Buffs Notes: Gordon Notches Third Straight Double-Double
February 13, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — When the season began, Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said he saw "no reason" CU junior Wesley Gordon couldn't be a regular double-double producer.
It's not been under the circumstances Boyle envisioned — or likes — but it's exactly what has happened. Gordon recorded his third straight double-double on Saturday, a 17-point, 13-rebound, four-block effort to lift the Buffs to an 81-80 win over Washington.
Gordon's recent efforts have come with CU's leading scorer and rebounder, Josh Scott, on the bench with an ankle injury. Scott hasn't played the since first half of the Oregon State game a week ago.
But in Scott's absence — five halves worth — Gordon has been stellar. Saturday's 17 points were a career high, as were his nine free throws made. In the last three games, he's shot 15-for-25 from the field, scored 41 points and grabbed 36 rebounds.
"I can't say enough about the way he is playing," Boyle said. "He had a couple big offensive rebounds, big-time offensive rebounds when we needed him the most. What you need is your veteran players late in games make plays to win games and Wesley has done that for us the past two games."
Indeed, Gordon came up big down the stretch for CU on Saturday. As Washington mounted a furious late rally, Gordon kept the Huskies at bay. He had an offensive rebound and basket with 3:02 left to give CU a 79-71 lead, then came up with a rebound of Washington's missed final shot in the waning seconds.
"It's a great win for us and it means a lot because we showed our resiliency with Josh Scott coming out," Gordon said. "We pulled together as a team."
Gordon has also logged some serious minutes over the last week. He played 45 minutes Thursday in CU's double-overtime win against Washington State on Thursday, then added another 28 on Saturday.
"I'm going to go get in the cold tub, but I feel all right," Gordon said with a grin. "I don't feel as bad as Thursday."
Gordon's teammates no doubt appreciate his presence.
"Wesley is a monster," said teammate King. "He's really underrated and I'm lucky to have him as a teammate. He plays great defense, he rebounds and he is a threat offensively."
CU finished with an overall 55-35 edge on the boards, including a 20-12 lead in offensive rebounds. Gordon had eight of those, one very big reason the Buffs finished with 20 second-chance points.
KING ON BOARDS: King's 10 rebounds — a career high — gave him 19 for the last two games. All told, CU's perimeter players accounted for 35 rebounds.
"George's contribution rebounding the ball was big," Boyle said. "Josh Fortune's (9 boards) was big. Rebounding was the key to this game, no doubt about it."
King did not have a good day shooting — hitting just 3 of 13 field goal tries — but he was 4-for-5 from the line and his rebounding was crucial, particularly in Scott's absence.
"I should have been doing this all season, but I have been caught up in shooting all the time and not crashing the boards," King said. "I was not chasing my shot, or assuming guys were going to make their shots. I can't just assume. I have to go stick my nose under the rim and try to get a rebound."
LEARNING MOMENT: Buffs freshman Thomas Akyazili very nearly experience both ends of the emotional spectrum.
Akyazili played a huge role in CU's 24-10 second-half run, one that gave the Buffs a 15-point lead with about seven minutes to go. "I try to give us whatever is needed," said Akyazili, who finished with nine points, four rebounds and three assists. "We needed some scoring then, so I tried to contribute."
But late in the game, he committed a major error when he was whistled for a technical foul after bumping a Washington player after the whistle. Washington's Andrew Andrews hit both free throws to pull the Huskies within one, 81-80.
Luckily, though, UW didn't score again.
"I made a big mistake and learned I can't do that in such a crucial situation," Akyazili said. "I'm just glad my team had my back. It wouldn't have been my best day, for sure."
Boyle called the incident a "learning moment."
"It was something that Thomas, but also our entire roster, needs to learn from," Boyle said. "That can't happen at that point in the game. We have to play with poise and not let that occur."
UP NEXT: The Buffs head to Los Angeles for a pair of games this week, both 9 p.m. starts. Wednesday, the Buffs are at USC before heading across town Saturday to face UCLA. The USC game will be televised by ESPNU with Fox Sports 1 carrying the UCLA tilt.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
