Colorado escapes Seton Hall 65-64 in NIT behind Wright's 18

Mar 15, 2023, 09:06 pm

BOULDER, Colo. -- — Ethan Wright scored a season-high 18 points, Tristan da Silva added 15 and Colorado beat Seton Hall 65-64 on Tuesday night in the NIT.

Colorado (18-16) advances to the second round and will face either New Mexico or Utah Valley.

Da Silva was off on a 3-pointer with under a minute to play and Seton Hall secured the loose ball and raced the other way for a KC Ndefo dunk while being fouled with 32.1 seconds left. Ndefo added the free throw to give Seton Hall a 64-63 advantage for the ninth lead change of the game.

Colorado opted for a quick shot and Julian Hammond III was left wide open in the lane to take a 65-64 lead with 20.6 seconds left. After two timeouts, Femi Odukale was surrounded near the free-throw line and his last-second scoop shot was off the mark and Colorado secured the loose ball.

Luke O’Brien grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds to go with eight points for Colorado. Hammond scored 10 with five assists.

Ndefo finished with 18 points and Tyrese Samuel had his second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Seton Hall (17-16). Al-Amir Dawes scored 13.

------ More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP--Top25