Colorado
19-15
UCF
22-11
Buffs Fall To UCF In NIT First Round
March 15, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
ORLANDO, Fla. — Another spectacular performance from senior Derrick White couldn't save the Colorado Buffaloes on Wednesday.
Despite a 30-point, six-rebound, six-assist night from White, the Buffs dropped a 79-74 decision to UCF at CFE Arena in their NIT opener. The loss ended CU's season at 19-15, only the second time in the seven-year Tad Boyle era that the Buffs failed to reach the 20-win plateau.
Colorado fought back from a 12-point deficit in the first half to trail by just four at the half before White scored CU's first six points of the second half to tie the game at 40-40.
But UCF slowly built the lead back to as much as 13, then held Colorado off down the stretch at the free throw line. Colorado actually had five more field goals than the Knights, but the Buffs shot just 30-for-71 from the field, including only 9-for-33 from 3-point range. The Knights were 25-for-46 from the field, including 12-for-22 from beyond the arc.
UCF also made 17 of its 32 free throws while Colorado shot just six free shots and made five.
"This game kind of encapsulates the whole season when you look at it from a lot of different perspectives," Boyle said. "We dug ourselves a hole, we had to climb out of it and we did climb out of it. We battled, we fought, we scratched, we clawed. We had to overcome a lot of adversity. I'm proud of our fight.
"But at some point in these high-level games at the end of the year … you have to make shots when the shots are there to be made. We had some open looks that we didn't make. They had open looks and they made them."
Two other Buffs playing in their last game in a CU uniform also finished in double digits, with Xavier Johnson scoring 13 and Josh Fortune adding 12.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Even after trailing by 13 with less than two minutes to go in the game, the Buffs very nearly forced the game into overtime.
Thanks to the Knights missing four of six free throws over the next minute and a half, Colorado was able to cut a 72-59 deficit to 74-71 with 23 seconds to go on a White 3-pointer, then narrow the gap to 76-74 nine seconds later on a Johnson trey.
UCF's A.J. Davis then made just one of two free throws on the Knights' next possession, but a White 3-point attempt with six seconds remaining banged off the rim and Davis then sealed the win with two more free throws.
"Our guys fought," Boyle said. "We came back, it was a one-possession game and Derrick had a great look to tie that thing and it didn't go in. They shot 32 free throws, we shot six. Now 14 of them, we were fouling at the end intentionally. You take those 14 away, they shoot 18 free throws, we shoot 6. Big difference in terms of being able to get to the free throw line. We weren't able to, they were."
The Buffs also couldn't get stops when they most needed them. Every time they closed the gap, the Knights answered with a mini-run to rebuild a cushion.
"That was our problem all year," White said. "We didn't guard well enough to win today. We didn't guard well enough to win all year long. That was our biggest issue."
One thing that wasn't as big of an issue as the Buffs thought it might be was the presence of 7-foot-6 UCF center Tacko Fall. While Fall finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, he had only four points and three rebounds after intermission.
The Buffs trailed 25-13 midway through the first half before closing the gap to four by intermission, 38-34. They momentarily tied the game at 40, but fell behind again by double digits before the final rally fell just short.
"Our defense wasn't good enough tonight," Boyle said. "It wasn't good enough all year for us to play at the level we expect us to play at. We didn't guard the 3-point line line very well; our ball-screen defense failed and we weren't able to dominate on the boards."
Guard B.J. Taylor led UCF with 26 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs end their season with a first-round postseason loss and fell one game short of the 20-win plateau. It was CU's seventh postseason appearance in Boyle's seven years.
CU STANDOUTS: White finished with 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting to go with six assists, six rebounds, two blocked shots and just one turnover. … Johnson had 13 points and four rebounds. … Fortune had 12 points and four rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs were just 9-for-33 from 3-point range while the Knights were 12-for-22. … UCF was also 17-for-32 from the free throw line while Colorado shot just six free throws and made five.
NOTEWORTHY: White finished his only season at Colorado with 615 points, seventh-best on CU's all-time single-season chart. Only Alec Burks (779), Cliff Meely (729 and 667)), Shaun Vandiver (699 and 668) and Stevie Wise (655) ever scored more in a single season for Colorado. Wednesday was his fourth 30-point game of the season, the first Buff to hit that mark since Chauncey Billups did it in his freshman season (1995-96). He is also just the second player to score 30 twice in a postseason, following Vandiver, who did it in the 1991 NIT. White also had 15 games this season with at least 20 points. In his last three games as a Buff, White scored 31, 26 and 30 points.
QUOTEWORTHY: "If there's one word to describe this team this year, it was our inconsistency. It wasn't that we weren't good enough at times, we weren't good enough consistently — whether that's offensively, defensively, free throw shooting, 3-point shooting, 3-point defense, you name it. We were not a consistent team to play at the level that Colorado basketball standards are now to." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
