Colorado
4-1
Texas
3-2
Boyle's Buffs Knock Off No. 22 Texas In Legends Classic
November 22, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes bounced back from their first loss of the season in fine fashion.
One day after falling to Notre Dame, 89-83, in the Legends Classic semifinals at the Barclays Center, the Buffs rebounded Tuesday to knock off No. 22 Texas, 68-54, to improve to 4-1.
Once again, the Buffs received excellent performances from junior George King and senior Derrick White. King turned in his second-straight double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, coming on the heels of his 17-point, 13-rebound effort against the Irish. White followed up a 20-point, nine-assist, five-rebound effort Monday to log 16 points, five rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals in Tuesday's win.
Boyle, whose team returns home for a noon matchup Sunday with Wofford at the Coors Events Center, said he was proud of the way his team rebounded from Monday night's spotty effort.
"We learned that we can play with anybody in the country," Boyle said. "I really believe that. But for us to be successful, we've got to play with great toughness and great pride on the defensive end. When we hit our numbers — field goal percentage defense and rebounding plus-nine — we win."
The Buffs accomplished both against Texas, holding the Longhorns to 36.8 percent shooting (21-for-57) while carving out a 43-32 rebounding edge. King finished the tournament with 26 rebounds in the two games.
"He's going after every one," Boyle said of King's effort on the boards. "He's so athletic, so big and strong. That's what we've been waiting for. We haven't seen that happen since a guy named (Andre) Roberson was playing for us."
The Buffs also shot 44 percent from the floor (29-for-66) and had 13 turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED: After leading by as much as 11 in the first half and by 12 with just under eight minutes to play, Colorado withstood a late Texas surge to come away with the win.
The Buffs led by nine at the half, 33-24, and pushed the cushion to 12 on a King 3-pointer with 7:53 to go, 52-40.
Texas, though, wouldn't go away easily. The Longhorns employed a full-court press and slowly chipped away at the CU lead, putting together and 11-2 run to cut CU's lead to 54-51 with 5:12 still to go on a pair of Jarret Allen free throws.
"We knew it was coming," Boyle said of the press. "We talked about it. We didn't handle it at times; there were a couple of times we got out of control. But for the most part, after we settled in we did a good job."
Indeed, Colorado never allowed Texas to completely close the gap. Buckets from Josh Fortune and Wesley Gordon bumped CU's lead back up to seven, then after a Texas basket, Colorado put together a 7-0 run to ice the game. Fortune hit two free throws and a White 3-pointer with 2:39 remaining pushed CU's lead back to double-digits, 63-53, and the Longhorns never took it back to single digits again.
"When we play defense, play with toughness and rebound, scoring takes care of itself," Boyle said. "When we share the ball, we've got great balance."
The Buffs took a 33-24 lead into the locker room at intermission after King had a seven-point, 10-rebound first half.
Following a Fortune 3-pointer at the 16:30 mark of the first half that gave the Buffs a 7-4 lead, CU extended the margin to 12-7 before the Longhorns battled back to tie the game at 12-12.
CU, however, responded with an 8-0 run and never relinquished the lead. White started the drive with a baseline drive before Xavier Johnson grabbed a loose ball under the basket and scored. Thomas Akyazili then had a pair of coast-to-coast layups, giving CU a 20-12 lead and forcing Texas to call time out.
Colorado extended the margin to as much as 11, going up 31-20 on a King three-point play and again at 33-22 on a King bucket before the Longhorns closed the gap with a basket at the buzzer to make the halftime count 33-24.
TURNING POINT: Just after Texas had closed CU's lead to 54-51 with an 11-2 run, the Buffs got back-to-back buckets from Fortune and Wesley Gordon to create a 7-point cushion with 3:29 to go.
CU STANDOUTS: Derrick White had a solid all-around game on both ends of the floor, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals. … King's second straight double-double was the third of his career, as he finished the Legends Classic with 29 points and 26 rebounds in two games. … Fortune had 11 points, three rebounds and an assist.
KEY STATISTICS: For the fourth time in five games this season, the Buffs had a commanding rebounding edge, 43-32.
NOTEWORTHY: Five Buffs played at least 25 minutes in the game: Xavier Johnson (25), Josh Fortune (27), Wesley Gordon (30), George King (32) and Derrick White (33).
— Fortune, White and King have all scored in double figures in four of CU's five games this season. White is averaging 14 points per game after scoring nine in the season opener while King is averaging 11.5 points and 7.3 rebounds. Gordon is averaging 9.8 rebounds.
QUOTEWORTHY: CU head coach Tad Boyle on George King's rebounding: "He's going after every one. He's so athletic, so big and strong. That's what we've been waiting for. We haven't seen that happen since a guy named (Andre) Roberson was playing for us."
Boyle on Derrick White's all-around game: "He's a terrific player. He's a really smart defender. He's got the ability to take over a game defensively and offensively, and he plays with great pace and tempo."
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs return home after a 1-1 performance in the Legends Classic with a much better idea of how they stack up against NCAA Tournament-caliber teams and what they need to improve on.
NEXT UP: The 4-1 Buffs return home Sunday for a noon contest with Wofford at the Coors Events Center.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
