Colorado
7-2
Xavier
9-1
Buffs Fall At No. 13 Xavier
December 09, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
CINCINNATI — Colorado's young Buffaloes got their first taste of the big stage Saturday, and the lesson delivered proved to be a harsh one.
Playing in front of a sold-out Cintas Center crowd, the Buffs fell behind in the first half by as much as 26 and could never completely close the gap, ultimately dropping a 96-69 decision to No. 13 Xavier.
"They took it from us like candies from a baby," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "We got beat in every phase of the game today. There's not a lot of positive things you could take from this, other than maybe we can learn from Xavier in terms of how they execute offensively, how hard they play, how tough they are. This was men against boys today. It was very apparent in many ways."
Colorado dropped to 7-2 while Xavier improved to 9-1.
Namon Wright led CU with 20 points while McKinley Wright IV added 16 and George King chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Musketeers, who shot a blistering 60 percent from the field (35-58) — including 9-for-14 from 3-point range — were led by Trevon Bluiett, who finished with 25 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs hurt themselves early with turnovers and the hot-shooting Musketeers were glad to take advantage. Xavier led 31-10 just eight minutes in — a stretch in which the Buffs committed eight turnovers — and slowly built the margin to 46-20 with just more than five minutes to play in the half.
But to their credit, the Buffs refused to quit. After narrowing Xavier's cushion to 16 by halftime, the Buffs then closed the gap to 13 midway through the second period with an 11-2 run. Namon Wright hit a 3-pointer, Dominique Collier had back-to-back 3s and McKinley Wright hit a fastbreak bucket to close the gap to 69-56.
But that led to an XU timeout and the Musketeers emerged to score the next eight points and end any threat of a Colorado comeback.
"This is a potential Final Four team we just played today on their home floor," Boyle said. "Sometimes you have to say, 'Look, your opponent just whipped your tail.' There's a lot of times you look at your deficiencies, and we have a lot of them. ... But Xavier could have beaten a lot of teams today and they will beat a lot of teams. We did not take care of the ball and we didn't defend."
Xavier jumped on the Buffs from the get-go, putting together an 18-3 run in a four-minute span that turned a 13-7 edge into a 31-10 cushion with 12 minutes still to play in the first half.
The Buffs helped dig the hole by turning the ball over. CU had eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game, which Xavier gladly converted into 13 points. The Musketeers hit 12 of their first 16 field goal tries, including a red-hot 5-for-6 stretch from 3-point range.
TURNING POINT: This one was decided early. Eight turnovers by the Buffs in the first eight minutes helped Xavier to a 31-10 lead and the Buffs never came closer than 13 again.
WHAT IT MEANS: If there's a positive to be gained, it is a lesson on how the Musketeers played on both ends of the floor. The good news is the Buffs didn't quit. Now they need to figure out how to reduce their turnovers and improve their 3-point defense.
CU STANDOUTS: Namon Wright had 20 points to go with six steals and five rebounds. … McKinley Wright scored 16 points to go with five assists, four rebounds and just two turnovers. … George King had 15 points and eight rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Musketeers outscored Colorado 48-28 in the paint and had a 24-19 edge in points off turnovers.
NOTEWORTHY: Namon Wright's 20 points were his best as a Buff, and the six steals were the most by a CU player since Spencer Dinwiddie had six against Jackson State in 2013. … McKinley Wright has scored in double figures in all nine games as a Buff. … George King surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.
QUOTEWORTHY: "This is an opportunity for us to learn to get better. Not necessarily from our own mistakes, but from what Xavier does well. This should be an eye-opener for our guys." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"If we're giving up 48 points in the paint and turning the ball over at the rate we were, especially in the first half, it's going to be hard to beat a good team like this." — CU's George King.
NEXT UP: The Buffs return home for a pair of games next week, playing host to San Diego on Tuesday and South Dakota State on Friday at the Coors Events Center. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. and both will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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