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WSU Drops Defensive Battle to Colorado in Conference Semifinals

LAS VEGAS (AP) - KJ Simpson scored 16 points and Colorado held Washington State to a season low in points, defeating the 22nd-ranked Cougars 58-52 in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals Friday night.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - KJ Simpson scored 16 points and Colorado held Washington State to a season low in points, defeating the 22nd-ranked Cougars 58-52 in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals Friday night.

Tristan Da Silva had 13 points and J'Vonne Hadley added 12 for the third-seeded Buffaloes (24-9), who extended their winning streak to eight games and will play fourth-seeded Oregon (22-11) in Saturday's championship game.

Washington State (24-9) will wait to see on Sunday where it is headed in the NCAA Tournament.

Isaac Jones led the Cougars with 13 points, Jaylen Wells had 11 and Myles Rice finished with 10.

Washington State's previous season low was 58 points in a 22-point loss at Utah on Dec. 29. That was the only other time the Cougars were held to less than 60.

Washington State has never played in the conference championship. This was just the Cougars' fourth trip to the semis and first since 2008.

Washington State led 50-49 with 3:11 left, but Simpson made two free throws with 2:46 remaining and Hadley had a fastbreak layup 33 seconds later to put Colorado in front for good.