Head coach Tad Boyle said Julian Hammond III definitely was not at 100%.

No one could tell, though, by the way Hammond played.

The senior guard out of Denver made it clear this week he wasn’t going to let his injury situation keep him out of his final appearance at the CU Events Center. As recently as Friday, Boyle said he wasn’t certain how many minutes Hammond would be able to play in the regular season finale against TCU.

As it turned out, Hammond hit three 3-pointers, went 6-for-6 on free throws, and matched a career-high with seven assists to lead the Buffs’ 76-56 victory on Saturday against TCU. Just days after missing CU’s loss at No. 9 Texas Tech due to a back injury, Hammond turned in a monster game in his final game in Boulder, finishing with 19 points.

“I was making sure that I was playing today. No matter what, really,” Hammond said. “There was some pain, obviously, but it’s fine. I feel good. I can probably play again in two days.”

Hammond doesn’t have to play for three days, as the Buffs will open the Big 12 tournament on Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City. Hammond played in his 118th game at CU, taking sole possession of 25th all-time.

“He wasn’t at 100%. I don’t think he is at 100%,” Boyle said. “Once he got his sweat going, he got it rolling. One of the reasons we held him out at Texas Tech was not because we didn’t think we needed him or didn’t want him. It’s just that we wanted to make sure he was ready to go today. Lower backs are kind of tricky. He fought through it. He’s a tough kid. And I think he showed a lot of gumption.”

Aim to Pease

Walk-on Jack Pease was able to celebrate Senior Day as well, beyond his pregame introduction alongside his family.

With the Buffs leading comfortably late, Pease made his third appearance of the season and the sixth of his career. He went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line in the final minute for his first and only points since connecting on his only field goal more than three years ago against Oregon State.

“I think it was 8 minutes left and I was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to get this to at least 15. We’ve got to get Jack in here,’” CU guard Javon Ruffin said. “He’s put in so much work for the program. That’s a guy I’m really close to, knowing him for four years also. It means a lot when you’re able to do that for him. I think it’s just full circle. He got to reap some of the benefit of his work today.”

Final attendance

The Buffs avoided having the lowest average regular-season attendance figure in Boyle’s 15 seasons at CU. But not by much.

Saturday’s attendance of 7,057 pushed CU’s final attendance total to 126,681 in 18 dates, an average of 7,038 per game. It is the third-lowest average attendance figure of the 15-season Boyle era, trailing only the average of 6,900 in his first season of 2010-11 and the Boyle era-low of 6,752 in 2022-23. Both those figures from 2010-11 and 2022-23 are from the regular season and do not include NIT games played at CU.

Notable

CU center Elijah Malone went 3-for-3, and he has shot .654 (17-for-26) over the past five games. … Trevor Baskin made his ninth start of the season and the 100th of his collegiate career. His three blocked shots matched a season-high. … Hammond’s 6-for-6 day at the free-throw line pushed his season free-throw percentage to .909. He is on pace to finish with the second-best season free-throw mark in program history.