Colorado takes down another ranked team, No. 24 Texas A&M

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) — KJ Simpson had career-highs of 30 points and six steals and Colorado beat No. 24 Texas A&M 103-75 on Friday at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

It was the second ranked opponent Colorado (3-2) has beaten in a five-day span after topping then-No. 11 Tennessee 78-66 on Sunday.

Simpson’s sixth steal led to a fast-break dunk with 1:18 left. He was subbed out after making 11-of-17 shots, including four 3-pointers, and grabbing seven rebounds.

Colorado made just six 3-pointers on 25 attempts in its tournament-opening loss to UMass on Thursday. But the Buffaloes responded by going 16 of 32 from distance against Texas A&M, with five makes by Ethan Wright.

Wright finished with 15 points, missing just one shot, Javon Ruffin added 14 points and Nique Clifford had 11 for Colorado (3-2). Simpson’s previous high was 23 points.

Colorado led 54-33 at halftime behind 10-of-19 shooting from 3-point range and Simpson’s 14 points. Texas A&M only made 10 field goals in the first half.

Hayden Hefner scored 13 points for Texas A&M (2-2). Solomon Washington and Julius Marble each added 12 points. Wade Taylor IV, who entered averaging 18.3 points per game, was held to six points on 1-for-8 shooting.

Both teams have the day off on Saturday before the placing games on Sunday. Texas A&M will try to snap a two-game losing streak after making its first appearance this week in The Associated Press Top 25 since Jan. 1, 2017.

___

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

Copyright
© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.