Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
15-5, 4-3
Washington State
9-10, 1-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 39 | 36 | 75 |
| Washington State | 32 | 38 | 70 |
Brooks: Buffs Stave Off Cougars, 75-70, Earn NW Road Split
January 23, 2016 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
PULLMAN, Wash. – The Colorado Buffaloes got their Pacific Northwest split here Saturday night, but nothing about it was easy. CU held off embattled Washington State and escaped with a 75-70 Pac-12 Conference win.
The Buffs (14-5, 3-3) made 6-of-6 free throws in the final 1:06, two each by Josh Fortune, Xavier Talton and George King to deal the Cougars (9-10, 1-6) their fifth consecutive loss.
WSU had pulled to 71-70 before Talton's and King's trips to the line.
"We made free throws, you have to do that to win on the road," CU coach Tad Boyle said. "And they missed free throws – that's probably the difference in the game. They definitely let us off the hook there."  Â
The Buffs finished 22-of-26 at the line, the Cougars 16-of-27.
King led CU with 22 points and Josh Scott added 11. They were the only two Buffs in double figures. Scott, who missed almost half of the opening half with foul problems, was two rebounds short of his sixth consecutive double-double.
"It was huge; we had a lot riding on this one," said King, who hit four of his six 3-point attempts and was 6-of-6 shooting free throws. "We didn't get the first one (a 95-83 loss Wednesday at Washington) and you never want to go oh-and-two. Period, especially at a pivotal moment like this."
King admitted that Saturday night's game "got a little out of control for us at times. But we were able to weather the storm. That's what veteran guys like Josh and Wes (Gordon) and 'XT' do. We knew we had bullets in the chamber and were ready to go."
Ike Iroegbu scored 27 points, Connor Clifford 18 and Josh Hawkinson 12 for the Cougars. Hawkinson, the league's double-double leader, also collected 10 rebounds.
Boyle thought his team defended Hawkinson well: "We did a great job. He made that first pick-and-pop three then we started switching on him the rest of the game."
But defending Iroegbu didn't go that well: "Iroegbu not so much. He's a quick, athletic, strong guard who got it to the rim. He's a tough guard but we didn't do a good job of it."
The Buffs led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but went to their locker room at intermission up 39-32.
"We were up 13 and they shrunk the lead to seven . . . I was really disappointed in the tentativeness of our offense and our lack of ability to get stops at the end of the first half. We should have been up 10 or more," Boyle said
He noted that the Cougars' matchup zone is such a different look that it takes time to acclimate: "They played that matchup zone but we had some good looks. It's a little bit different but it makes you make plays . . . there are a couple of teams in our league that run that thing.
"We got Josh and Wes touches down low. It's the kind of thing that makes your players make plays. We only had six turnovers, which is good for this group. We had good performances at key times, that was the difference."
CU's first half was mostly solid, particularly in protecting the ball. They didn't commit their first turnover until the 6:45 mark and didn't commit another – a night-and-day turnaround from Wednesday night when they turned it over a dozen times in the first 20 minutes (16 for the night).
Boyle wanted the Buffs to attack and dictate against Washington, but that didn't happen. Against WSU, that plan fell into place. Crisp ball movement helped CU rally from an 9-3 deficit, put together a 20-2 run and never trail again in the first half.
The run featured a conventional three-point play by Wesley Gordon, another Gordon free throw and his short jumper. No other Buff had more than two points in the surge.
Gordon finished the half with 8 points – 5 fewer than King, who went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. As a team, the Buffs were 10-for-13 from the line, while the Cougars struggled (5-of-12).
Most of CU's productivity was done minus Scott, who was whistled for his second foul with 10:12 before halftime, went to the bench and didn't return until the second half. He hit his only first-half field goal attempt, collected three rebounds and one assist.
Scott quickly made up for his bench time, opening the second-half scoring with a three-point play. But the Cougars were aware of his foul situation and went repeatedly to the 7-foot Clifford, who scored 11 of his total in the first half on 5-of-5 shooting.
But he picked up his third foul – as did Gordon – in the first 3 minutes of the half and took a seat. Gordon returned and was called for No. 4 with 13 minutes left.
Meanwhile, the Cougars kept the pressure on. They pulled to within 47-44 – the closest they'd been since 12-11 – with 15:39 to play. And when Clifford returned, he promptly converted a three-point play to cut the Buffs' lead to 51-50.
When Iroegbu hit a straightaway trey with the shot clock at 2, Wazzu had tied CU 53-53 with 11:37 remaining. One of two Hawkinson free throws half a minute later gave the Cougars their first lead – 54-53 – since 11-9 and the sparse Beasley Coliseum crowd came to life.
Quiet time quickly returned. A 7-0 run – a trey by King and in-the-paint baskets by Tory Miller and Scott – pushed the Buffs up 60-54. Another short Miller bucket and a trey by Tre'Shaun Fletcher gave CU a 65-59 advantage with 5:58 left.
But the Cougars kept scratching. They pulled to 71-70 on a Hawkinson jumper from the wing with 21 seconds to play. Talton's two free throws pushed the Buffs ahead 73-70 at the 18.7 mark, and Wazzu called a timeout with 14.8 remaining.
The Cougars might not have got the shot that was talked about at their bench. Iroegbu tried a tough 3-pointer, missed, and King's two foul shots at the other end sealed CU's win and Pacific Northwest split.
The Buffs return to the Coors Events Center on Wednesday night, hosting Stanford (7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) and close out the month with another shot at Cal on Sunday, Jan. 31 (3 p.m., FS1).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
