Colorado
6-0,0-0Pac-12
Sacramento State
4-1,0-0Big Sky
Defense Leads 21st-Ranked Buffs To Sixth Straight Win
November 30, 2019 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER — The No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes relied on their defense Saturday night to take a 59-45 win over Sacramento State at the CU Events Center.
The Buffs struggled with shooting and committed a season-high 19 turnovers but their defense helped them to improve to 6-0. The Hornets fell to 4-1.
Colorado's Tyler Bey recorded his third straight double-double and fifth of the season (24th career) with 11 points and 17 rebounds. While CU shot just 44.4 percent from the field (20-for-45) and had just 10 assists, Colorado's defense held the Hornets to 28 percent shooting (17-for-60).
The Buffs led 24-16 at the half and built the margin to 28-16 early in the second half. Sacramento State managed to cut the gap to five late in the game but the Buffs held the Hornets at bay down the stretch.
Bey's double-double was his 16th in his last 22 games.
"Honestly, I didn't even think I had 17 rebounds tonight," the CU junior said. "It didn't even feel like it. I didn't play well on offense, so I just let it come to me and it's a habit every game."
Bey and Evan Battey both had 11 points to lead the team in scoring. Junior point guard McKinley Wright IV had 10 points and Lucas Siewert came alive off the bench with seven points, all in the second half.
Ethan Esposito lead Sacramento State with 12 points.
"We better get better at our half-court offense." Boyle said. "We have to continue to work on that in practice and we will, but 19 turnovers is the number have to get rid of. Ten assists, it's got to be flipped to 19 assists 10 turnovers."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Despite 12 first-half turnovers, the Buffs managed to take a 24-16 lead at the intermission.
The Hornets struggled offensively due in large part to strong post defense from the Buffaloes. Sacramento State was held to just 16 first half points and shot 7-for-29 from the field before intermission. The Hornets' shooting did not get much better in the second half and they finished the game at 28 percent (17-for-60).
The Buffs were able to limit the Hornets leading scorer, Joshua Patton, to only four points on 1-for-8 shooting. Patton had entered the game averaging 18.5 points on 72 percent shooting.
"I just have to give credit to Colorado, their team was ready to go." Patton said. "They were real physical with me, I didn't get some calls that I usually get. But you just have to play through it."
Boyle pointed to Battey as a player that defended Patton well.
"We had Evan Battey on him and Evan Battey is a great post defender." Boyle said. "We need to keep Evan out of foul trouble. He's so smart, so sound, so tough, so aware. Evan is just really good. We challenged our post players to do a good job on Patton, and they responded."
The Buffs were finally able to widen their lead with an 11-0 run that began at the end of the first half and ended early in the second that expanded the lead to 28-16.
Colorado began to draw more fouls in the second half. The Buffs found their way to the line but were not efficient from there shooting just 65.4 percent. After the Buffs hit 24 of 25 free throws in their last game, Boyle wasn't happy with his team missing nine against the Hornets.
"That's on you as a player." Boyle said. "If you can't step to the line and make a 15 foot free shot, you better get to the gym and figure it out."
The Hornets fought back in the final minutes, cutting the Colorado lead to just five points on a 6-0 run with 4:04 left in the game.
But the Buffs then pulled away, beginning with two made free throws from Shane Gatling and a Wright steal that lead to a Battey basket. The Buffs then finished with a 14-5 run.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs remain undefeated and will likely rise in the top 25 polls when they are released on Monday.
NEXT UP: The Buffs will return to action Wednesday, Dec. 5, with an 8 p.m. home game against Loyola Marymount at the CU Events Center.
