there to hit big shot after big shot.
His step-back 3-pointer with 2:10 left gave Yale a 73-72 lead, and from that point on, the Bulldogs never looked back.
Despite the chaotic finish that saw the Tigers get two shots off after a missed free throw, the Bulldogs still managed to hangon.
Auburn's K.D. Johnson had a contested 3-point attempt that would've won the game at the buzzer, but it was off the mark.
Johni Broome led the Tigers (27-8) with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but appeared to suffer an injury to his right knee in the final scrum. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was uncertain when asked about the severity of the injury.
Auburn took a 10-point lead with 7:27 to play after Denver Jones hit a 3-pointer, but the Tigers were outscored 20-8 to close out the game. Auburn didn't help itself either by missing five free throws in the final 3½ minutes.
Jones had 17 points for Auburn and Jaylin Williams added 13.
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