Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
7-3
San Diego
8-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 29 | 40 | 69 |
| Colorado | 21 | 38 | 59 |
Cold-shooting Buffs Fall To San Diego
December 12, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — As the old saying goes, the Colorado Buffaloes could not buy a basket Tuesday night.
As a result, the ice-cold Buffs dropped a 69-59 loss to visiting San Diego, their third loss in their last four games.
Now 7-3, CU hit just 14 of its 54 field goal tries (25.9 percent), threatening for much of the night to break the CU record for fewest field goals in a game (12). The Buffs at one point missed 12 straight field goal attempts in the second half, but still managed to cut a 16-point deficit to five at one point before the Toreros pulled away down the stretch.
The 25.9 percent effort from the field, which included a 3-for-18 night from 3-point range, was CU's lowest percentage ever in the Coors Events Center, which opened in 1979.
"It was a rough night for us offensively, obviously we couldn't make a shot and that kind of got to us," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "We got our heads hanging a little bit. … San Diego came in here and beat us. We have to live with that. It's a bitter pill to swallow. I'm really disappointed."
CU's George King had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double — his third of the season and 10th of his career — but shot just 4-for-16 from the field. McKinley Wright IV had 12 points on 3-for-10 shooting.
The Toreros, who shot a relatively respectable 20-for-49, including 9-for-23 from 3-point range, improved to 8-2. San Diego's Isaiah Wright led all scorers with 20 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: After trailing by eight at intermission, 29-21, the Buffs saw that deficit doubled just four minutes into the second half as the Toreros built a 42-26 edge by knocking down three 3-pointers in the stretch.
CU, though, slowly climbed back into the game at the free throw line. Colorado put together an 18-7 run, with 14 of the points coming from free throws, to narrow USD's lead to just five, 49-44, with 7:10 to play.
"I thought we did a really good job of getting back in the game in the second half by getting to the foul line, which is what you have to do when your shots aren't falling," Boyle said.
With 5:30 to go, Colorado once again pulled to within five on a pair of King free throws. But the Buffs then proceeded to miss their next seven field goal tries and the Toreros kept the Buffs at bay with a 7-0 run, rebuilding the margin to 58-46 with three minutes to go.
"Our guys aren't trying to miss shots, they just couldn't buy a bucket tonight," Boyle said. "But I want to control things we can control. I can't control the ball going in, players can't control the ball going in, but we can control how we react to it, what our body language is like, what our effort is like, what our fight and competitiveness is like."
Colorado finally ended its six-minute drought from the field when Deleon Brown banked in a 3-pointer with 2:28 to play, but the Toreros hit their free throws down the stretch when the Buffs were forced to foul to secure the win.
"We're not as good as we think we are," a downcast King said. "We have to respect everybody … I don't think we respected San Diego enough coming into this game. It was clear as day, especially in the first half."
Only two Buffs, Dallas Walton (1-for-2) and Lazar Nikolic (2-4), managed to hit at least half their shots from the field. Colorado's three leading scorers — McKinley Wright, King and Namon Wright — combined for 33 points while shooting just 9-for-31.
The Buffs opened the game by hitting just one of their first 10 field goal tries, but the Toreros weren't much better, as both teams hit just six of their first 20 tries from the field.
Still, San Diego built an early lead before CU finally tied the game at 17-17 with 5:35 left in the half, then momentarily took a 19-18 lead on a pair of Lucas Siewert free throws a minute later.
But the rest of the half belonged to San Diego, as the Toreros outscored Colorado 11-2 over the final four minutes, including a 7-0 run to end the half, giving USD a 29-21 lead at intermission.
TURNING POINT: Colorado pulled to within five with 5:30 still left to go and seemed to have momentum. But the Toreros responded with seven unanswered points over the next three minutes to put the game away.
WHAT IT MEANS: With losses in three of their last four contests, the Buffs must regroup in a hurry and regain some confidence, especially with South Dakota State — the preseason pick to win the Summit League — and standout forward Mike Daum paying a visit to Boulder on Friday.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs hit just 25.9 percent of their shots from the field, an all-time program low in the Coors Events Center. Colorado was also outrebounded 38-37.
NOTEWORTHY: McKinley Wright has scored in double figures in every game as a Buff. ... Freshman Tyler Bey had a career-high nine rebounds in 17 minutes. ... CU's 25.9 percent field goal percentage was the lowest by a Buffs team since shooting 23.1 percent at Cal in 2013, and was CU's lowest percentage ever in the Coors Events Center. ... King passed Chauncey Billups on CU's all-time scoring list, and is now 32nd with 1,024 points. He is also tied for 28th on the all-time rebound list with 520.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We want things to happen easy. We want the game to be easy, we want life to be easy — and guess what, you play against good defensive teams, life isn't easy. You have to work for everything — and when you do have open shots, you'd better be able to knock them down. Tonight we couldn't knock anything down." — CU head coach Tad Boyle.
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to South Dakota State on Friday in a 6 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center (Pac-12 Network).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Â
