Colorado
10-5; 0-2
Arizona State
9-7; 2-1
Buffs Fall By One To ASU, 78-77
January 05, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
TEMPE, Ariz. — Colorado's Derrick White scored 35 points, including a go-ahead bucket with 19.6 seconds left in the game, but Arizona State's Tra Holder hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining to hand the Buffs a 78-77 loss Thursday night.
The Buffs, who lost forward Xavier Johnson to a double-ejection after an incident with ASU's Jethro Tshisumpa in the first half, had battled back from a pair of nine-point deficits early in the second half. A 10-0 run gave Colorado a 56-55 lead with 10:47 left in the game, and there were a dozen lead changes down the stretch.
White scored 15 of Colorado's final 19 points, including two field goals and a pair of free throws in the final 3:20 that gave the Buffs the lead each time. His final basket of the night, coming on a drive to the rim, gave CU a 77-76 lead with just under 20 seconds to play.
Colorado then forced a miss from ASU's Torian Graham, but Holder squeezed in to grab the rebound and attempt to tip it back in and was fouled by White. Holder hit both free throws and a last-second desperation heave by George King was blocked by ASU.
There is no doubt our guys battled," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "I have a total different feeling in my heart, in my gut than I did after the Utah game because I thought our guys battled and fought. They lost a player in the first half, we lost a player in the first half. I think our player was a little more important to us than theirs was to them. We made some plays down the stretch. Derrick White was unbelievable offensively. He was terrific tonight, but they made one more play than we did."
White was 10-for-20 from the field and 12-for-12 from the free throw line but CU's only other double-figures scorer was Johnson, who had 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting before his ejection.
The Buffs dropped to 10-5 overall and 0-2 in Pac-12 play while ASU improved to 9-7 and 1-1.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Thanks to 13 first-half points from Johnson on 6-for-7 shooting, the Buffs came back from an early 20-12 deficit to tie the game at 32-32 with 3:11 to go in the half.
White sparked the comeback as the Buffs put together a 7-0 run to erase a 32-25 ASU lead. Johnson started the run by scoring on an inbounds pass followed by a White drive to the hoop and a White 3-pointer.
That precipitated a timeout from ASU, and the Sun Devils responded by scoring the next five points. The two teams then traded buckets before the fracas involving Tshisumpa and Johnson.
The incident began when Johnson drove to the basket and was met by Tshisumpa, with both players going to the floor. After they untangled themselves, Tshisumpa shoved Johnson and players from both teams rushed to attempt to break up the rumble.
Referees restored order, then went to the television monitors and ultimately decided to eject both players, even though it appeared that Johnson did not retaliate.
"They didn't say there was punches thrown, but they said that there was some pushing and shoving going on," Boyle said. "They said that he had instigated it and the other kid retaliated, so they gave them both flagrant twos. I didn't see, it was down away from our bench so I don't know. I have to take the officials word for it and watch it. If there are no punches thrown, I thought maybe we could go flagrant one double technical and move on, but they didn't make that decision. You have to live with it. That is not why we lost. We played well enough to win that game in the second half, we just didn't make enough plays and they did."
While the Buffs lost the player who was leading them in scoring at the time, Tshisumpa left the game with two points and one rebound.
After the ejections, Colorado cut ASU's lead to four, 41-37, at the half on a pair of free throws each from Dominique Collier and Wesley Gordon.
Despite the loss of Johnson, the Buffs bounced back in the second half. CU finally took the lead for the first time since early in the game on a White 3-pointer that capped a 10-0 run and gave Colorado a 56-55 lead with 10:47 to go in the game.
The game then see-sawed back and forth for the final 10 minutes, setting the stage for the final minutes. The Buffs trailed 76-75 with just under two minutes to go, but regained the lead on White's drive to the basket with 20 seconds remaining.
The Buffs then forced a miss by ASU's Graham in the final seconds, but Holder was fouled on the rebound and tip-in attempt and hit both of his free throw to seal the win.
Colorado did win the rebound battle, 36-32, but ASU also grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, including the final one of the game.
"We played really good defense on the shot, but the way this team has rebounded the ball the last six, this being the seventh, game, it's probably appropriate that we lost that way, on a rebound," Boyle said. "We have not been rebounding the ball like Colorado teams are expected to rebound the ball. Again, 11 offensive rebounds, you cut that number to 10 and you win the game."
TURNING POINT: The game wasn't decided until Holder's free throws, but the Buffs' loss of Johnson late in the first half no doubt hurt CU's chances.
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 0-2 in Pac-12 play, the Buffs are in need of a win to prevent themselves from digging too deep of a hole early in conference play.
CU STANDOUTS: White had an outstanding performance. Along with his 35 points, he also had five rebounds and five assists. … Reserve big man Tory Miller had eight points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
KEY STATISTICS: The Sun Devils had five players in double-figure scoring while the Buffs had just two — and one of them, Miller, was ejected in the first half. … The Sun Devils hit 10 of their 26 3-point field goal tries while the Buffs were just 5-for-22 from beyond the arc. … Colorado got just a combined nine points from George King (four) and Josh Fortune (five). King did have seven rebounds, but was just 1-for-9 from the field, including an 0-for-6 night from 3-point range. Fortune did have four rebounds and four assists.
NOTEWORTHY: White's 35 points were the most by a Buff since Askia Booker scored 43 against USC two seasons ago.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We wouldn't have been in this game without Derrick White. He did everything for us offensively, especially down the stretch. He made big-time plays. We just came up a little bit short. I like our effort, I like our fight, I like our grit." CU head coach Tad Boyle.
"You just have to wash it off in the shower and move on to the next one. We have a great opportunity to win at Arizona so we just have to learn from our mistakes and try to get a tough one on the road." — CU's Derrick White
"For a veteran team, for a bunch of guys who have played a lot of college basketball, I don't know if they have a belief in themselves they need to have. We need to find that. I believe in this group. I believe in our players, I believe in our system. You just have to overcome and they made one more play than we did." — Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs finish up their three-game road trip with a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday at Arizona. They then return home next week with their Pac-12 home opener set Thursday at 9 p.m. against UCLA at the Coors Events Center.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
