Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
17-7, 6-5
Oregon State
14-8, 5-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 19 | 37 | 56 |
| Oregon State | 30 | 30 | 60 |
Buffs Fall Short At Oregon State, 60-56
February 06, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
CORVALLIS, Ore. — After a horrendous first half, the Colorado Buffaloes still gave themselves a chance to win Saturday.
But after rallying from an 11-point halftime deficit to take the lead late in the game, they couldn't hold the edge and Oregon State claimed a 60-56 win.
The difference in the game was simple to deduce: the Buffs turned the ball over 24 times — 13 in the first half — and the Beavers were more than happy to convert those miscues into 21 points.
"The first half — that's when we lost the game," said CU head coach Tad Boyle, who watched his team drop to 17-7 overall and 6-5 in Pac-12 play. "You don't turn the ball over 24 times and win."
That the Buffs were even in the game down the stretch was a minor miracle, especially after losing senior Josh Scott to an ankle injury late in the first half. Throw in the fact that CU got just two points — total — from their two leading scorers (Scott and George King), and it made CU's second-half comeback even harder to fathom.
But in the end, the comeback wasn't enough to secure a win.
"Basketball's a simple game," said guard Xavier Talton, who earned his first start of the season. "We have to quit making it hard on ourselves."
After trailing 30-19 at the half, the Buffs battled back to take a 52-50 lead with just under four minutes to play. But the Beavers regained the lead, then hit five free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
Talton hit a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired with 1:52 remaining to pull the Buffs into a 55-55 tie. CU then regained possession after an OSU miss with 1:13 on the clock but couldn't convert.
The Beavers then got a pair of free throws from Stephen Thompson with 28.3 remaining to take a 57-55 lead. George King drove to the bucket on CU's final possession and was fouled at the 14.8 mark, but he  missed the first and made the second and the Buffs trailed 57-56.
The Buffs had one more chance when Thompson missed the second of two free throws with 14 seconds left, but CU failed to corral the rebound. Gary Payton II then hit two free throws with 11.2 remaining to seal the Buffs' fate.
Tre'Shaun Fletcher led the Buffs with 15 points and Wesley Gordon added 13. Gordon also had 11 rebounds, his second double-double against the Beavers this season.
Talton — who earned his first start of the season — opened the second half with a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 12-3 run that pulled the Buffs to within two. CU finally gained its first lead since early in the game on a Tre'Shaun Fletcher 3-pointer with 9:56 to go in the game, 38-36.
Fletcher's 3-pointer came after he had stolen the ball following an OSU miss. The play was indicative of a host of second-effort plays that were missing from the Buffs' first-half performance. Seconds after Fletcher's bucket, Talton saved a ball from going out of bounds and flicked it to Fletcher, who then dished to Wesley Gordon for a bucket for a 40-39 CU lead.
That set the stage for a see-saw final five minutes.
Colorado's turnover issues hit a new high — or low, depending upon the point of view — in the first half. In the first 20 minutes, the Buffs committed 13 turnovers, which the Beavers gladly converted into 16 points. CU, meanwhile, forced just four turnovers for two points.
Poor shooting also haunted the Buffs again. CU hit just 31 percent of its field goal tries (8 for 26), and entered the locker room trailing 30-19. The Beavers shot just 35.5 percent (11 for 31), but three of those field goals were 3-pointers while the Buffs managed just one from beyond the arc.
CU's hopes also took a blow in the final minutes of the half when Josh Scott suffered an apparent ankle injury after getting tangled up under the bucket. He limped off the floor and did not return for the second half.
Three different Buffs had at least two turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, with Dominique Collier totaling four, Josh Fortune three and Wesley Gordon two. Collier's four turnovers were one more than he had in the previous four games combined.
Colorado returns home next week for a pair of games, with Washington State visiting the Coors Events Center on Thursday (8 p.m.) and Washington on Saturday (noon).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
