Colorado
Oregon State
Buffs Finish, Halt Oregon State To End Skid
January 26, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes finally found a way to finish what they started Thursday night.
After losing a lead four times in the final minute of regulation or overtime in their seven-game skid, the Buffs instead put a game away, collecting an 85-78 win over Oregon State at the Coors Events Center to finally break into the Pac-12 win column.
CU improved to 11-10 overall and 1-7 in Pac-12 play while OSU dropped to 4-17, 0-8.
George King led the Buffs with a season-high 24 points and freshman Bryce Peters, who got his first career start, celebrated with a career-high 15 points, including a perfect 3-for-3 night from 3-point range.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The win didn't come easily and it didn't start in conventional fashion. CU head coach Tad Boyle shook up his starting lineup, putting three freshmen — Deleon Brown, Peters and Lucas Siewert — on the floor with junior Tory Miller and sophomore Thomas Akyazili. It was the first start of the season for Peters, Akyazili, Siewert and Miller, and just the third start for Brown.
"That move was more a way to honor and to reward the guys who come to practice every day and who don't get the minutes or haven't gotten the starts," Boyle said. "Four of the five guys tonight hadn't started yet this year, and we threw Deleon (Brown) in there because he's such a team-oriented defender and he gives you everything he's got every single day. Other guys have had their opportunities and I thought it was time for those guys who hadn't to get their chance."
The new group held its own, both to begin the game and to start the second half. Colorado led 12-10 early with the new lineup and 41-40 at the half after Boyle had reinserted his starters,.
But in crunch time, it was a combination of the newcomers and the regulars who made the difference.
After a see-saw first 14 minutes of the second half, the Buffs took an eight-point lead with just more than six minutes remaining on back-to-back 3-pointers from Peters. But even before the Events Center crowd of 7,341 could relax, the Beavers quickly cut the margin back to two, 72-70, with four minutes left to play.
The situation no doubt brought back memories of earlier games this season in which the Buffs had seen leads dissipate down the stretch.
Thursday, however, CU's defense finally answered the bell while the offense, which had been stellar all night, kept up the pace. The Buffs put together an 8-0 run, getting four consecutive defensive stops in the burst.
"We went on a little run and we were able to string some stops together to get it up to 80-70," Boyle said. "Stephen Thompson is an excellent player and we were trying to trap him to get the ball out of his hands late, and Drew Eubanks was a beast down low. We were trying to get the ball out of Thompson's hands late and have somebody else beat us."
Miller started the run with a jump hook from the lane. Then came a King 3-pointer and another Miller bucket before a King free throw gave the Buffs a 10-point edge with just 1:35 left on the clock.
"Offensively we knew we were going to score," King said. "We weren't worried about offense. It was on the defensive end — can we guard? Are we going to get stops, because that's the only way we're going to win the game. And defensively, we made plays down the stretch, which allowed us to get the win."
The Buffs could have made it much easier on themselves by simply hitting their free throws. CU connected on just 15 of 31 tries from the stripe, including a 6-for-10 effort in the final two minutes. Colorado's best shooting percentage of the night actually came from 3-point range (12-for-22) while finishing 50 percent from the field overall (29-for-58) — meaning CU had its worst percentage from the free throw line.
"A win is a win and we'll take it," Boyle said. "We overcame a really tough night at the free throw line and it seems like there's always something that this team needs to overcome. I thought that we were terrific on offense, even though our defense and rebounding is still a problem with this team. But tonight from a glass half full point of view I thought our offense was terrific."
The Buffs were outrebounded by the Beavers, 32-31, and OSU ended up shooting 55 percent from the floor (28-for-51). But when the Buffs needed stops most, they produced them.
"We'll take the win and build on it and we needed this," Boyle said. "It's more of a relief then a celebration right now."
TURNING POINT: After the Beavers had cut CU's lead to 72-70 with four minutes to play, the Buffs went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to bump their cushion back to 10 and put the game away.
WHAT IT MEANS: With the losing streak now a thing of the past, the Buffs need to find a way to take a little momentum into their next game — a Saturday night matchup with No. 10 Oregon.
CU STANDOUTS: Junior George King had 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting (4-for-8 from 3-point range) and three rebounds. … Freshman Bryce Peters has 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including a 3-for-3 night from 3-point range, four rebounds and a pair of assists. … Thomas Akyazili matched his career high with six assists. … Xavier Johnson and Dominique Collier each had 10 points. … Tory Miller had six points and five rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) from 3-point range and reaped 26 points off of 14 Oregon State turnovers. While Colorado lost the overall rebound battle, the Buffs did outscore OSU, 12-7, on second-chance points.
NOTEWORTHY: King's 24 points were a season high and three short of his career-high of 27, recorded last year vs. Auburn. … Peters' 15 points were a career high, as were his three 3-pointers. … Senior Wesley Gordon had just one rebound in 15 minutes on the floor, his lowest total of the season.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Hopefully offensively we can play with confidence and move the ball Saturday against Oregon. Oregon has a deeper bench than Oregon State does and Oregon is just a different animal when it comes to depth. Offensively we have to keep that going, and we have to figure out how to guard. If we play defense like we did tonight against Oregon they'll score 120 on us." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"We got a turnover and I'm an athletic dude. It was just unfortunate for him." — CU's George King on his tomahawk dunk off a turnover in the first half
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to No. 10 Oregon on Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. game at the Events Center.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
