Colorado
16-11, 6-8
Oregon State
4-23, 0-14
Buffs Tough Enough To Grab Road Win At Oregon State
February 16, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Earlier this week Colorado coach Tad Boyle said the key to winning on the road was "toughness."
Boyle's Buffs were tough enough Thursday night to collect their second Pac-12 road win of the season, scoring the last eight points of the game to snare a 60-52 decision at Oregon State. The win was Colorado's sixth in its last seven games and improved the Buffs to 16-11 overall and 6-8 in Pac-12 play while setting up a key game at No. 7 Oregon on Saturday.
The Beavers, meanwhile, dropped their 14th straight game, falling to 4-23 and 0-14.
The Buffs were by no means at their best, especially offensively, connecting on just 41.5 percent of their field goal tries (22-for-53). But they were good enough on the defensive end, particularly in the final two minutes, when they forced four straight empty OSU possessions and answered with points on each of them.
"We gutted that one out, there's no doubt about it. I thought our defense was pretty good most of the night," Boyle said. "We finished the game with four straight stops and were able to make a couple big plays."
Derrick White led the Buffs with 20 points, four assists, three steals and two blocks and played a huge role in the final two minutes when the Buffs broke away from a 52-52 tie with the last eight points of the game.
Xavier Johnson added 17 points and four rebounds for the Buffs while George King had seven points and seven rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED: After trailing by one at the half, the Buffs seemed ready to take control with a 9-0 run that produced a 46-35 lead with just more than seven minutes left to go. Dominique Collier fueled the run with a steal and assist to George King for a dunk, then finished the burst with a 3-pointer.
But almost before the Buffs could catch their breath, the Beavers answered with a 9-0 run, then ultimately tied the game at 50-50.
The two teams then traded buckets before Colorado put the game away with the final eight points of the game. Johnson started the run with a free throw, followed by a White jumper on a perfectly executed play out of a timeout. On OSU's ensuing possession, White recorded a block and steal of a shot attempt by OSU's 6-foot-11 Gilgorije Rakocevic, which led to a Johnson 3-pointer and a 58-52 lead with just 32 seconds remaining.
White then added two more free throws to finish the scoring.
"Derrick White made some big-time plays," Boyle said. "Players make plays. XJ (Johnson) hit a big 3 there in the corner and made up for some missed free throws. Every guy that played tonight made some big plays. Dom Collier misses a shot then comes down and whaps a big 3. Josh Fortune has a putback in the first half that we really sorely needed, diving on the floor for a loose ball. Multiple guys made plays that had to make plays for us."
Defensively, the Buffs did their job, particularly on OSU standout Stevie Thompson. The sophomore guard had 26 points in their first meeting of the year, but finished the night with just five points on 2-for-12 shooting, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range. He also had just one assist and eight turnovers.
"I thought Derrick and Bryce (Peters) did a terrific job on Stevie Thompson, who is a heck of a player," Boyle said. "Terrific defensive effort by those guys."
While the Buffs were struggling from the floor, they also made sure the Beavers experienced the same kind of night. OSU shot just 38 percent for the night (19-for-50).
"In the first half we played a little selfishly, something we haven't played like in a while," White said. "We needed to go in the locker room, regroup and come out and play Colorado style of basketball."
The Buffs trailed 25-24 at the half. CU hit four of its first six field goal tries, but then connected on just four of the next 19 to finish the half 8-for-25. The Beavers weren't much better, shooting just 10-for-29 in the opening half.
TURNING POINT: The game wasn't decided until the final 1:48, when the Buffs broke open a 52-52 tie with the final eight points of the game. The key play was a Derrick White block and steal that led to a Xavier Johnson 3-pointer and a six-point CU lead.
WHAT IT MEANS: Once 0-7 in Pac-12 play, the Buffs are now 6-8 and take some momentum into Saturday's meeting with Oregon in Eugene. If the Buffs can come up with a win over the No. 7 Ducks, who they beat in Boulder earlier this year, they have a good chance to win their final three at home and finish the regular season with 20 wins.
CU STANDOUTS: Derrick White had 20 points, four assists, three steals and two blocks. … Xavier Johnson had 17 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals. … Dominique Collier had eight points, three rebounds and two steals. … George King had seven points and seven rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs forced 18 turnovers and reaped 23 points off those miscues. … The Buffs had 10 total steals. … Colorado outscored OSU 28-18 in the paint.
NOTEWORTHY: CU had at least 10 steals for the third straight game, the best such stretch in conference play since 2010 and the first in the Tad Boyle era. … White scored in double figures for the 24th time in 27 games this year. … The Buffs are now 12-0 when holding an opponent to under 70 points this season.
QUOTEWORTHY: "On the road, you don't play your best — we gutted that one out, there's no doubt about it. I thought our defense was pretty good most of the night, except for some stretches. We finished the game with four straight stops and were able to make a couple big plays." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"We didn't play to our best of ability, especially in the first half, but it's good to get a road win. You can't take any game for granted." — CU senior Derrick White
NEXT UP: The Buffs head down the road to Eugene on Saturday for a 1 p.m. meeting with No. 7 Oregon. After that, they close the Pac-12 regular season with three games at home: Feb. 23 vs. Utah, March 2 vs. Stanford and March 4 vs. Cal.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
