Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
7-1
Colorado State
5-3
Woelk: Buffs Storm Back To Top Rival Rams, 88-77
December 06, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
FORT COLLINS — Two true road games, two double-digit deficits — and two victories.
It might not be a formula that's good for Colorado head coach Tad Boyle's heart, but it's one that's worked twice this year for his Buffaloes.
Sunday, the 7-1 Buffs stampeded back from a 52-39 halftime deficit to claim an 88-77 win over rival Colorado State in front of a sold-out Moby Arena crowd of 8,750, the largest crowd the Buffs have seen this season.
It was virtually a carbon copy of the Buffs' only other true road game this year, a 91-84 victory at Auburn. In that one, the Buffs withstood a withering 3-point barrage early and overcome a 44-29 deficit to record the win.
Sunday produced the same results. The Rams blistered the nets from 3-point range in the first half to take 13-point lead into the locker room before the Buffs clamped down in the second half, giving up just 25 points after yielding 52 before intermission.
"We've got resolve and we've got toughness,"  Boyle said after his team's seventh straight win. "That's what (this game) told me about this team. We've taken some guys' best shots … but if we come out in the second half and make the right adjustments, we're fine.
"The challenge, of course, is to do it for 40 minutes."
CU senior Josh Scott made his final appearance against the Rams one to remember. After totaling just 12 points — combined — in his first three games vs. CSU, Scott tallied a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double, with 13 points and seven of those rebounds coming after the half. His frontline mate, junior Wesley Gordon, contributed a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double — including his first two 3-pointers of the season — and Josh Fortune added 16 points, six assists and a pair of rebounds.
It was Scott's fourth double-double of the season and 27th of his career, and came on the heels of last year's 2-point total against CSU. For Gordon, it was his his first double-double of the season and sixth of his career.
For 20 minutes, though, it appeared as if the Buffs' difficulties in Moby Arena — they'd lost two of the last three in Fort Collins — would continue, as the Rams controlled the tempo and the scoreboard. Led by 16 first-half points from John Gillon and 13 from Gian Clavell, CSU blistered the nets in the first half, hitting nearly 60 percent of its field goals (19-for-32) and 70 percent of its 3-pointers (7-for-10).
The Buffs, meanwhile, went cold after a hot start and connected on just 12 of their 29 field goal attempts to head into the locker room trailing by 13 at the half.
That's when Boyle decided a halftime adjustment was necessary.
"We wanted to make sure that if you're going to beat us, you'll beat us with contested two-point shots in the lane, not with threes," Boyle said. "They were just getting to the rim at will, so I thought our big guys did a good job in the second half. They made tough shots, and our defense really stepped up in the second half and did a great job of fronting the post."
The switch worked. After combining for 34 points in the opening half, Gillon and Clavell scored just five after intermission, with Gillon going scoreless.
The Buffs, meanwhile, began working the ball inside more and the payoff was 13 points from Scott and 12 from Gordon in the final 20 minutes.
Not all of Gordon's points, however, came inside. CU's 6-9 junior opened the half by draining a 3-pointer, sparking a 15-1 CU run that erased CSU's lead and gave the Buffs their first edge, 54-53, since early in the first half. Gordon added a second 3-pointer in the run while Scott had a traditional 3-point play and George King added four points.
The Rams, meanwhile, went stone cold from the floor, missing seven field goal attempts in a row.
"We came out and guarded," Scott said. "I think our guards took it upon themselves to get stops. The game was won by them. They got stops."
CU extended its lead to five midway through the second half before the Rams made one final push, getting a 3-pointer from J.D. Paige at the 9:17 mark to tie the game at 68-68.
But after a three-minute scoreless stretch by both teams, Scott started a 15-4 CU run with a layup inside as the Buffs took firm control. Scott had eight points in the run, Gordon added four and Fortune had a huge three-point play off an offensive rebound. A Dom Collier layup with 1:49 left put the Buffs 82-73 and sent the Moby Arena crowd to the exits.
After their 19-for-32 first half from the field, the Rams hit just seven of 32 field goal tries in the second, as CU's defense ramped up a notch. The Buffs, meanwhile, shot 19-for-37 after intermission.
Along with balanced scoring — the Buffs had five players in double figures — CU also held a 42-36 edge on the boards and finished with 18 assists and just seven turnovers. Collier led CU with seven assists and had just one turnover. Tre'Shaun Fletcher, meanwhile, finished with 11 points and King added 10.
The Buffs will now have a five-day break before their next game, as they're scheduled to host BYU in a 6 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center, part of a men's-women's doubleheader. The CU women play host to Missouri in a 1:30 p.m. game earlier in the day.
SEVEN AND COUNTING: This is the Buffs' first seven-game win streak since the 2013-14 season, when they won 10 straight in non-conference play. CU is averaging 87 points per game in the streak, and has now scored at least 80 points in seven straight games, a program record.
The Buffs also improved their series record against CSU to 89-37 (37-27 in Fort Collins).
COMEBACK KIDS: Sunday's win was the third time this year the Buffs have overcome a 13-point deficit. Along with coming from 15 down at Auburn, CU also overcame a 45-32 deficit vs. Omaha for an 87-82 win.
NOTABLE: Scott played in his 100th career game, and had his second straight 20-point, 10-rebound double-double (the ninth of his career). He moved past David Harrison into 14th on the all-time CU scoring list, with 1,332 career points. … Gordon has now recorded three straight games with double-figure rebounds and has 52 in his last five. … Fortune's six assists matched his career high, and he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. … Collier's seven assists were a career high and tied the team mark for the season (Fletcher had seven vs. Fort Lewis).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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