Team Colorado waited four years to return to The Basketball Tournament. The Buffaloes basketball alums will have to wait at least one more year to take part in another game.
The reunion of the former CU players proved to be a short one, as Team Colorado was eliminated with a 70-68 first-round loss against Men of Mackey in Dayton on Wednesday. Four years after Team Colorado’s most recent TBT appearance and now a full seven years since the program nearly pocketed the $1 million winner-take-all jackpot in the 2016 final, a revamped, younger Team Colorado will have no other option but to wait for next year.
TBT utilizes the Elam Ending, which sets a winning target score at eight points ahead of the leading team’s total at the first dead ball with under four minutes remaining. Team Colorado was leading 61-59 at the time, setting the winning target at 69 points.
The game was tied at 66 and again at 68, setting up a next-basket-wins finale. Team Colorado was undone by a little bad luck, as Men of Mackey’s Isaiah Wilkerson came off a screen to launch a jumper from just beyond the right edge of the free throw line. The shot banked in, securing the winning points and ending Team Colorado’s short-lived run.
CU director of player development Zach Ruebesam, serving as Team Colorado’s head coach, went with a starting lineup of Shannon Sharpe, Shane Gatling, D’Shawn Schwartz, Jeriah Horne and Evan Battey. Sharpe went 6-for-11, sharing the team-high scoring honors with Horne with 13 points, while Schwartz went 4-for-9 with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Schwartz and Horne shared the team lead with three assists apiece, and Horne also added eight rebounds.
Team Colorado entered the tournament hoping to utilize some of the defense-and-rebounding focus always professed by CU head coach Tad Boyle. The former Buffs did outrebound Men of Mackey 37-27, but the Purdue-based squad show .431 overall and .400 (10-for-25) on 3-pointers. Team Colorado shot .463 overall but struggled to a .222 mark (4-for-18) from long range.
Battey hit two of those four 3-pointers, finishing 4-for-6 overall with 11 points and six rebounds.
Team Colorado built a 12-point lead early in the first quarter, but Men of Mackey rallied into a 31-31 tie at halftime, and the contest remained close the rest of the way. Wilkerson led Men of Mackey with 14 points.
Notable
Due to a personal matter, former CU forward Tyler Bey missed the team’s recent three-day training camp in Boulder as well as Wednesday’s first round defeat. If Team Colorado had won, Bey was planning to fly to Dayton on Thursday. … George King was on the bench for Team Colorado but was unavailable, as he is working his way back from a broken bone in his left hand. King took part in non-contact drills during the training camp and was hoping to be cleared if Team Colorado advanced deeper into TBT. … Men of Mackey will face Friday Beers in the second round on Friday.
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July 27, 2023 at 06:05AM
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Quick exit for Team Colorado at The Basketball Tournament - BuffZone
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