Colorado Buffaloes Basketball

Tad Boyle has landed Colorado its first 5-star recruit in at least a decade.

Forward Cody Williams announced his commitment to the Buffaloes on Monday, choosing Boyle's program over a hard push from LSU.

"The program and the players are very connected, and they have built a great culture," Williams told ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi. "I see myself as part of it. I love the staff and Coach Boyle. When Coach Boyle tells you something, you know it is the truth whether it's on or off the court. It is to help you. He is a very genuine person."

Williams is the No. 23 prospect in the 2023 recruiting class and the fifth-ranked small forward, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. He's the younger brother of Oklahoma City Thunder first-round pick Jalen Williams and arguably comes with a higher ceiling.

Gifted with elite length at 6'8" and athletic fluidity, Williams has the potential to be the best defensive player in his class. He's still very much a work in progress on the offensive end—particularly as a shooter—but his ability to create for himself off the dribble and finish at the rim will give him some leeway as his shot develops.

"I love defense," Williams said. "I am focusing on my defense because most do not give it enough attention. My brother is now getting playing time because he has committed himself to guarding, switching and rebounding."

Landing Williams is nothing short of a massive win for Boyle, who is in his 13th season at Colorado. The program has never come close to landing a prospect of Williams' caliber before, with 2012 forward Josh Scott being the previous top recruit signed under Boyle.

Williams is joined by 3-star shooting guard Courtney Anderson among players in the Buffaloes' 2023 class.

The second-ranked Arizona Wildcats were stunned Saturday in a 79-63 loss to Colorado at the CU Events Center.

Riding a nine-game winning streak that moved them up to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since November 2017, the Wildcats suffered their first loss since Jan. 25 against UCLA.

Arizona collapsed on both ends of the court in the second half. The Buffaloes had a 47-26 scoring advantage after halftime to earn their first win over a ranked opponent this season.

Tristan da Silva scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Jabari Walker put up a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds in 33 minutes.

Bennedict Mathurin had one of his worst performances of the season. The Wildcats sophomore star scored 12 points and went 3-of-11 from the field.

Saturday was a bad day to be a ranked team in college basketball:

That list doesn't even include top-ranked Gonzaga, which lost 67-57 to St. Mary's.

Arizona had been steadily moving up the rankings all season as it kept winning and other teams kept losing. Its only losses prior to Saturday were against UCLA and Tennessee, two teams ranked in the Top 20 of the current Associated Press poll.

Since their 75-59 loss to UCLA on Jan. 25, the Wildcats were averaging 81.6 points per game during their nine-game winning streak. They scored at least 83 points in four straight contests.

This game looked like it was going to be more of the same for Arizona in the first half. The offense dropped 37 points through the first 20 minutes.

Things fell apart quickly coming out of the intermission with Colorado scoring on back-to-back possessions to make it a 37-36 game. Da Silva's layup with 17:24 remaining put the Buffaloes up 43-42, a lead they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the game.

K.J. Simpson scored five consecutive points early in the second half that helped Colorado open up an eight-point lead.

Simpson had 13 points total, with 12 coming in the second half. The sophomore guard had more points in this game than he did in the previous two combined (12).

Mathurin and Azuolas Tubelis were the only Arizona players who scored in double figures, but they shot a combined 6-of-20 from the field. The entire Wildcats team had 16 turnovers to 11 assists.

Things don't figure to get easier for Arizona with a game against No. 16 USC on Tuesday. The Wildcats won the first meeting between those two teams, 72-63, on Feb. 5 at McKale Memorial Center.

Colorado will wrap up the regular season on March 5 against Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.    

Colorado men's basketball coach Tad Boyle called Monday's mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, where the school's campus is located, "another senseless act of violence."

Boyle opened his postgame press conference with a statement discussing the shooting after the Buffaloes' 71-53 loss to Florida State in the second round of the 2021 NCAA tournament in Indianapolis:

"First of all, before we talk about this basketball game, I thought about this in the locker room before the game, how the events that took place in Boulder, Colorado, today—and I don't have any details other than to know it was a tragic, tragic situation. It puts basketball in its proper place.

"And win or lose tonight, I just felt an emptiness in my stomach. Another senseless act of violence that we've experienced as a country many, many times. And so it puts this game in perspective. It certainly puts losing in perspective.

"But even if we would have won this game and celebrated going to the Sweet 16, it would have put a damper on it. So my heart goes out to the families that were affected and those that lost their lives."

CNN's Madeline Holcombe reported 10 people were killed when a shooter opened fire inside a King Soopers grocery store. Police said a suspect was in custody but didn't provide any details or a possible motive.

Boyle explained the coaching staff and members of the team started to receive news about the shooting shortly before their game against FSU, but they decided not to discuss it given the limited information initially:

"I talked about it with a couple of my assistants and we felt like it was probably better left—we didn't have any details. There wasn't anything really to talk about, and I talked about it after the game, again, in the perspective standpoint.

"But your team's mental mindset as they prepare for a game, it's sometimes fragile. I didn't want to complicate their minds too much because we had to go play the game. We weren't going to not play the game. So I decided to wait till after the game to address it with them, and I did."

Colorado senior guard McKinley Wright IV said the situation weighed heavily on him:

"I thought about my life and growing up and what I've been through and seeing these people. And what they have to go through now, it sucks. I'm so sorry, and I'm going to pray for their families.

"Basketball is just a game; people lost their lives. That sucks. It's hard to kind of put that in words right now coming off of playing my last game here at CU and that tragedy that went on down in Boulder, it's just terrible."

The Buffaloes, who defeated Georgetown in the first round of March Madness, finished their season with a 23-9 record.

Colorado Buffaloes junior guard Tyler Bey announced that he will forgo his senior campaign to enter the 2020 NBA draft on Sunday:

"Ever since I picked up a basketball, it was a dream to play in the NBA," Bey wrote, in part. "That being said, after talking with my coaches and parents, I've decided that I will be declaring for the 2020 NBA draft."

Bey was voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and named to second-team All-Pac-12.

The 22-year-old led the Buffs with 7.0 defensive rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. He was the only player in the conference ranked in the top 15 in rebounding, steals and blocks.

Bey's junior campaign improved upon his 2018-19 Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Bey's official announcement comes five days after head coach Tad Boyle relayed Bey and junior guard McKinley Wright IV were entering their names into 2020 draft consideration:

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman ranked Bey at No. 30 on his Top 50 Big Board earlier this month:

"Defensive versatility, rebounding instincts (9.1 per game) and efficient finishing (63.7 percent at rim) could earn Bey an NBA role. He even shot 46.3 percent on 41 half-court jumpers and 75.0 percent on free throws, which are encouraging signs for his shooting potential. Bey won't be used to score or create, but he can still build a valuable reputation by contesting shots inside and out, crashing the glass and regularly picking up easy baskets within an offense."

The Buffs finished at 21-11 overall and 10-8 in conference play. The 2019-20 NCAA season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, as the men's and women's NCAA tournaments were officially canceled on March 12.

Colorado has not made the NCAA tournament since losing in the first round in 2016.