Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
8-5, 0-1
Oregon State
9-4, 1-0
Buffs Fall To Beavers As Road Woes Continue
December 29, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
CORVALLIS, Ore. — The road continued to be an unfriendly place for the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday.
Haunted by turnovers in the first half, spotty defense in the second half and cold shooting all night, CU dropped a 76-57 loss at Oregon State in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
The Buffs, whose last road win came last February at Oregon State, dropped their third road game in as many tries this season to fall to 8-5 overall while the Beavers improved to 9-4.
Colorado shot just 34.5 percent from the field (20-for-58), including just 28 percent from 3-point range (7-for-25). The Beavers shot 51 percent from the field for the game, including a blistering 16-for-26 in the second half.
Colorado also committed 18 turnovers, which the Beavers converted into 28 points.
CU freshman Tyler Bey finished with 14 points, the only Buff in double figures. Buffs freshman McKinley Wright IV, who had scored in double figures in his first 12 games, saw the streak come to an end when he finished with just seven points on 3-for-14 shooting.
Stevie Thompson Jr. scored 24 for OSU and Tres Tinkle added 23.
"A little bit of an embarrassment in terms of how our team played both offensively and certainly defensively in the second half," CU coach Tad Boyle said. "We've talked about our lack of consistency and it was evident. We have these lapses both offensively and defensively that we can't have if you're going to win in this league. The second half our defense was non-existent. They just punked us."
HOW IT HAPPENED: With two minutes left in the first half, the Buffs looked ready to seize control. CU had overcome an eight-point deficit to take a 23-22 lead on a pair of Dominique Collier free throws and momentum seemed ready to shift to the Buffs bench.
But the Beavers, who had opened the game with an 8-0 run, put together a 10-0 burst over the final two minutes of the half to take a 32-23 lead at intermission. The Beavers took advantage of three CU turnovers in the stretch and the Buffs never recovered.
"They got hot, our defense took a nosedive and that can't happen, especially on the road," said CU senior George King, who finished with five points and a team-high eight rebounds. "They went on a 10-0 run … and we just didn't guard. We allowed their guys to get hot, they started attacking us and we started turning the ball over more."
Fueled by brothers Stevie and Ethan Thompson, the Beavers came out on fire in the second half. OSU pushed its lead to 15 early in period, then expanded the cushion to as much as 23 with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Buffs managed to keep the deficit from growing any larger, but never threatened to come within striking distance over the final 10 minutes.
"We're not a tough team," Boyle said. "Our guys compete. They're competing. But they're not tough enough. That shows up in a lot of different areas. Eighteen turnovers against 40 minutes of zone is a lack of toughness. Just taking care of the ball and passing and catching cleanly. … Just a really frustrating night for us offensively and certainly defensively in the second half."
Oregon State shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second half (16-for-26) and outscored Colorado 40-26 in the paint.
"We have to be better in so many different areas," Boyle said. "Offensively it starts with just passing and catching the ball. We have some open looks and we're not making them. They get some open looks, they make them. We have to have somebody produce for us."
TURNING POINT: After taking their only lead of the game with two minutes to play in the first half, the Buffs promptly gave up a 10-0 run before halftime and the Beavers dominated the game in the second half.
WHAT IT MEANS: CU's schedule doesn't get any easier, with the next five games against teams recently picked to finish in the top five in the Pac-12. The Buffs have a road game directly ahead at Oregon on Sunday, followed by home games vs. Arizona State and Arizona, then a swing through Los Angeles to face USC and UCLA.
CU STANDOUTS: Tyler Bey was the only Buff to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, scoring 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting while also collecting four rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs shot just 41 percent from the field while OSU connected on 51 percent of its tries. OSU also reaped 28 points off of 18 CU turnovers.
NOTEWORTHY: McKinley Wright had six of CU's 10 assists. … In their three road games this year — all losses — the Buffs have hit just 23 of 78 3-point tries (29.4 percent).
QUOTEWORTHY: "There's not a lot of positives I can take from tonight — other than the fact that we're getting our young guys acclimated to this league. Our young guys are going to have to grow up quickly. The games don't stop and they get tougher from here. We have to get better than we played tonight or it's going to get ugly." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up their Oregon trip Sunday with a trip to Eugene to face the Ducks in an 8 p.m. contest (Pac-12 Network).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
