Woelk: Forget Style Points, Buffs Get Important Road Win

Two ways to look at Saturday night's 75-70 Colorado win over Washington State:

One, the Buffs didn't play well and were in some ways lucky to beat the slumping Cougars.

Or, the Buffs didn't play well, but still figured out a way to scratch out an important road win in one of the toughest conferences in the nation.

Take the latter. In the Pac-12, any road win is a good win. The 15-5 Buffs are 2-2 on the Pac-12 road this year, a mark plenty of other teams would be happy to have today. They are still squarely in the hunt for a top-four conference finish (and thus a first-round conference tournament bye), are sporting a top-25 RPI, and as of today, are in just about everyone's mix for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Oh, and for good measure, they've already surpassed last season's regular season win total, with 11 conference games still to play.

Take it and run. In a conference that's almost certainly going to go down to the wire, a conference where nothing is following form, take every win you get and don't look back.

Nobody will argue that Saturday night's win resembled anything close to a work of art. The Buffs shot 39 percent while WSU shot 49 percent. CU held a slim 37-33 lead on the boards, but gave up 15 layups. And, the Buffs were alarmingly careless in the final minutes, turning a five-point cushion with 1:22 to go into a one-point game in barely 60 seconds.

But, they also made their free throws — six in a row down the stretch — something WSU struggled to do all night. They came up with key buckets, crucial rebounds and clutch defensive stops when absolutely, positively necessary. They did what they had to do to collect a win, and thus flew home Saturday night from the Pacific Northwest with a road split.

And that is the recipe for surviving and advancing in the Pac-12. Protect your home floor, steal a few on the road and you have a great chance of hearing your name called on Selection Sunday.

Certainly there's room for improvement. The Buffs haven't played particularly well on the road since an early season win at Auburn — and even there, they had to rally from a double-digit deficit to get the win. In nine games away from the Coors Events Center this year, they've shot better than 40 percent just four times.

But despite those numbers, they still have two conference road wins and just one home loss. If they can produce that ratio the rest of the season, they'll be in good shape when the NCAA Selection Committee huddles up in New York in mid-March.

"Our guys found a way," head coach Tad Boyle said after the game. "That says something about this team. There's a grittiness, a competitiveness. We didn't play to lose at the end. Our guys didn't get tight. We made it harder on ourselves than it should've been, and we've got to get better. …. But we won."

Indeed, the Buffs had plenty of chances to toss this one away. The most consistent part of their lineup — big men Josh Scott and Wesley Gordon — missed large chunks of the game because of foul trouble, which caused all kinds of problems inside. WSU big man Conor Clifford, who came into the game averaging barely 6 points per game in Pac-12 play, finished with 18. Guard Ike Iroegbu, meanwhile, treated the lane like a freeway, driving to the hoop all night long to finish with 27 points.

But with Scott and Gordon not having their usual presence inside, CU's bench helped make up the difference. Senior Xavier Talton had eight points and two huge assists. Tre'Shaun Fletcher drained a clutch 3-pointer. Tory Miller had seven rebounds. Each contributed big plays at game-changing moments.

"We played well enough in stretches and well enough on key possessions to win," Boyle said.

If there was a defining moment in the game — maybe a defining moment in the season — it came midway through the second half. A Josh Hawkinson free throw had given WSU an 8-2 run and a 54-53 lead, the Cougars' first since early in the game. If there was any tent folding to be done, it was the perfect time for the Buffs.

Instead Talton scrambled for a loose ball on CU's next possession and dished it out to George King (22 points), who drained his fourth 3-pointer of the night. Miller and Scott then scored inside, and Miller scored again after rebounding his own miss. Seconds later, Fletcher swished a 3-pointer and the Buffs were back in control.

Of course, that still left time for the frantic final minutes, when the Buffs almost let the win slip from their grasp.

But "almost" doesn't count. What does count is the win, and fact is, there's something to be said for a team that doesn't play its best and still wins — especially on the road. There's something to be said for a team that refuses to fold in the face of foul trouble and poor shooting, a team that makes enough plays to make the difference when it really matters.

It says this team is built for the long haul. Good teams still find ways to win when they don't play their best.

Next, the Buffs have two games at home — Stanford on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and Cal on Sunday (3 p.m.). Now they must take care of the other half of that recipe.

"We have to win at home," Boyle said. "We've got to show up and play with great energy and great pride and great toughness and take care of our home court."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu