Colorado
4-0,0-0Pac-12
Wyoming
3-4,0-0Mountain West
No. 23 Buffs Grind Out Win Over Wyoming
November 24, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LAS VEGAS — Colorado's Tyler Bey recorded his third double-double of the season and the Buffaloes survived a difficult first half Sunday to take a 56-41win over Wyoming in the opening round of the MGM Main Event at T-Mobile Arena.
Now 4-0, Tad Boyle's No. 23 Buffs will face Clemson in the championship game Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.
Wyoming dropped to 3-4.
Bey finished with a career-high 19 rebounds and 11 points for his 22nd career double-double, and came within shouting distance of a triple-double, as he finished with six assists. Evan Battey added 13 rebounds and nine points while D'Shawn Schwartz finished as CU's leading scorer with 12 points.
Hunter Maldonado led Wyoming with 14 points.Â
The Buffs overcame a horrendous shooting first half that saw them hit just six of their 26 field goal tries, including 1-for-9 from 3-point range, to enter the locker room tied at 15-15 at intermission. CU also finished just 9-for-20 from the free throw line for the game.
But Schwartz sparked CU with seven points in a 13-0 Colorado run to open the second half and the Cowboys never came closer than four again.
The Buffs finished with a commanding 41-25 edge on the boards, including 13 offensive boards they converted into 11 second-chance points. Colorado also held Wyoming to just 31.9 percent shooting for the game (15-for-47) and forced 19 Wyoming turnovers, which CU converted into 11 points.
CU improved its shooting in the second half, hitting 15 of its 30 attempts to finish 21-for-56.Â
"There's going to be some nights when the ball's not going in," Boyle said. "That's why defense and rebounding travels. You can always be good and solid on that end of the floor and you have to do that to stay in games."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After playing just six minutes because of two quick fouls in the first half, Schwartz made up for lost time in a hurry in the opening minutes of the second.
The CU junior started the period with a blocked shot on the defensive end, followed by a jumper to give the Buffs a lead they would never relinquish. He then drew an offensive foul, sank two free throws on the ensuing possession, assisted on a Bey basket and finished his run with a 3-pointer. Daylen Kountz and McKinley Wright IV then wrapped up the 13-0 surge with baskets and Colorado had a 28-15 lead four minutes into the half.
"I was tired of sitting, to be honest with you," Schwartz said. "I just wanted to go out there and make an impact on the game. Nobody was making shots and the energy was dead. I just wanted to make sure I could turn the game up when I got in."
The Cowboys made a run at the Buffs after CU's quick start, putting together a 10-2 burst that helped cut CU's lead back to four, 36-32.
But the Buffs never let the Cowboys come any closer, slowly rebuilding the margin back to double digits. Bey hit a pair of free throws to bump the margin back to eight with 7:30 to play before Wright drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to 11, 49-36, with 6:26 to go.
Battey followed Wright's trey with a bucket inside and a free throw to extend the margin to 14 and Wyoming never cut the lead into single digits again.
"First half we struggled on offense and that led to us putting our head down," Battey said. "I told my guys, second half shots are going to fall. They're going to fall."
Battey's 13 rebounds were one away from his career high while Bey had a career-high six assists along with his career best 19 rebounds. Last week, he also had a career high in steals (six) in a win over UC Irvine.
"That's where I thought Tyler really took a step forward today, was passing the ball," Boyle said. "They were doubling us in the post. We expected that, we knew that's what they do and our guys handled it."
The Buffs endured a brutal first half, finishing with more turnovers (eight) than baskets (six) as they entered the locker room tied at 15-15. But while they shot just 6-for-26 in the first half, the Cowboys weren't much better, hitting six of their 23 attempts. Colorado was 1-for-9 from 3-point range, but the one came from Shane Gatling just before the end of the half to tie the game.
Meanwhile, their defense and rebounding kept them in the game.
"We could have been down 30-15 at halftime if we didn't guard," Boyle said. "That's a sign of maturity. The frustrations — we didn't fix them in the first 20 minutes — but they didn't affect us on the other end of the court. That's a sign of progress."
TURNING POINT: D'Shawn Schwartz had seven points, a blocked shot and an assist in the first four minutes of the second half, sparking a 13-0 CU run that broke a 15-15 halftime tie. The Cowboys never came closer than four again.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs remain undefeated and should at least stay in the nation's top 25 when the polls are released Monday.
CU STANDOUTS: Schwartz led CU with 12 points, including seven to spark the key 13-0 CU run to start the second half … Bey finished with a career-high 19 rebounds and 11 points for his 22nd career double-double, along with six assists … Evan Battey added 13 rebounds and nine points.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs finished with a commanding 41-25 edge on the boards, including 13 offensive boards they converted into 11 second-chance points. Colorado also held Wyoming to just 31.9 percent shooting for the game (15-for-47 and forced 19 Wyoming turnovers, which CU converted into 11 points.
NOTEWORTHY: Wyoming's 41 points were the fewest by a CU opponent since Utah had just 41 in the 2012 Pac-12 tournament … Bey's 19 rebounds were the most by a Buff since Andre Roberson had 20 against Stanford in 2013 … The Buffs have forced at least 16 turnovers in all four games this season. ... Bey has now had career highs in rebounds (19), steals (six) and assists (six) in the last week.
QUOTEWORTHY: "You want to play well every single time out, but good teams find a way to figure out how to win when you don't play your best. We did that tonight. We just can't have too many of those performances because we know the price of poker goes up Tuesday night. We're competing for a championship and that's what you want to do." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs face Clemson on Tuesday in the MGM Main Event championship game. Clemson erased a 15-point second-half deficit to squeak by TCU, 62-60, in overtime.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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