Colorado
Arizona State
Boyle's Buffs Open Season With Win Over ASU
November 08, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
SHANGHAI — Colorado built a big lead early, then fought off an Arizona State comeback in the second half Saturday (Friday night in Colorado) and the Buffaloes collected an 81-71 win in the season opener for both teams in the Pac-12 China Game.
Tad Boyle's Buffs led by 13 at halftime and built the margin to 17 early in the second half before ASU put together a 30-13 run to tie the game at 59-59 midway through the half.
The Buffs, though, regrouped and regained the lead as CU veterans McKinley Wright IV and Tyler Bey took over down the stretch. CU put together an 8-3 run to take a five-point lead, 67-62, with just under eight minutes to play, with Wright scoring six of the eight.
ASU never came closer than four again.
Bey finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his 20th career double-double, Wright had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Evan Battey had 11 points and nine rebounds. D'Shawn Schwartz scored 15 points, 13 in the first half, and Maddox Daniels chipped in eight points in his CU debut.
Colorado finished with a 48-36 edge on the boards.
Remy Martin led ASU with 23 points.
"Good win against a quality team this time of year," Boyle said. "You don't usually open with teams like this, especially so far away from home. It was a great week, winning makes this trip all worth while. I'm really proud of these guys, these two (Wright and Bey) played really well down the stretch, that's what you need your veterans to do."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado threatened to blow the game open early in the second half when the Buffs scored the first four points after intermission to take a 46-29 lead.
But CU went cold from the floor and ASU took advantage of five Colorado turnovers to fight back and tie the game at 59-59.
Colorado was also hampered by time out issue. The Buffaloes used a full time out in the last minute of the first half, instead one of their three 30-second time outs. By rule, if a team doesn't use one of the 30-second time outs in the first half, they lose it. So Boyle didn't use a time out during the Sun Devils' second half run when he might normally have called one.
"When we called the timeout with 40 seconds to go (in the first half), we got to make that a 30 second time out rather than the full timeout," Boyle said. "That really hamstrung us on the bench, when they made their run. You know they're going to make that run, they're a good team, they've got good players, they're going to make a run at some point. Usually you want to stifle that run with a timeout. So we only had two timeouts going into the second half."
The Buffs, though, didn't panic. Wright gave the Buffs the lead with a drive to the bucket, then scored again after an ASU turnover. The Sun Devils pulled back to within one on a Martin 3-pointer, but Battey then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored before Wright drained a jumper from the top of the key for a 67-62 lead with just under eight minutes to play.
Colorado then kept the Sun Devils at bay, hitting eight of nine field goal tries in one key stretch. Two Bey free throws with 4:24 left pushed CU's lead to eight, 74-66, and Bey then delivered a thunderous dunk off a feed from Wright with under four minutes to play to keep the cushion at seven.
Battey then hit two free throws with 1:47 remaining to give Colorado a 10-point cushion and salt the game away.
"One of the core values of our program is trust, and if I didn't trust these guys I probably would have had to burn (another time out), but I really trust our team," Boyle said. "I just thought they could bow their backs, and they did."
Bey and Battey were both hampered with two fouls in the first half and played just a combined 15 minutes. But Bey had 11 points and eight rebounds in the second half while Battey recorded eight points and seven rebounds after intermission.
After a back-and-forth first few minutes, the Buffs slowly took control in the first half. Colorado put together a 10-0 run to erase a two-point Sun Devils edge and take a 23-15 lead with 10:54 to go. CU then slowly pushed the lead to as much as 14 before the end of the half.
Lucas Siewert started the run with a 3-pointer before Wright closed it with a floater in the lane. The Buffs then built the lead to 11 on a Wright 3-point play with 4:44 remaining, then pushed the margin to 14 with just more than a minute to play. Schwartz hit seven straight points for the Buffs in the stretch, closing the surge with a 3-pointer to put Colorado up 40-26.
The Buffs took a 42-29 lead into halftime. Schwartz led the Buffs with 13 in the first half, Wright added nine points and five rebounds and Siewert had five points and six rebounds.
ASU then rallied to tie the game at 59-59, but Colorado regained control, with Wright, Bey and Battey taking over. Colorado rebuilt its lead to as much as 10 down the stretch.
TURNING POINT: After ASU tied the game at 59-59 in the second half, the Buffs went on an 8-3 run to regain control and the Sun Devils never came closer than four again.
WHAT IT MEANS: The win over a quality Pac-12 opponent showcased CU's depth, as CU finished with four players in double figures.
CU STANDOUTS: Tyler Bey finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his 20th career double-double and 10th in last 15 games. McKinley Wright IV had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Evan Battey had 11 points and nine rebounds. D'Shawn Schwartz scored 15 points and Maddox Daniels chipped in eight points in his CU debut.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held a 48-36 rebounding edge and held ASU to 38.5 percent shooting (25-for-65) … CU shot 46.2 percent (30-for-65) … The Buffs had 18 turnovers, but forced 16 ASU turnovers … CU had an 18-8 edge in points off the bench … Colorado also had a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.
NOTABLE: Colorado improved to 82-35 all-time in season openers....The Buffaloes are 8-2 under Tad Boyle and 35-5 in overall openers since 1980-81…. Colorado is 86-29 in nonconference regular season games under Boyle, including a 39-12 mark since 2014-15…It's Colorado's first win in an opener at a neutral site defeating Kansas in Kansas City on Jan. 3, 1932, but it's also a small sample size – it's only the fourth neutral site opener since that '32 contest...Colorado improves its series lead over Arizona State to 11-9. The Buffaloes have won seven of the last 11 overall. Colorado held ASU to 38.5 percent from the field and had a plus-12 advantage on the boards (48-36). The Buffaloes are 60-5 under Tad Boyle when holding teams under 40 percent shooting and have a plus-8 or better margin on the boards.
QUOTABLE: "It was a hard-fought victory for sure, give Arizona State credit, they came out and played with great energy, especially in the second half. They made a run at us and our guys bowed their backs, and didn't let them overcome us." - Tad Boyle
"I played better in the second half. I was in foul trouble in the first, so I needed to step up in the second half and be there for my team," - Tyler Bey.
"I just tried to be aggressive, do whatever I had to do to help my teammates win this game. It was a really big game for us. We came a long way, we didn't want to go back on that 14-hour plane ride with the 'L.' - McKinley Wright IV
NEXT UP: The Buffs return home and play their home opener Saturday, Nov. 16, against San Diego in an 8 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (Pac-12).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
