Colorado
11-2
SMU (Las Vegas Classic)
11-0
Buffs Falter Down Stretch, Fall To No. 18 SMU
December 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LAS VEGAS — Colorado's nonconference basketball schedule ended Wednesday night much the way it began in mid-November: a chance for a marquee win slipping through the Buffaloes' fingers.
The Buffs' season started with a six-point loss to then-No. 7 Iowa State, a defeat the Buffs followed with 11 straight victories.
Wednesday, that win streak came to an end when CU dropped a 70-66 decision to unbeaten and No. 18 SMU in the Las Vegas Classic championship game at Orleans Arena. The Buffs led the Mustangs by seven, 57-50, with seven minutes to play, but a stagnant offense and some defensive lapses down the stretch allowed SMU to put together a decisive 14-1 run that proved to be the difference.
"Extremely disappointed, extremely frustrated," head coach Tad Boyle said. "They out-executed us down the stretch. They were better than we were offensively and defensively. We got ourselves back in the game, we got control of the game, but we let it slip away."
Indeed, the Buffs did seize control of the game midway through the second period. After playing from behind for much of the first 30 minutes, CU put together a 14-0 run to take a 54-46 lead with 8:27 left in the game. Josh Fortune had six points, Wesley Gordon added a 3-pointer and Josh Scott also had three points to fuel the surge. A minute later, the Buffs were still up by seven, 57-50, after a Thomas Akyazili 3-pointer.
Defensively, the Buffs also took command in the stretch. The Mustangs missed five straight field goals in the stretch and CU also forced three consecutive turnovers.
But just as quickly as the Buffs took control, they gave it up, yielding the game-deciding 14-1 Mustangs run.
"I'm going to remember this loss for a long, long time," Boyle said. "It was a winnable game that we let slip away."
The Buffs were no doubt their own worst enemy at times. CU entered the game as the Pac-12's leading free throw shooting team (74.1 percent), but connected on just eight of their 17 tries from the line against the Mustangs.
Even more uncharacteristic was the fact that one of CU's best free throw shooters had the toughest night from the line. Scott, an 81 percent shooter, finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but was just 2 for 7 from the line.
"I'm pretty disappointed in myself," Scott said. "I would say a lot of this loss has to be shouldered by me because I need to make free throws. It's unexcusable."
But free throws weren't the Buffs' only shortcomings. CU finished with 16 turnovers and 13 assists, with the three starting perimeter players — George King, Dom Collier and Tre'Shaun Fletcher — combining for eight of those turnovers and only one of the assists.
"I don't put this loss on the players, I put it on myself," Boyle said. "We've got to spend a little more time on late-game situations in understanding the urgency. When there's three and half minutes to go in the game and you've got a six-point lead, you've got to understand how you keep it. They executed and we didn't."
For the first time this season, the Buffs were led in scoring by someone other than Scott or King. Fortune, one of the keys to the Buffs' second-half surge, came off the bench to score 15 points and Collier added 12. Talton had a solid defensive effort, finishing with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
The Mustangs finished with four players in double figures, led by 16 from Ben Moore.
The Buffs will now take a few days off for the Christmas break before reconvening in Boulder on Monday to begin preparation for Pac-12 play. CU heads on the road for its conference opener, a Jan. 1 matchup at Cal, followed by a Jan. 3 game at Stanford.
"I love this team," Boyle said. "Tonight doesn't change any of that. We've got great fight, we've got great toughness, we've got great resolve. We just weren't good enough down the stretch to beat a top 25 team, so we have to learn from that. I don't worry about how we're going to respond. We're going to respond."
GREAT SCOTT: Scott's 12-point, 12-rebound performance was his sixth double-double of the season and 29th of his career, tying Alex Stivrins (1983-85) for ninth on CU's all-time list. It was also Scott's 79th career game scoring in double-digits and 33rd game with 10 or more rebounds. He started his 102nd career game, tying Stevie Wise (1987-91) for eighth all-time in school history.
NOTABLE: This is the second time in three years the Buffs have finished 11-2 in conference play, matching their record from the 2013-14 season. … The 11-game win streak will go down as the fourth best in a single season in program history. … It was CU's 10th straight loss to a ranked opponent.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
