Colorado
16-13,8-9Pac-12
UCLA
19-10,10-7Pac-12
Buffs Celebrate Senior Day With Win Over UCLA
February 25, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado's seniors made their Coors Events Center finale one to remember Sunday afternoon.
CU senior Dominique Collier scored a season-high 19 points — his most ever in the Coors Events Center — and fellow senior George King added 16 as the Buffs celebrated Senior Day with an 80-76 win over UCLA.
The win ended a three-game skid for the Buffs and improved Colorado to 16-13 overall and 8-9 in Pac-12 play while the Bruins dropped to 19-10, 10-7. Paired with CU's victory at UCLA in January, the win also gave Colorado its first-ever two-game season sweep of the Bruins.
Sophomore Lucas Siewert added 15 points and five rebounds, McKinley Wright IV had 10 points and eight assists, and Namon Wright had 11 points to give the Buffs five players in double figures. Colorado scored 18 points off 11 UCLA turnovers and shot 41 percent from the floor (24-for-58), including 14-of-30 3-point tries. Collier hit five of those treys.
Aaron Holiday led UCLA with 21 points.
"Today's a special day," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "We have four really special seniors that we wanted to send out on the right note, on a high note, and we did that. Our players played with great passion and pride and toughness and energy, and I know they did it for those four guys. Tory Miller-Stewart, Josh Repine, Dom Collier, George King — you couldn't ask for more solid students, athletes, representatives of our program and university. They're all terrific kids. A great day for the Buffs."
HOW IT HAPPENED: "It was really emotional," said Collier, who led his Denver East team to a 5A state championship in the Events Center as a senior in high school. "Coming in this morning for pregame, and through warmups, I didn't think I'd get really emotional. But when my family stood around me and I walked out there, I got real emotional. That's when it really hit me that it's the last time playing in this building. I just wanted to come out here and play well and come out with a victory."
The Buffs did exactly that, thanks to a huge boost from Collier. Making his first start in Pac-12 play this season, Collier had three straight 3-pointers in a late first-half surge to help Colorado to a 45-36 halftime edge, then added five straight CU points in a decisive 17-1 Colorado run in the second half after UCLA had rallied to take the lead.
King, meanwhile, also had five points in deciding run, including a 3-pointer at the end, along with a huge block on a Kris Wilkes drive to the basket that resulted in a McKinley Wright layup on the other end.
"It was an emotional game, especially in the beginning," King said. "But when tipoff started, all that was behind me and it was about winning the game. Leaving Coors in your last game with a loss when you're a senior would have been really tough to swallow."
Thanks to a barrage of threes to end the first half — seven of CU's final eight buckets of the half were 3-pointers — CU led by nine at intermission, 45-36.
But after taking a 50-40 lead four minutes into the second half, the Buffs went cold and the Bruins got hot. UCLA put together a 12-2 run to tie the game at 52-52, then finally took the lead, 56-54, with 8:42 to play. Colorado went six minutes without a field goal, missing seven straight attempts in the stretch.
Colorado, though, had another run in hand. Freshman Lazar Nikolic ended the CU drought with a 3-pointer from the corner, the beginning of the 17-1 run that put the Buffs back in control for good.
"That was a big shot," Boyle said. "That shot and George's defensive block were kind of the plays of the game because of the timing of them. We made some great plays. McKinley made some great plays, Dom made some big threes, George made some nice plays — but in terms of two game-changers, those are the ones that stick out to me."
Soon after Nikolic's 3-pointer, Collier added a pair of free throws and a long trey before King's block led to Wright's layup. King then added two more free throws, Wright connected on a drive down the lane and King buried a 3-pointer to give CU a 71-57 lead with 4:47 remaining.
"We made the plays, both offensively and defensively, down the stretch," Boyle said. "Players make plays. That's the bottom line. In tight games, when it is anybody's game, our guys made the plays tonight."
UCLA did manage to close the gap back down to single digits with some late 3-pointers, pulling to within four in the final minute. But a King steal and two free throws with 20 seconds remaining bumped the cushion back to seven to seal the win.
"It's huge," King said. "We can build some momentum and then we have a road game against a good Utah team and then we go into Las Vegas (for the Pac-12 tournament) where we all know anything can happen."
TURNING POINT: After UCLA had battled back to take a 56-54 lead with just more than eight minutes to play, the Buffs answered with a decisive 17-1 run to put the game away.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs can still earn an NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Pac-12 tournament, but Sunday's win also strengthened their NIT resume.
CU STANDOUTS: Dominique Collier scored 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range and also had four rebounds and three assists. … George King scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds. … Lucas Siewert scored 15 points and had five rebounds. … McKinley Wright IV had 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs committed just 10 turnovers — their fewest in their last eight games — while forcing 11 UCLA miscues. Colorado also reaped 18 points off of those UCLA turnovers while the Bruins had. just eight off CU's turnovers. … CU also hit 18 of 25 free throws while the Bruins were 8-for-12 from the line.
QUOTEWORTHY: "George said it — this is the closest team he's been on in his five years here. We've taken our lumps. We've been up, we've been down, we've played well, we've played poorly — but when your team is connected and believes in each other, it's pretty cool to coach. You can't make that happen. It has to happen amongst them. If we can play connected and play for each other like we did today, good things can happen for us down the stretch." CU head coach Tad Boyle
"Every team prepares for George (King), he's that good. George and I go way back. I couldn't be happier for him. He's a terrific young man and has had a terrific career here. I'm happy for him — not happy he beat us twice, but he's a good person who works hard and who can do it all." — UCLA coach Steve Alford
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up their regular season Saturday in a 5 p.m. game at Utah, then open play March 7 in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
