Colorado's 1-2 Punch of KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva Too Much For Visiting Cal

Unable to slow down Colorado’s 1-2 punch of point guard KJ Simpson and forward Tristan da Silva, Cal stayed close through the middle portion of the second half before absorbing an 88-78 defeat at Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday night.

Cal, down by 16 in the first half, got within six points a couple times after the break but wound up losing at Colorado for the 10th straight time.

The Bears (13-16, 9-9 Pac-12) had won their three previous games and five of seven to climb into sole possession of sixth place. Cal returns to action Saturday at Utah with a 6 p.m. PT tipoff on the Pac-12 Network.

Colorado (19-9, 10-7), hoping to bolster its NCAA tournament resume, improved to 15-1 at home.

Jaylon Tyson overcame an 0-for-5 shooting start to score 25 points for the Bears and Fardaws Aimac had 11 points and 11 rebounds for his conference-leading 19th double-double.

Keonte Kennedy brought some second-half energy and contributed 13 points. But Jalen Cone, the Bears’ hot-and-cold shooting guard, had a rough night, making just 1 of 9 attempts and missing all five of his 3-point tries.

Simpson did pretty much whatever he wanted, scoring 18 of his 28 points in the second half after da Silva had 18 of his 22 in the opening period. Simpson added seven rebounds and eight assists while da Silva chipped in seven rebounds and six assists.

It didn’t even matter that CU’s talented freshman forward Cody Williams sat out with an ankle injury.

The Bears got within 65-59 after a putback by Tyson with 9:19 left.

But Simpson made two free throws, then stole the inbounds pass, passed to J’Vonne Hadley, who fed Javon Ruffin for an open 3-pointer that made it 70-59. Cal got as close as eight points just once more for 20 seconds before CU regained control.

The Bears never led after the game’s opening four minutes and trailed by as many as 16 points on the way to a 45-31 halftime deficit.

The Buffaloes shot 53 percent in the first half and their defense caused seven turnovers, which they translated into 12 points. Controlling tempo, CU outscored Cal 14-0 on fastbreak points in the half.

Da Silva had 18 points, four rebounds and three assists by halftime and Simpson orchestrated things with nine points, four rebounds and four assists.

Cal’s Tyson started 0 for 5 from the field and went to the bench with 13:46 left after picking up his second personal foul. He returned to score seven points in the half but the Bears could not find a rhythm, often forced to take difficult shots. They converted just 33 percent in the half, and were just 6 for 19 from the 3-point.

Cal coach Mark Madsen was happy with the way his team attacked the basket in the second half, but conceded the Buffaloes forced the action with their defense in the opening 20 minutes.

"We took way too many 3's in the first half," Madsen said. "I told the guys at halftime, `Listen guys, we're on pace to shoot 40 or 50 3's. We've got to get the ball in the paint.' "

It didn’t help that Aimaq was 1 for 6 and Cone 0 for 4 in the half.

Jalen Celestine hit three straight 3-pointers in the 5 minutes of the game but did not score again in the half and finished with 11 points.

NOTE: Aimaq's 11 rebounds give him 328 for the season, moving the senior transfer into a tie for fifth with Ryan Anderson (2008) on Cal's single-list. . . . Tyson's 17th game this season of 20 points or more matched the total by Jerome Randle in 2010.

Cover photo of Cal coach Mark Madsen by Ron Chenoy, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo