Colorado
12-8, 4-4Pac-12
Washington
14-6, 4-3Pac-12
Buffs Fall To Huskies At Home
January 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Every loss hurts, but conference home losses are especially damaging — and the Colorado Buffaloes will be feeling this hurt for a while.
The Buffs had all kinds of momentum heading into Saturday's matchup with Washington, a game head coach Tad Boyle called a "separation game." CU had won two in a row and four of its last five, and had a chance to hold onto at least a tie for fourth in the conference standings.
But the Huskies provided their version of separation, dominating the Buffs on the boards and walking away from the Coors Events Center with a 72-62 win.
Colorado fell to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in Pac-12 play. Washington improved to 14-6, 4-3.
"I can't tell you how disappointed I am," CU head coach Tad Boyle said in his postgame press conference. "We had put ourselves in position to do something special — I'm not saying we still can't — but this is a blow to the gut."
Washington entered the game last in the conference in rebounding margin and last in offensive rebounds but owned the glass against the Buffs. The Huskies outrebounded Colorado 50-34, including 16 offensive boards, which they converted into 20 points.
"When you get outrebounded by 16 in your own building, something is wrong," Boyle said. "We got out-toughed, we got punked, we got manhandled — you can name the adjective you want to name. All those fit today. This is not a hard game to analyze. Not a difficult game to break down. We lost by 10, they got 20 second-chance points and they outrebounded us by 16. Ballgame."
CU freshman Tyler Bey was one of the few bright spots for Colorado, finishing with his first collegiate double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. CU freshman Dallas Walton had 13 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots; and senior George King had 13 points and six rebounds. McKinley Wright IV and Dominique Collier added 10 points each, with Wright also grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists.
Jaylen Nowell led UW with 19 points and Matisse Thybulle added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs actually started off well, jumping out to an 18-9 lead 12 minutes into the game.
But when the momentum changed, it changed in a hurry. After hitting just four of their first 20 shots from the field, the Huskies proceeded to connect on nine of their next 13, sparking a 14-0 run that gave them a lead they would never relinquish. Washington took a 36-27 lead into the locker room at halftime and Colorado never came closer than seven again.
The Huskies scored on eight straight possessions in the final eight minutes of the half, including six in a row in the 14-0 burst. Washington also had 10 second-chance points from offensive rebounds in the first half.
"We just weren't hitting shots," Bey said. "We didn't grab offensive rebounds. After we missed our shots, no one really crashed the boards. We didn't have much energy or effort and it's just the little things we missed."
Bey actually did his job on the offensive boards, with seven of his 11 total rebounds coming on the offensive end. But the only other Buff to collect an offensive board was point guard McKinley Wright, who finished with three (five total).
"Two guys on our team got offensive rebounds," Boyle said. "We missed 42 shots. McKinley Wright and Tyler Bey. Nobody else got an offensive rebound the whole game. Not one guy. I don't understand how Tyler can get seven and the rest of our front line gets zero. But it's a credit to Tyler. Kudos to him. McKinley fights, he gets three from the point guard position."
Colorado did manage to pull within seven several times in the second half and get the Events Center crowd behind them. But each time, the Huskies answered with buckets — three times after offensive rebounds.
The Buffs didn't help themselves with their shooting. CU finished just 23-for-65 from the field (35.4 percent), including a dismal 6-for-22 effort from 3-point range. The Huskies, meanwhile, shot 25-for-59 and 8-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Washington stretched its lead to as much as 13 late in the game before the Buffs made one final run. A Walton free throw and bucket and McKinley Wright three point play pulled CU to within 63-56 with 3:39 still to play.
But the Huskies answered with a Nowell bucket on each of the next two possessions to basically put the game away. The Buffs pulled back within seven on two more instances but could never come closer.
TOUGH NIGHT FOR UPPERCLASSMEN: While King did finish with 13 points and six rebounds, he shot just 5-for-13 and just 3-for-10 from 3-point range. Dominique Collier was just 2-for-7 from the field and did not have a rebound.
The most difficult night, however, belonged to junior Namon Wright, who was held scoreless on 0-3 shooting and had just one rebound. Wright was coming off his first double-double as a Buff in Thursday's win over Washington State, and had averaged 14.6 points and six rebounds over his last six games.
TURNING POINT: A 14-0 Washington run in the first half turned a nine-point CU lead into a five-point deficit and Colorado never managed to come closer again the rest of the afternoon.
WHAT IT MEANS: All the momentum the Buffs had built with four wins in their last five games — including a road win at UCLA — came to a halt. Now back to .500 in Pac-12 play, the Buffs have a pair of tough road games ahead at the Arizona schools this week, not the ideal place to get back on track.
CU STANDOUTS: Freshman Tyler Bey had a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, the first of his college career. … Freshman McKinley Wright had 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and just one turnover. … Freshman Dallas Walton had 13 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and two assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Huskies outrebounded Colorado 50-34 and had 16 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 20 points.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Extremely disappointing loss given what this team has done over the last two and half weeks. Golden opportunity let slip by. I called this a separation game and Washington separated themselves from Colorado." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"You have to fight, you can't just go out there and be pushed around. Our kids fought today." — UW coach Mike Hopkins
"Arizona's going to be loaded for bear, ready to beat us by 50. They're going to be ready, Arizona State's going to be ready. We'd better be ready. We'd better show a little bit more toughness than we showed today rebounding the basketball or the results aren't going to change." — Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs hit the road for a pair of games next week, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. game Thursday at Arizona, followed by a 6 p.m. contest Saturday at Arizona State.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
