Colorado
10-9, 0-6
Washington
9-9, 2-4
Buffs Fall In Overtime At Washington
January 18, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
SEATTLE — Once again, the Colorado Buffaloes couldn't protect a lead in the final minute — but Wednesday night, it happened twice in the same game.
The result was an 85-83 overtime loss at Washington in a game the Buffs led by 17 early in the second half. The loss, CU's sixth straight, dropped Colorado to 10-9 overall and 0-6 in Pac-12 play while the Huskies improved to 9-9, 2-4.
Xavier Johnson had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Buffs while Derrick White added 23 points and eight assists. UW star freshman Markelle Fultz led all scorers with 37.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Wednesday's game was the third time in six conference games CU has held the lead with less than a minute to play.
"We're finding ways to lose, we're not finding ways to win," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "We had our chances. This team's got fight, it's got resolve, we just don't have that killer instinct that you need to have."
The Buffs did indeed have their chances, even after allowing Washington to completely erase a 41-24 lead the Buffs held early in the second half. Colorado still led by 12 at the midway point of the half, and by one, 65-64, with 57 seconds remaining after the Huskies had tied the game at 64-64.
But Fultz hit two free throws with 43 seconds left to give Washington its first lead since early in the game and Noah Dickerson extended the lead to two with one of two free throws after CU missed on its next possession.
Colorado did tie the game at 67-67 with 10 seconds remaining, enough to send the game into overtime when Fultz missed a last-gasp 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
But it was the same story in overtime. Colorado fell behind by four, 73-69, but battled back to take the lead four different times in the final minutes, the last on a Johnson offensive rebound and bucket with 33 seconds remaining.
The Huskies, though, had one more answer, getting a wide-open David Crisp 3-pointer in transition after Johnson's basket. The Buffs missed on their next possession, Crisp added two free throws with 12 seconds left for an 85-81 UW lead and all that was left was a meaningless Colorado basket with two seconds remaining.
"Until we commit ourselves to defending for 40 minutes and rebounding for 40 minutes, we're not going to beat anybody in this league," Boyle said. "It's doing it at critical times. We make the basket, they get it in and pitch it ahead for a wide-open 3 that Crisp hits and that's the ballgame. It's transition defense after a made basket. That's the play that beat us."
For 20 minutes, the Buffs looked to be well on their way to ending their losing streak.
The two teams traded buckets early in the game before Colorado slowly began opening up a lead that hit 15 by halftime, 39-24.
The Buffs built the edge on some solid shooting from the floor — 17-for-33 in the first 20 minutes — while also playing some solid defense. Fultz produced his fair share of points with 12 on 5-for-10 shooting, but the rest of the Huskies were just a combined 5-for-21 from the field.
The Buffs took the lead at the 16:01 mark of the half, 8-6, on a George King 3-pointer. CU built the margin to eight midway through the half, 25-17, then took control minutes later. After Fultz hit a jumper to pull Washington to within 28-22, the Buffs finished the half with an 11-2 run to take their 15-point halftime lead.
White started the burst with a layup, followed by a Tory Miller bucket from the paint. Colorado senior Josh Fortune then had a hand in the final seven points of the half. Fortune handed an assist to Johnson for an easy bucket, then grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup for a 36-24 edge. He then finished the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining.
The Huskies chipped away at Colorado's lead on the strength of Fultz's scoring from all over the court and Crisp's 14 points, including four 3-pointers. After hitting just one of 12 3-point tries in the first half, the Huskies hit 7 of 13 tries after intermission.
The Buffs, meanwhile, who shot better than 50 percent in the first half, went cold from the field.
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 0-6 in Pac-12 play — the Buffs' worst start to conference play since their Big Eight days — CU's preseason NCAA Tournament hopes are now clearly a long shot.
TURNING POINT: Even though the Buffs held the lead in the final minute of regulation and overtime, the deciding run may have been a 16-5 Washington burst in the second half that saw a 12-point Colorado lead at the midway point shaved to just one with under five minutes to go.
CU STANDOUTS: Xavier Johnson had 24 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth career double-double. … Derrick White had 23 points and eight assists. … Wesley Gordon had 11 rebounds and five points.
KEY STATISTICS: After committing just five turnovers in the first half, the Buffs added 10 to that total in the second half. Washington finished with 18 points off of those turnovers. … After going 1-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half, the Huskies were 7-for-13 after intermission.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We've talked about consistency since November and it's still plaguing us. If tonight is not the epitome of that inconsistency, I don't know what is. … Our defense is just letting us down. They have 28 points the first half, they end up with 85. We got a couple stops there, but we couldn't come up with rebounds." — CU head coach Tad Boyle.
NEXT UP: The Buffs play at Washington State on Saturday in a 2 p.m. game (Pac-12 Networks).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
