Bey's Big Second Half Helps Buffs Past Rams
December 01, 2018 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER – After a slow start, Colorado forward Tyler Bey provided a second-half explosion Saturday that helped the Colorado Buffaloes to an 86-80 win over rival Colorado State.
Bey, one of three Buffs to record a double-double, finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, with 21 points and seven rebounds coming in the second half. Bey was also a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line, including six in a row in the final 30 seconds.
"My coach told me to do the little things and the game will come to me," Bey said. "That's exactly what happened. I started playing defense and started rebounding more while having great energy. It helped my team out a lot."
The Las Vegas prep product also played heroic defense inside the last 30 seconds of the game. After hitting two free throws to put Colorado up by five with 23 seconds to go, Bey made an excellent block in the lane on Colorado State guard J.D. Paige as Bey used his superb athleticism to swat the ball out of the air. Bey then drew a foul and made his two free throws to ultimately put the game to bed.
"He didn't have a great start to this game," said head coach Tad Boyle. "But what shows me such progress about that kid is in maybe games past, and certainly last year, his head would go down and it would just be a bad game for Tyler. He found a way midstream throughout the game to get himself going and brought himself out of that funk that he was in. That shows great progress by a sophomore who's grown up before our eyes. I'm really proud of Tyler."
It was Bey's first double-double of the season and the third of his career. The two others came in last season's loss at home to Washington and the win over Arizona State in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.
Bey's previous career-high in points came earlier in the year against Omaha when he scored 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field. Bey's 10 rebounds also tied for his third-best rebounding total of his career, behind only his 11 rebound performance against Washington last season and his career-high 14 rebound showing in the season-opener against Drake.
In addition to Bey's double-double, two other Buffaloes also had double-doubles. Sophomore guard McKinley Wright IV had 18 points with 11 assists and junior forward Lucas Siewert had 16 points with 10 rebounds. It's the first time since the 2003 season that three Buffs each claimed a double-double in the same game.
Bey and the Buffs will look to build off their outstanding second half and carry it into their next game at home against South Dakota on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be aired on Pac-12 Network.
