Colorado
7-0,0-0Pac-12
Loyola Marymount
3-5,0-0WCC
No. 20 Buffs Rally To Top Loyola Marymount
December 04, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — What some saw as a warm-up for the Colorado Buffaloes ahead of Saturday's game at Kansas came perilously close Wednesday to burning a hole in CU's national ranking.
But the No. 20 Buffs righted themselves just in time, outscoring visiting Loyola Marymount 15-3 down the stretch to come away with a 76-64 win at the CU Events Center. The Buffs improved to 7-0 while LMU dropped to 3-5.
The Buffs trailed at halftime, 34-30, and the Lions maintained their edge for much of the second half. Colorado didn't regain the lead for good until a D'Shawn Schwartz 3-pointer broke a 61-61 tie and started a 7-0 run with 2:38 left in the game. Schwartz capped the run with a pair of free throws at the 1:23 mark and the Buffs then held the Lions at bay over the final minute.
Schwartz and McKinley Wright IV shared scoring honors for CU with 16 points each while Tyler Bey had 13 points and eight rebounds. Wright also had six rebounds and five assists while Evan Battey had eight points and eight rebounds, including some big offensive rebounds and putbacks at critical moments.
LMU's Eli Scott led all scorers with 31 points.
"Tip of my cap to Loyola Marymount," Boyle said after the game. "I thought they came in here and played a heck of a game. We knew it wasn't gonna be easy, and it wasn't. I think sometimes you expect so much of yourself and your team that you forget that they have good players too."
The Buffs were definitely not at their best, committing 18 turnovers that led to 24 LMU points. But CU did win the rebounding battle, 39-30, and the Buffs also hit 25 of their 33 free throw attempts. That was enough to make up for Loyola's 51.9 percent shooting night (27-for-52), the best by any CU opponent this year.
"We make it really hard on ourselves," Boyle said. "We have to make the game simpler and easier, and the way you do that is by just making simple and easy plays. And right now some of our guys aren't doing that. You don't make simple plays and turn it over 18 or 19 times like we have the last two games."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado trailed by four at intermission, 34-30, then saw the Lions push their lead to eight in the opening minutes with two quick buckets. With 14:02 to play, the Buffs still trailed by seven, 49-42, and had committed 17 turnovers.
But from that point on, the Buffs began taking better care of the ball while also ratcheting up their defense a notch. They slowly chipped away at the lead, getting five straight points from a Schwartz 3-pointer and a Bey jumper, and finally regained the edge, 51-50, on a Lucas Siewert 3-pointer with 9:27 remaining.
"There were some really good things in the second half in terms of offense," Boyle said. "We had some really good possessions. D'Shawn made some big threes, Shane (Gatling) made one, Lucas made one. This team just figures out a way to win."
The Buffs did indeed do that, but it didn't happen right away. After Siewert's 3-pointer, the lead changed hands five more times before Schwartz put Colorado ahead for good with his trey at the 2:38 mark to start the decisive run.
Colorado struggled from the field for much of the evening. The Buffs hit just 38.5 percent of their shots in the first half, including a stretch when they missed 10 in a row that allowed the Lions to take an eight-point lead. But they did shoot better in the second half — 12-for-27 — and more importantly, took care of the ball. After committing their 17th turnover of the game six minutes into the second half, they had just one more miscue the rest of the game.
"I had a quick hook tonight on some guys as a result of no box outs (on rebounds) and turning the danged thing over," Boyle said. "We have to get rid of those."
Bey was one of those players who found himself on the bench in the second half for an extended stretch. The CU junior, who entered the game leading CU in scoring and rebounding, played just six of the first 11 minutes of the second half and had just nine points and two rebounds at that point.Â
But when he re-entered the game, he added four points, seven rebounds and two big blocked shots to his total.
"We know what we are capable of," Boyle said. "We have to play more to the level of our capability. We have good players and I love every one of them. (But) I am not going to put up with bad body language and feeling sorry for yourself. It's about winning basketball games and what can you do to help this team get that done."
After Schwartz's 3-pointer gave CU the lead, the Buffs then got a Bey rebound following an LMU missed free throw and Wright hit two free throws to push Colorado's edge to 66-61. On LMU's next possession, Bey came up with a big block on Scott and Schwartz drew a foul when CU gained possession. Schwartz then hit two free throws to push the Buffs' cushion to 68-61 with 1:23 remaining.
"A win is a win," Wright said. "We're one of the only undefeated teams in the country and we're excited about that. I'm confident in my guys and I know they're confident in me and we're only going to get better."
TURNING POINT: The game wasn't decided until the final minutes, when the Buffs broke a 61-61 tie with a 7-0 run to finally take command down the stretch.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs 7-0 start is their best since the 1982-83 season, when CU also began the year 7-0.Â
KEY STATISTICS: While CU did have 18 turnovers that led to 24 LMU points, Colorado also forced 20 Lions turnovers that led to 19 points for the Buffs … Colorado had a 39-30 edge on the boards, including a 15-9 edge in offensive rebounds. CU had 19 second-chance points, which helped make up for LMU's 48-22 edge in the paint.
JAYHAWKS ON THE HORIZON: Boyle and the Buffs can finally turn their attention to Saturday's game at second-ranked Kansas. The game is a homecoming for Boyle, who played college ball there under Larry Brown from 1981-85.
The Buffs played the Jayhawks twice on an annual basis when they were both members of the Big Eight and Big 12, but have met only twice since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011.
CU won the last meeting, a 75-72 decision on a last-second Askia Booker basket on Dec. 7, 2013, in Boulder. The Jayhawks, however, have won 29 in a row in storied Allen Fieldhouse.
"We have an opportunity on Saturday to go into a special place in college basketball history and make a little history of our own," Boyle said. "It isn't going to be easy and we aren't going to do it by turning the ball over and getting sped up. We're going to do it by executing, competing and doing the things we are capable of doing. All you can ask for in life is an opportunity. Our guys have it. Let's go try to make the most of it."
NEXT UP: Colorado plays at Kansas on Saturday at 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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