Colorado
10-7, 2-3
USC
12-6, 3-2
Buffs Fall At USC
January 10, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LOS ANGELES — Colorado couldn't shake the turnover bug on the road Wednesday night and the Buffs' miscues paved the way for a 70-58 Southern California win at the Galen Center.
The loss, Colorado's fifth in as many tries on the road this year, dropped the Buffs to 10-7 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12. USC improved to 12-6, 3-2.
The Buffs committed 22 turnovers, which led to 25 USC points.
George King led Colorado with 21 points and 10 rebounds (15 points in the first half), and Namon Wright added 10. Tyler Bey added eight points and seven rebounds for the Buffs.
CU's McKinley Wright IV, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, struggled all night. The freshman finished with just seven points on 2-for-9 shooting and had five turnovers and just four assists.
"I'm extremely disappointed, obviously, because this was a winnable game," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "In the first half we showed glimpses of things, and we talked about turnovers at halftime. You don't have to look at anything else in this one other than that."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs played a solid first half and led, 34-33, with just more than a minute to play in the period. CU shot 13-for-29 in the opening period, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range.
But USC scored the last five points of the half to take a 38-34 edge at intermission and Colorado never regained the lead.
While the Buffs turnover problems followed them into the second half, their good shooting didn't, as they hit just two of their first 11 field goal tries of the half. Colorado did manage to cut USC's lead to one, 40-39, early in the period, but USC answered with a 14-4 run and with 10:47 to play, the Trojans has stretched their lead to double digits, 54-43.
The Buffs did manage to reduce the deficit to nine, 59-50, with 5:45 left to go on a 3-pointer from McKinley Wright IV, but they could never come any closer down the stretch.
CU shot just 7-for-26 from the field in the second half, including only 4-for-12 from 3-point range. USC finished 24-for-55 from the field, including 9-for-17 from beyond the arc.
Jordan McLaughlin scored 20 points for USC and Chimezie Metu scored 14 points and had six of USC's 10 blocked shots.
"They had 10 blocked shots against us, which tells us we're not making good decisions at the rim when we're penetrating," Boyle said. "We made some bad decisions offensively. Not just our turnovers, but you add 10 blocked shots with that and that's 32 times you have the ball and it doesn't get to the rim. So you have no chance for offensive rebound, no chance for a bucket. You give it to them 22 times and they block 10 shots, you're not going to win that game."
In three Pac-12 road games — all losses — the Buffs have committed 60 turnovers.
Colorado trailed by four at the half, 38-34, despite shooting 6-for-11 from 3-point range as turnovers once again plagued the Buffs on the road. Colorado committed 13 miscues in the first half and the Trojans turned them into 16 points, including a basket in an 8-2 run to end the half.
King had 15 of his points in the first period and Namon Wright added eight for Colorado.
TURNING POINT: After Colorado cut USC's lead to one early in the second half, the Trojans put together a 14-4 run to take control and the Buffs never threatened again.
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 0-5 on the road this year, the Buffs need to find a way to get a road win. Their next chance comes Saturday at UCLA.
CU STANDOUTS: George King had a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double. … Namon Wright scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. … Tyler Bey scored eight points and had seven rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs committed 22 turnovers, which the Trojans converted into 25 points. USC also had 10 blocked shots.
QUOTEWORTHY: "I really don't mind getting beat, but I really despise beating ourselves and I felt like tonight the Buffs beat themselves. I have to do a better job. Our zone offense has to get better. … You can't turn it over 22 times and the second half we obviously didn't shoot the ball as well as we did the first half." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"The good thing is we know what our problem is. The bad thing is we haven't been able to fix it. We'd better be able to fix it because UCLA is going to watch this film, they're going to play zone on Saturday and we have to be ready to handle it. We have two days of practice to figure that out and get better." — Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs finish their swing through Los Angeles on Saturday with an 8:30 p.m. game at UCLA.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Â
