Colorado
19-13
Washington State
13-18
Buffs Rally To Top Cougars In Pac-12 Tourney Opener
March 08, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LAS VEGAS — Earlier this week, Colorado senior Derrick White said conference tournaments are moments when big-time players make big-time plays.
White delivered exactly that for the Buffs on Wednesday, fueling a furious second-half Colorado rally that produced a 73-63 win over Washington State in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena.
The win, Colorado's third in a row and ninth in their last 12 games, means the Buffs' season is alive for at least another day. The seventh-seeded Buffs (19-13) will face second seed Arizona on Thursday in a 7 p.m. matchup (Pac-12 Network).
"It was a tale of two halves, obviously," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "First half, I thought our defense was atrocious. … But our second half, our guys really dialed in, and the numbers show it."
Indeed, the Buffs appeared on their way to a one-and-done appearance after the first 20 minutes, a half in which they trailed by as much as 19 and were still down by 14 at intermission, 41-27.
But sparked by 15 points and four assists from White in the second half, the Buffs went on a 32-11 tear to turn a 14-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead, 59-52, with just more than six minutes to go.
The Cougars then rallied to cut the margin back to two, but the Buffs quickly rebuilt the cushion to hold WSU at bay down the stretch for the win.
White finished with 26 points — 17 in the second half — five rebounds and five assists and Xavier Johnson added 19 points and six rebounds. Tory Miller had just three points but added a team-high nine rebounds.
Charles Callison and Ike Iroegbu each scored 16 for WSU while Josh Hawkinson finished his career with a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double.
HOW IT HAPPENED: After a first half in which the Buffs' defense seemed half-hearted and their offense struggled from everywhere on the floor, White helped reverse the momentum with a terrific start to the second half.
The Buffs opened the half with a 3-pointer from Dominique Collier, followed by seven straight points from White in a 10-2 CU run that cut WSU's once-comfortable margin to six. Two minutes later, White added six more points, then provided three assists in an 14-2 run that finally gave Colorado the lead.
White opened the stretch with a dish to Johnson that yielded a 3-pointer that gave CU a 52-49 lead, its first lead since 3-2. White then added another assist to Wesley Gordon for an easy layup, then finished with a toss to Johnson for an alley-oop tip and 56-52 edge.
Johnson, who had 12 of his 19 points after halftime, completed the run with a slam dunk in transition off a beautiful assist from Josh Fortune, and an ensuing free throw gave the Buffs a 59-52 lead with just 6:16 remaining.
"This time of year it's win or go home," White said. "You can't leave anything out there. You just have to bring it and I wanted to make plays for our team and help us get a victory because I really didn't want to go home. If you want your season to continue, you have to make plays."
The Cougars did manage to cut the CU lead back to two, 60-58, and again at 62-60 with 2:28 remaining.But the Buffs answered with a King basket inside, Johnson produced a pair of big rebounds — one on each end of the floor — and White found Josh Fortune for a huge 3-pointer with just more than two minutes to go to bump Colorado's cushion back to five.
"Josh Fortune hit a big-time 3 for us in the corner," Boyle said, "and X.J. had a big offensive rebound and a big backtip that gave us an extra possession. We did the things we needed to do to win the game down the stretch."
The statistical differences between the two halves were indeed stark. The Cougars shot 56.7 percent in the first half (17-for-30), then just 30.8 percent after halftime (8-for-26). The Buffs, meanwhile, after hitting just eight of their first 25 shots came back to hit 15 of 28 after halftime. Colorado also won the rebound battle, 37-29, by producing 10 more boards after intermission.
"Boxing out," said Miller, whose nine rebounds led the Buffs. "That was the difference. We started boxing out and getting rebounds. When we do that, it makes everything else work a little bit better."
Colorado never found a rhythm in the first half. After the Cougars jumped out to a 9-3 lead, the Buffs managed to cut the gap to 9-7 — only to see Washington State put together a 21-4 run that gave WSU a 30-11 lead with seven minutes to go in the half.
Colorado managed to reduce the deficit to 14 by half, but still entered halftime trailing 41-27.
TURNING POINT: The Buffs emerged from halftime to go on a 32-11 tear to take control. Johnson's 3-pointer with nine minutes to go gave the Buffs a lead they never relinquished.
WHAT IT MEANS: Along with keeping the Buffs' season alive for at least another game, it also went a long way in improving their resume. The Buffs must still win three more games to earn an NCAA Tournament berth, but their NIT hopes received a boost with Wednesday's win.
CU STANDOUTS: Derrick White finished with 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. … Xavier Johnson had 19 points and six rebounds, with five of those boards and 12 points coming in the second half. … Wesley Gordon had eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. … George King and Josh Fortune each had seven points, five rebounds and two assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs won the rebound battle, 37-29, and outrebounded the Cougars by 10 in the second half. CU also held the Cougars to just 31 percent shooting (8-for-26) after halftime, and the Buffs outscored the Cougars 12-5 in points off turnovers and 8-0 on the fast break.
NOTEWORTHY: Colorado head coach Tad Boyle is now 7-0 in conference tournament openers as CU's head coach, and has 12 of CU's 23 all-time wins in conference tournament play. … The comeback from a 19-point deficit was the biggest in CU's postseason history and fourth largest all-time. … White and Johnson combined for 45 points, 62 percent of CU's total offensive output.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Derrick White is one of the best players in this league. Anybody that hasn't seen him play is missing something, because he's special, and he showed why he's special tonight in the second half. He just made big plays for us." — CU head coach Tad Boyle.
"They hunted us down well in the second half. We had a very difficult time with White again. To Colorado's credit, their experience just stepped up and showed." WSU head coach Ernie Kent
NEXT UP: The Buffs face Arizona in Thursday's quarterfinals in a 7 p.m. game at T-Mobile Arena.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
