Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
19-10, 11-6
Oregon
21-8, 12-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 41 | 40 | 81 |
| Oregon | 36 | 54 | 90 |
Ducks Use Second-Half Run To Top Buffs 90-81
March 02, 2012 | Men's Basketball
The win puts the Ducks (21-8, 12-5) into a tie with Arizona for third place in the Pac-12 standings and knocks the Buffs (19-10, 11-6) into sole possession of fifth place in the conference. For the Buffs to now finish in the top four and receive a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament, they must defeat Oregon State on Saturday and hope for either Oregon to lose to Utah (also on Saturday) or for Arizona to lose at Arizona State on Sunday.
CU led 47-44 with 15:56 to play in the game, but over the next 4:17 Oregon went on an 18-3 run to take a 62-50 lead. Carlos Emory was the sparkplug for the Ducks as he completed two and-ones during this stretch, in addition to hitting a three-pointer to account for nine of Oregon's 18 points over this run.
"I thought they were the aggressors coming out of halftime," said CU head coach Tad Boyle. "They really got to the foul line and got us on our heels a little bit. We have to guard the ball better than we did tonight. Once they got going, they made some tough shots."
The Buffs trailed 71-57 before going on a 7-0 run to put some pressure on Oregon. After the Buffs tightened the game to 76-70, Devoe Joseph and Garret Sim nailed step-back jumpers on back-to-back possessions to push their lead back to 10 points.
CU proved resilient once again though as Spencer Dinwiddie scored six straight points to close Oregon's deficit to just four at 80-76. The Ducks would convert their final 10 free throw attempts of the game, however, to ice it, including six from Tyrone Nared who was shooting 50.0 percent from the charity stripe on the season entering the game.
"We did punch back and we didn't hang our heads; we didn't have the bad body language," Boyle commented about CU's resiliency. "Oregon made some tough shots and we have to keep them off the free throw line; they shot 19 free throws in the second half and that's too many."
Oregon shot 20-of-27 from the free throw line for the contest, including 17-of-19 in the second half.
The Ducks shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the field in the second half as they outscored CU by 14 after intermission. For the game Oregon shot 54.4 percent (31-of-57), including 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc. CU actually outshot UO as the Buffs were 30-of-55 (54.5 percent) from the field. The loss marks the first time this season that CU has been beaten when posting a better shooting percentage than their opponent (previously 19-0).
The Buffs turned the ball over 15 times in the contest, leading to 27 Oregon points.
Joseph scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and Sim added 19 for the Ducks as he made 5-of-7 three-point attempts. Emory finished with 14 points? and E.J. Singler also scored in double figures with 10.
Carlon Brown, who had not scored 10-plus points in four consecutive games after doing so in 19 of the first 24 games, broke out of his slump with a CU-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. His 20 points represented the first time a Buff had gone for at least 20 since Brown scored 28 against Washington State on Jan. 7.
"The good thing is Carlon Brown broke out tonight," Boyle said of Brown's performance. "That's a great thing for our team and our program. We can't hang our heads after this one. We're disappointed and this one stings because we played well enough to win offensively, but we didn't do what Colorado basketball does."
Dinwiddie and Andre Roberson each scored 12 points, while Nate Tomlinson added 11. Roberson also reeled in a game-high eight rebounds.
After Tomlinson hit a corner three to open the scoring, the Ducks went on a 9-0 run to take a 9-3 lead. The Buffs then responded with an 8-0 run of their own.
The lead changed hands eight times in the first half before CU went on a 10-0 run after trailing 23-22 to take their largest lead of the half at 32-23 with 4:54 to go in the first. Tomlinson and Dufault each hit threes during this stretch.
The Ducks closed CU's lead to one point at 37-36, but the Buffs responded by scoring on their final two possessions of the first half, including a layup by Shane Harris-Tunks in the final five seconds, to give CU a 41-36 lead at the break.
CU shot a blistering 63.0 percent in the first half, making 17-of-27 field goals with their 41 first-half points the second highest total in Pac-12 play for the Buffs. ?The Ducks connected on 15-of-31 field goals (48.4 percent) in the first.
Joseph led all scorers with 11 points at the break. Brown led CU with nine points in the first half, coming on 4-of-5 shooting. Brown also had four rebounds and three assists in the opening half. Harris-Tunks contributed with six points before halftime, connecting on 3-of-3 field goals.
CU completes their Oregon road trip on Saturday as they head to Corvallis to take on Oregon State. The game will be televised on FSN and tips at 2:00 p.m. (MT).
