After an almost-perfect first half, the Colorado Buffaloes held a 17-point lead over Washington on Thursday in the third of four championship games at the Acrisure Series college basketball tournament.
Veteran coach Tad Boyle warned his team at the half that the game wasn't over yet.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I told them the first five minutes of the second half are going to be the most important five minutes of the season so far," Boyle said, and then added wryly. "And sometimes players don't listen to their coach."
Colorado did not heed their coach's warning and came out flat while Washington cranked up the intensity. The Huskies went on a 22-5 run in the first eight minutes after halftime to completely erase the Buffaloes lead and tied the game at 52-all.
To Colorado's credit, though, they didn't wilt. The Buffs regrouped, got back to the defensive energy and offensive execution that was working in the first half and finished the game on a run of their own to earn an 81-68 victory and the chance to hoist a championship trophy. The title is one of four handed out during the four-day, 20-team event in Palm Desert, California.
The Colorado Buffaloes celebrate their Acrisure Series Championship victory over the Washington Huskies at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., Nov. 28, 2025.Boyle was happy to see his team not buckle when their 17-point lead went away.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"That says to me we've got competitive guys who want to win, it's important to them," he said. "In the big picture maybe it's good that that happened because we can learn from it. Another opportunity to say it's a 40-minute game, but I'm glad we had the resolve to hold them off."
The win moves Colorado to 7-0 on the season, while Washington falls to 5-2. Both teams used to be Pac-12 mates, but in 2025 this was a game between the Big 12 and the Big Ten.
The difference in the game was the team defensive effort of Colorado as they were able to make it hard on the talented guards of Washington that include two talented transfers from USC in Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude.
The ability of guards like Barington Hargress, Felix Kossaras, Isaiah Johnson and Jalin Holland to stay in front of the speedy Huskies' ball-handlers without fouling and then getting help from the front court big men like Bangot Dak, Sebastian Rancik and Elijah Malone to protect the rim was impressive.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We understood on the scouting report that they had a lot of crafty guards that were looking to get to the basket, so we just wanted to make it as tough as possible," said Hargress who had a big grin when he got his hands on the trophy. "We got to play some really good competition and understand what it's really like to win on a neutral floor which will help us come march."
Dak was the leading scorer for Colorado in this one and had his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He was named the MVP of this four-team pod at the Acrisure Series. Johnson had 13, Alon Michaeli had 12, Rancik 11 and Kossaras 11 in a balanced attack for the Buffaloes. Hargress finished with seven points and eight assists.
Washington was led by Quimari Peterson with a game-high 18 points and Claude finished with 14, but the team's leading scorer Yates was held to nine points.
Coach Boyle said winning these small pre-conference tournaments can add value aside from just picking up a couple résumé-boosting wins.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Confidence is No. 1 and togetherness," Boyle said about what leaving the desert with a trophy will mean. "Understanding that when the team puts the Colorado name on the front of the jersey over the name on the back of the jersey really good things can happen and you can win championships. This is a small championship, we really want would be to do it in the Big 12, but it builds confidence and pride."
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Colorado men's basketball tops Washington at Acrisure Series event
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