Colorado
13-9, 4-6
UCLA
12-11, 5-5
Buffs' Finish Strong To Collect Win At UCLA
February 06, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LOS ANGELES — For the second year in a row, the Colorado Buffaloes made Pauley Pavilion their home away from home.
Shane Gatling scored a career-high 28 points Wednesday night — including seven 3-pointers — and the Buffs broke open a tight game in the final seven minutes to collect an 84-73 win over UCLA on the Bruins' home floor.
It was CU's second straight win at UCLA and third overall against the Bruins. The Buffs improved to 13-9 overall and 4-6 in Pac-12 play with their second straight conference win while the Bruins fell to 12-11, 5-5.
The Buffs entered the game with the Pac-12's worst 3-point shooting percentage, but finished the night a red-hot 13-for-24 from beyond the arc, including a 7-for-9 night from Gatling. A year ago, Colorado was 11-for-22 from 3-point range in a win at UCLA.
Tyler Bey added his second straight double-double for Colorado, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds. McKinley Wright IV added 12 points and eight rebounds and D'Shawn Schwartz added 15 points. Gatling, who had 22 of his points in the second half, also had five assists, four rebounds and three steals for the Buffs. Colorado finished with 22 assists on their 28 baskets.
Moses Brown led UCLA with 17 points.
"We're growing up," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "It's taking some time. Saturday (at USC) is not going to be easy, but I told our team, the way we're playing right now, if we continue to buy into defense and rebounding the ball, we can play with anybody. … Overall, a great win in Pauley Pavilion. Two in a row — what can you say?"
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs led by as much as 13 early in the first half, only to see the Bruins cut the margin to one, 38-37, at intermission. UCLA actually then briefly took a two-point lead early in the second half, and while the Buffs managed to regain the edge, they led by only two, 63-61, with just more than seven minutes to play.
But then their defense kicked in and the offense put the game away. Following a timeout, the Buffs put together a 16-4 run over the next six minutes to build their cushion to 14, 79-65, and salt away the win.
Offensively, the Buffs got big buckets from Bey, Gatling and Wright in the run. Bey had back-to-back baskets inside, Gatling added a 3-pointer and Bey added a dunk off an assist from Gatling. Wright then finished the run with a 3-pointer and two free throws, and with 1:31 remaining, the Buffs had turned a tight game into one that had Bruins fans headed for the exits.
But it wasn't just offense that sparked the run. Colorado forced five straight empty UCLA possessions in the stretch, helping the Buffs finish their winning surge with a 10-0 burst.
"We had five stops in a row to blow the game open," Boyle said. "That's what I want our players to understand. Making shots is great, 22 assists on the road is huge. But we have to understand that getting stops at critical points of the game — if we can dial in and do that — we can blow some games open on the road."
Gatling entered the game shooting just 30 percent from 3-point range this year. But he had been improving his output recently, and his seven 3-pointers were the most by a Buff since Richard Roby hit seven against Kansas State in 2005, and tied for the third-most in CU history.
"I felt good in warmups today," said Gatling, who had two 3-pointers in the first half and five after intermission. "I actually shot bad in practice yesterday, I was a little worried. But my teammates encouraged me to shoot the ball and after I made the first one, I felt confident. I kept getting open, my teammates kept finding me and my coaches kept telling me to keep shooting."
Gatling opened the second half with a 3-pointer, then added three more in the next six minutes as the Buffs rallied from a 45-43 deficit. His fourth trey of the game put Colorado back in the lead for good and he quickly added two more to give CU a five-point edge.
The Bruins, though, cut the deficit back to one with just more than eight minutes to go, then pulled to within two with 7:15 on the clock.
That, however, is when the Buffs put together their decisive run.
"I've been pretty well documented about questioning our mental toughness when it's not there," Boyle said. "Tonight we showed it. It shows that mental toughness that you have to have when you're on the road. … We came out and kept battling. Our mindset and our confidence and our toughness is where it's needed to be."
The Buffs were dominated on the boards for much of the evening, with UCLA holding a 13-rebound edge at one point, a big factor in the Bruins' 14-4 edge in second-chance points. But down the stretch, the Buffs took command of the glass, closing the rebound deficit to just three, 32-29, by game's end.
Colorado also held two of UCLA's leading scorers, Kris Wilkes and Prince Ali to just 10 combined points. The two entered the game scoring nearly 29 per game combined, as the Buffs held UCLA to just 43 percent shooting in the second half while hitting 59 percent of their shots (13-for-22) after intermission.
"Great job defensively," Boyle said. "When we do it, it's amazing how the wins take care of themselves."
The Buffs opened the game on fire, hitting nine of their first 15 field goal tries, including four of six from 3-point range. Colorado led by 13, 18-5, just six minutes in, and still led by 10, 38-28, with 2:39 to play. Schwartz led the Buffs with 12 points in the first half on 5-for-7 shooting.
But Colorado's defense went flat over the last couple of minutes of the half. UCLA scored on four of five possessions for a 9-0 run, and the Buffs finished the half with just a one-point lead, 38-37.
TURNING POINT: With just more than seven minutes to go, the Buffs started a 16-4 run that broke open a two-point game and put the win away for Colorado.
WHAT IT MEANS: With two Pac-12 wins in a row and a key road win under their belts, the Buffs will now have some confidence heading into the final eight games of the conference season. CU is still well within reach of a top-six finish and by no means out of contention for a top-four finish, especially with five home games still remaining.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot 13-of-24 from 3-point range while limiting the Bruins to just 6-for-21 from behind the arc. CU was also 15-for-16 from the free throw line.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We can't be satisfied with this. This is one win. Let's enjoy it tonight, go back to the hotel, get some food, wake up tomorrow and figure out how we're going to get better tomorrow and figure out how we're going to beat USC." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"We can definitely keep defending like this. It's a mind thing. We just have to go out there and do it. We just have to focus on it." — CU guard Shane Gatling
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up their Los Angeles road trip Saturday with an 8 p.m. game at USC. Colorado has lost its last four games against the Trojans, including a pair at the Galen Center.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
