Colorado
8-1
New Mexico
4-4
Buffs Stun Lobos With Big Comeback For Sixth Straight Win
December 11, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Tad Boyle's Buffaloes pulled off one of the more improbable comebacks in Colorado history Tuesday night, rallying from 17 points down on the road to collect a gritty 78-75 win at New Mexico.
The Buffs improved to 8-1 with their sixth straight win while New Mexico fell to 4-4. It was the third-largest deficit overcome by the Buffs on the road since such records began being kept in 1947.
Sophomore Tyler Bey recorded his third double-double in four games for the Buffs, finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Lucas Siewert, who hit two key free throws in the final seconds, had 12 points and seven rebounds, McKinley Wright IV had 12 points and eight rebounds and Evan Battey chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
Anthony Mathis led New Mexico with 23 points.
"We gutted out a win when we didn't play our best offensively," Boyle said. "We didn't shoot the ball well from 3. We missed a lot of shots in the lane. We didn't shoot the ball well from the free throw line — and we still found a way to win. It's a gutsy win by our guys. The first half was not good. But I thought the second half our guys did what we had to do. We showed great toughness."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs were indeed not at their best. CU trailed by 17 midway through the first half before slicing the deficit to nine by halftime, then saw the New Mexico lead balloon back to 14 early in the second period.
But each time, Colorado battled back, with the biggest difference in the two halves being turnovers. Colorado gave the ball away 12 times in the first half, resulting in 22 New Mexico points, but had just one turnover in the entire second half.
"It was our toughness down the stretch," said Wright, who had eight of his 12 points and two big assists in the second half. "In the second half, we just gutted it out."
With just under 16 minutes to play, Colorado still trailed by 14 points, 52-38 and The Pit crowd of 10,800 was at a fever pitch.
But the Buffs found their footing and methodically began to put together a 28-12 run that finally produced a 66-64 lead with 4:35 remaining when Wright hit a drive to the basket. It was CU's first lead in the game since a 7-6 edge in the early minutes.
The run started with a 10-0 burst, fueled by a basket inside from Battey and a three-point play from Namon Wright. McKinley Wright then capped the 10-0 surge with a drive to the basket, and New Mexico's lead was down to 52-48.
The Lobos then briefly pushed the margin back to six, but Colorado answered again with a Siewert basket inside, then a Bey 3-pointer on a beautiful pass from McKinley Wright. New Mexico expanded the edge back to five, but Colorado then ran off seven straight points to take the lead. Battey hit a 3-pointer in the decisive run before a McKinley Wright drive down the lane gave CU a 66-64 lead with 4:35 to go.
Colorado never trailed again. The Buffs built their cushion to as much as six in the final two minutes, and led by four with just 15 seconds to go when McKinley Wright went into the paint for a basket. A Mathis 3-pointer with 7 seconds left pulled New Mexico to within one, 76-75, but Siewert hit two free throws with 5.8 seconds on the clock to bump the margin back to three, and the Lobos missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"We got contributions across the board," Boyle said. "Different guys played well in different areas. Evan's three and Tyler's three down the stretch were big. They didn't hesitate. They knocked 'em down and got us back in, got us feeling ourselves a little bit. McKinley Wright was terrific. Tyler Bey's defense and blocked shots and rebounding. We executed our offense much better in the second half and we took care of the ball. That's what you have to do to win on the road."
The Buffs shot just under 42 percent for the game (26-for-62), but were 14-for-29 in the second half. They also hit just five of their 19 3-point tries, and were an uncharacteristic 21-for-32 from the free throw line.
But, they still scratched out a victory in a difficult environment, coming up with big baskets and some key defensive stops down the stretch.
"The thing that makes me excited about this team is we did not play our best tonight," Boyle said. "We did not play our best by any stretch of the imagination and we found a way to win. When you can do that, you know you have a pretty special group.
The Buffs put themselves in a huge hole in the first half, thanks in large part to 12 turnovers that led to 22 New Mexico points. A 17-3 Lobos run gave New Mexico a 32-15 lead with 7:06 to go in the half, and the Buffs appeared to be on the verge of being blown out.
But the Buffs didn't cave. Instead, Colorado put together a 14-0 run to pull within three, with Bey scoring five in the run. The Lobos, though, answered with an 11-0 run to bump the lead back to double digits before Colorado scored the last five points of the half. A 3-pointer from Deleon Brown at the buzzer pulled the Buffs to within nine at intermission, 43-34.
TURNING POINT: Down by 14 with just more than 15 minutes to play, the Buffs put together a 10-0 run to climb back in the game. While the Lobos held onto their lead until less than five minutes remained, the Buffs seized the momentum and ultimately took the lead and held on down the stretch.
WHAT IT MEANS: The win, the Buffs' second on the road this year, means they have already doubled their road victory total from last year. Even more importantly, they rallied from a big deficit and did it in a very hostile environment — the kind of game that can prove invaluable in Pac-12 play on the road.
KEY STATISTICS: After committing 12 turnovers in the first half, Colorado had just one in the final 20 minutes. The Buffs also had a 51-38 lead on the boards and a 36-32 edge in the paint.
NOTEWORTHY: The comeback tied the seventh-largest in CU history and was the third-largest on the road. Colorado rallied from a 23-point deficit at Kansas State in 1955 to collect the win, and came back from a 20-point deficit at Texas A&M in 1998 for a victory. ... Bey's double-double was his third in CU's last four games.
QUOTEWORTHY: "What a gutsy win by a team that is young. I'm not going to talk about our youth after we lose. But after we win, I think it's something we have to understand — this is a team that's growing up before our eyes. A lot of these freshmen have not been in this environment. A lot of our sophomores, our juniors — we've played in tough places, but not gutted out a win. That's the difference." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs now will have a few days off before beginning preparation for their Dec. 22 opening game in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii against Indiana State.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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