Colorado
12-7, 4-3Pac-12
Washington State
9-9, 1-5Pac-12
Buffs Hold Off Washington State For Fourth Pac-12 Win
January 18, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Prosperity was almost too much for the Colorado Buffaloes to handle Thursday night.
But when push came to shove, the Buffs had enough push to claim an 82-73 win over Washington State at the Coors Events Center. Colorado built a 26-point lead early in the second half, then held off a furious WSU rally before finally regaining control to come away with its fourth win in the last five games and fourth straight win at home.
The Buffs improved to 12-7 overall and 4-3 in Pac-12 play — their first time over .500 in Pac-12 play since late in the 2015-16 season — while the Cougars fell to 9-9, 1-5.
Junior Namon Wright led Colorado with his first double-double as a Buff, a 16-point, 10-rebound effort. CU freshman McKinley Wright IV scored 17 points — 13 in the second half — to go with five assists and four rebounds.
CU senior George King, meanwhile, continued his stretch of solid play with 16 points and nine rebounds, Dominique Collier contributed 13 points and five boards and Lucas Siewert had 11 points and four rebounds.
Viont'e Daniels led WSU with 18 points on six of the Cougars' 15 3-pointers.
"That was a good win," head coach Tad Boyle said. "We made it interesting there in the second half, but hopefully we can learn from the lapses we had both offensively and defensively. We got a little complacent there in the second half, but we got the game back under control."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After leading by 15 at intermission, the Buffs built their cushion to 26 just five minutes into the second half and appeared ready to blow WSU out of the gym. King had two 3-pointers in the opening minutes and Namon Wright added one to put WSU on the ropes.
But the Washington State punched back, responding with a 26-5 run that finished with a 12-0 burst to shave Colorado's lead to just five, 63-58, with 8:13 left to play. The Cougars, who lead the Pac-12 in 3-pointers, hit only five treys in the first half but fueled their comeback with 10 after intermission.
"Lack of focus, lack of defense," McKinley Wright said. "The biggest thing was letting their 3-point shooters loose. Letting them hit 10 in the second half hurt us. "
But with the once-comfortable Events Center crowd again on edge, the Buffs regained their composure following a media timeout. King ended the Cougars' run with an offensive rebound and bucket, the beginning of a 12-0 CU burst that pushed the Buffs' lead back to 17, 75-58, with 3:30 to play. McKinley Wright had seven points in the run while Colorado forced seven straight missed shots from the Cougars, holding them scoreless for 4:35 in the stretch.
CU then held the Cougars at bay over the final three minutes for the win.
It was the second straight game the Buffs repelled a big second-half rally from an opponent. Last weekend at UCLA, the Buffs saw the Bruins cut a 14-point second-half lead to four before regaining control.
"It takes mental toughness to handle that," Boyle said. "But we've got to figure out why our 26-point lead became a five-point lead and we have to eliminate that."
The win was big for the Buffs in a number of ways. Most importantly, it kept alive their momentum from the UCLA win, setting up a key meeting with Washington on Saturday at the Events Center. A win would put the Buffs solidly in fifth place in the Pac-12 standings.
"Saturday is the biggest game of the year for us, no doubt about it," Boyle said. "Tonight was a very important win for our team to keep that momentum going. Now it becomes a separation game between the Huskies and Buffs on Saturday."
Colorado led by just two against the Cougars, 19-17, midway through the first half, but closed the period with a 23-10 run to take a 42-27 lead at halftime. Collier was perfect from the floor in the first half, hitting all four of his field goal tries — including a pair of 3-pointers — for 12 points. Namon Wright added nine points and five rebounds and King chipped in six points and four rebounds.
BIG FIRST HALF FOR BEY: Freshman Tyler Bey also had a productive first half against the Cougars, scoring four points to go with three assists, two rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal.
"Tyler is a terrific player and a great talent," Boyle said. "When Tyler Bey is dialed in and plays with great energy and effort, he's terrific. He is a big-time rebounder and a big-time defender. The sky is the limit for Tyler Bey, and it's all between his ears and in his heart."
SOLID SIEWERT EFFORT: After going scoreless in CU's last three games, sophomore Lucas Siewert turned in his best Pac-12 effort of the season with 11 points and four rebounds. Siewert also played some good defense on the block.
"He was aggressive," Boyle said. "I saw him out here before shootaround getting in a workout with coach (Kim) English. When he dedicates himself to the game he can be a very, very good player in this league."
COLLIER ON A ROLL: Senior Dominique Collier clearly likes playing at home. In CU's last three games at the Events Center — all victories — Collier has scored 38 points on 13-for-20 shooting. That includes a red-hot 7-for-11 from 3-point range.
"Dom is like a starter," Boyle said. "The key with Dom is that he's quit putting pressure on himself, he's just going out there and playing. … There is a line of thinking that you shouldn't start your five best players, that you want to bring strength off the bench. Recently, we've been bringing strength off the bench with Dom Collier."
TURNING POINT: After the Cougars shaved Colorado's lead from 26 to just five in the second half, the Buffs regained control with a 12-0 run and WSU never threatened again.
WHAT IT MEANS: Now over .500 in Pac-12 play for the first time since late in the 2015-16 season, the Buffs have a chance to continue building momentum with Saturday's home game against Washington.
CU STANDOUTS: Namon Wright had his first double-double as a Buff (he also had one at Missouri), finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. … McKinley Wright finished with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. … George King just missed a double-double, collecting 16 points and nine rebounds. … Dominique Collier scored 13 points and had five rebounds. … Lucas Siewert scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs shot 51.7 percent from the field (30-for-58) while holding WSU to 41 percent shooting (27-for-66). The Buffs also held a 39-29 edge on the boards.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We had some great individual performances tonight. I really like how we shared the ball in the first half. Lucas Siewert played really well, Dom Collier was terrific in the first half, McKinley Wright got us going once they tightened it up. George (King) and Namon (Wright) played extremely well." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"Seven minutes to go we missed a layup that was huge. The toughness part of the game, where King started rebounding the ball and they started driving us a little bit. They kind of took control of the game after making tough play after tough play and we weren't able to stay with them." — WSU coach Ernie Kent
"I love these guys. I would go to war for all of them. I know first-hand how hard these guys work day in and day out. I know when it's game time we are ready to play and when teams go on runs we are able to stand up to that." — CU senior Dominique Collier
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to Washington on Saturday in a 4 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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