Colorado
10-7, 0-4Pac-12
UCLA
17-1, 4-1Pac-12
Hot-shooting Bruins Sink Buffaloes
January 12, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — For 20 minutes Thursday night, the Colorado Buffaloes came close to matching fourth-ranked UCLA bucket for bucket.
But Colorado had no answer for the hot-shooting Bruins in the second half, as UCLA carved out a 104-89 win at the Coors Events Center to hand the Buffs their fourth straight loss.
Sparked by three 3-pointers from Bryce Alford in the first three minutes of the half, UCLA quickly turned a six-point halftime lead into a 20-point margin with 11 minutes to go and the Buffs never made a serious run at closing the gap after that.
The Bruins finished the game shooting 56.5 percent from the field (35-for-62), including a sparkling 19-for-31 night from 3-point range (61.3 percent). Alford, who hit 9 of his 14 3-point tries, finished with a game-high 37 points.
"Tip my hat to UCLA," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "They're a terrific offensive basketball team, as good of an offensive team as I've coached against at the collegiate level in 23 years. My hat goes off to Steve Alford and obviously his son Bryce, who had a heck of a night. They just move the ball and share the ball, they're very very difficult to guard in transition and halfcourt."
The loss, CU's fourth in a row, dropped the Buffs to 10-7 overall and 0-4 in Pac-12 play while the Bruins improved to 16-1, 3-1.
Xavier Johnson led the Buffs with 21 points, Derrick White added 20 and George King chipped in 13.
HOW IT HAPPENED: For the first 20 minutes, the Buffs appeared ready to run with the Bruins. After falling behind early, 7-2, Colorado battled back to take the lead twice in the first 20 minutes. A Johnson 3-pointer gave Colorado a 12-9 edge at the 15:34 mark and a Bryce Peters free throw helped the Buffs to a 21-20 lead at the midway point of the half.
The Bruins, though, quickly regained the lead and held it the rest of the half. UCLA's big lead of the half was eight points, 51-43, with just more than a minute to go, but a Gordon jumper as time expired pulled Colorado back to within six, 51-45, at intermission.
White led the Buffs in scoring in the first half with 12 points while Johnson added 11 and King chipped in eight. One big reason the Buffs stayed close was a 23-16 ege on the boards, including 10 offensive rebounds.
But the Bruins quickly doused any serious hopes of a CU upset early in the second half. Three quick 3-pointers from Alford helped the Bruins boost their lead to double digits and the margin hit 20 just nine minutes into the half. An Isaac Hamilton 3-pointer at the 11:40 mark off an assist from Lonzo Ball pushed UCLA's cushion to 82-62
"That was kind of the one that I thought stuck a dagger in us a little bit," Boyle said. "Lonzo Ball is as good as there is. If there's a better point guard in the country, I'd like to see him. He's pretty special."
Ball finished with 11 points and eight assists.
The Buffs did cut UCLA's margin down to 13 with seven minutes to go on a White layup and free throw, but that was as close as CU could come down the stretch.
"When you score 89 points in your own building, it should be good enough, but against UCLA it's not," Boyle said. "Not the way we defended UCLA. … There are times in life where you have to tip your hat to your opponent. They deserved to win. They were a better team than us tonight. "
The Buffs don't have much time to fret over the loss. They play host to No. 25 USC on Sunday, with the Trojans coming to Boulder on the heels of an 86-64 loss Thursday at Utah.
"Big game," Boyle said. "No question about it. We've got to dig deep and find out what we're made of on Sunday at 6:30."
TURNING POINT: UCLA opened the second half with a 23-12 run and the Buffs simply had no answer for the Bruins' long-range game, in particular Alford.
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 0-4 in Pac-12 play, the Buffs are in desperate need of a win Sunday when No. 25 USC visits the Coors Events Center.
CU STANDOUTS: Xavier Johnson scored 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting and had six rebounds. … Derrick White had 20 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists. … George King had 13 points and five rebounds and Wesley Gordon had 12 points and six rebounds, as the Buffs actually won the rebound battle, 34-28.
KEY STATISTICS: The Bruins shot 56.5 percent from the field (35-for-62), including a sparkling 19-for-31 night from 3-point range (61.3 percent).
NOTEWORTHY: The Buffs fell to 2-2 vs. ranked teams this season. … The 51 points given up by CU in the first half was the most yielded in a half this year by Colorado, until the Bruins added 53 after intermission. … It is the first time Colorado has given up 100 points at home since a 102-78 loss to Texas in 2007.
QUOTEWORTHY: "I thought our guys battled and fought but we just didn't have any answer for Bryce Alford, obviously. They're a very difficult team to guard because they share the ball and move the ball and they're very unselfish." — CU coach Tad Boyle
"This is huge for us. This is an experienced team. I have so much respect for Tad. We knew this was going to be a tough one for us and I think our guys really responded well." —UCLA coach Steve Alford
"It's something I've got to be concerned with (a possible loss of confidence by his players). It's why I'm trying to be positive with these guys. Let's learn from our mistakes and understand you guys are capable basketball players. I think they all know that. We've definitely lost some swagger — it's hard to have swagger when you're 0-4. But you can't lose your heart, you can't lose your determination, you can't lose your fight. We haven't lost that, I promise you. We may have been humbled. Let's put it that way." — Boyle
"We just have to take it one game at a time. We can't try to get four right away. We just have to focus on USC, try to beat them and get on a one-game win streak." — CU's Derrick White
NEXT UP: The Buffs next play host to USC on Sunday in a 6:30 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center. They then hit the road for games at Washington on Wednesday (9 p.m.) and at Washington State on Saturday (2 p.m.).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
