Colorado
19-8, 8-6
USC
19-7, 8-5
Buffs Collapse Late, Fall To USC, 79-72
February 18, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LOS ANGELES — What could have been the Colorado Buffaloes' biggest road win of the season Wednesday night instead turned into one of their most disappointing defeats.
A stunning late-game collapse saw the Buffs lose a 15-point second-half lead as Southern California rallied to snatch a 79-72 win at the Galen Center, dealing a major blow to any hopes the Buffs had of claiming a conference championship.
A win would have moved the Buffs into third place in the league standings with a game at UCLA on Saturday and a chance to be playing for the Pac-12 lead a week from now when Arizona visits Boulder.
Instead, Colorado dropped to 19-8 overall and 8-6 in the Pac-12, good enough for only a tie for fifth in the conference standings. USC, meanwhile, improved to 19-7 and 8-5, a half-game ahead of Colorado.
"We had them on the ropes," an obviously disappointed CU coach Tad Boyle said. "We had them where we wanted 'em but we weren't good enough down the stretch. I take responsibility. I'm the head coach and I've got to do a better job."
Boyle may have been ready to take the blame, but the players on the floor had a share of the responsibility in a stunning 31-10 USC run over the final eight minutes of the game.
With just under nine minutes to play, Colorado led 60-45 after a 10-2 run. With just more than eight minutes to play, the lead was still 14 after a Wesley Gordon basket gave Colorado a 62-48 lead.
But Gordon's basket proved to be CU's last field goal until a meaningless Xavier Talton 3-pointer in the final seconds. The Buffs were suddenly stonewalled by USC's zone defense and began turning the ball over to fuel Southern California's winning run. Colorado finished with 20 turnovers in the game, which the Trojans converted into 20 points — 18 of them coming in the second half.
CU, meanwhile, missed eight consecutive field goal attempts in the final eight minutes while USC hit eight of its last 11 shots.
Josh Scott returned to the lineup for the Buffs, coming off the bench to finish with 17 points and three rebounds in 23 minutes of play. George King added 13 points and nine rebounds and Gordon had 13 points and seven rebounds.
USC's Jordan McLaughlin led all scorers with 25 points — 15 in the second half and 11 in the deciding run.
"Jordan McLaughlin took the game over," Boyle said. That's what a point guard does, he takes it over and makes plays."
With 7:30 to go in the game, the Buffs still led by 12, 64-52, after a pair of Gordon free throws. But a USC bucket, a CU turnover that led to another Trojan basket and the missed front end of two one-and-one free throw tries by CU paved the way for the USC rally. The Trojans then whittled Colorado's edge down to three, 65-62, with 4:00 on the clock and finally took the lead with 2:49 to go on a McLaughlin 3-pointer — set up by a Buffs turnover.
Colorado never came closer than three again.
"I did an absolute terrible job of coaching this team tonight," Boyle said. "I have confidence in them. I really believe in these guys, but I think that belief is sometimes a little bit misguided because obviously we can't handle situations like I think we can. I should have called some timeouts that I didn't call."
It's not clear if timeouts would have made a difference. After turning the ball over eight times in the first half and surging to a 37-29 lead, the Buffs committed 12 miscues after halftime. It was the third time in the last four games they have totaled at least 20 turnovers.
"We're just not mentally quite there yet on the road," Boyle said. "People always ask about why you can't win on the road … it's all between the ears. We play this game at Coors, we blow them out. We're not mentally tough enough to handle the crowd when things get loud and adversity hits."
Scott, who missed the last two games because of an ankle injury, said, ""It's the same guys. It's no secret who's turning the ball over. People have to figure it out, because it's costing us games."
The Buffs were in control for much of the game, making the final minutes even more painful. After falling behind early, 14-9, the Buffs put together a 9-0 run to take the lead. Scott had four points in the run, Tre'Shaun Fletcher had a 3-pointer and Thomas Akyazili had a banker off the glass.
Colorado slowly built the lead for the rest of the half, and a Talton floater just before the buzzer at intermission sent Colorado into the locker room with an eight-point edge, 37-29. It was the first time this season the Trojans had trailed at the half on their home floor.
UP NEXT: The Buffs will attempt to regroup and salvage a split of their Los Angeles road trip on Saturday when they play a 9 p.m. game vs. UCLA at Pauley Pavilion (Fox Sports 1).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
