Colorado
19-6,8-4Pac-12
Oregon
19-6,8-4Pac-12
Buffs Falter Down Stretch At Oregon
February 13, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
EUGENE, Ore. — Colorado played well enough to win for 35 minutes Thursday, but couldn't hold the lead down the stretch as Oregon rallied for a 68-60 win over the Buffaloes at Matthew Knight Arena.
The loss allowed the Ducks to pull into a tie with Colorado for the Pac-12 lead, as CU dropped to 19-6 overall and 8-4 in Pac-12 play while Oregon improved to 19-6, 8-4.
The loss now makes CU's Saturday game at Oregon State even more critical in the Buffs conference title pursuit.
Colorado led by as much as 14 in the first half, thanks to a 20-0 run, and still had a nine-point cushion at intermission. But the Ducks whittled away at the lead in the second half by taking advantage of some costly CU turnovers, and outscored Colorado 15-2 over the last five minutes of the game for the win.
Evan Battey finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Buffs, his fourth of the year. D'Shawn Schwartz added 14 points and five rebounds, Shane Gatling chipped in 11 points and McKinley Wright IV had eight points, five assists and four rebounds.
Will Richardson led Oregon with 21 points and nine rebounds and Peyton Pritchard had a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Ducks.
The big difference in the game was turnovers. Colorado committed 18 miscues in the game — CU's most in Pac-12 play this year — including nine in the second half. The Ducks had just 10 turnovers and only two in the second half, leading to a 16-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Both teams shot just under 40 percent for the game, with CU shooting 23-for-59 and the Ducks 24-for-61. But Colorado was just 9-for-30 from the floor in the second half while Oregon was 14-for-30, with five 3-pointers after intermission.
CU won the rebound battle, 38-35, but the Ducks were better at making their offensive rebounds count, collecting a 20-14 edge in second-chance points.
Colorado also shot just six free throws — a season low — and connected on four while the Ducks were 12-for-16 from the line.
"Sick to my stomach," CU coach Tad Boyle said. "Down the stretch we couldn't execute. We knew turnovers would be an issue. The execution down the stretch was part of it. I thought we played hard enough, I thought we played tough enough, but we didn't play smart enough."
 HOW IT HAPPENED: After a slow start against Oregon's matchup zone, the Buffs trailed, 16-10, less than nine minutes into the game.
But midway through the half, the Buffs ramped up their offense and dialed in on defense, putting together a 20-0 run to take a 30-16 lead with 3:48 to play. Wright scored the first five points of the run with a 3-pointer and step-back 2-point bucket, and Lucas Siewert, Gatling and Schwartz also added 3-pointers.
CU's defense, meanwhile, held the Ducks scoreless for almost eight minutes in the stretch, as the Ducks missed 11 consecutive field goal tries. Oregon finally ended the drought on a Chris Duarte bucket and free throw, but Colorado still took a 35-26 lead into intermission.
CU held Pritchard to just seven points in the first half and Richardson to only four, as Oregon shot just 32.3 percent from the field, including 3-for-12 from long range.
But Oregon's defense began to take its toll after halftime. The Buffs struggled to find open shots and had three shot clock violations in the second half, along with several possessions that ended in last-second attempts from long range.
At the same time, the Ducks slowly found their shooting eyes. Colorado still led by nine, 49-40, at the 12:14 mark after 3-pointers from Schwartz and Siewert, but the Ducks put together a 9-2 run to close the gap to two, 51-49, with just under 10 minutes to play.
Colorado then managed to push the lead back to five after a pair of Battey baskets, and still led 58-53 with under five minutes to play after a Schwartz 3-point play.
But Pritchard hit a 3-pointer with 4:38 to go, the beginning of an Oregon 15-2 run to close the game. Richardson's 21 points were more than double his season average, with 17 coming in the second half while Pritchard had eight points, eight rebounds and six assists in the second half.
CU, meanwhile, struggled offensively, especially in the final five minutes. Colorado missed seven straight shots in a 12-0 Oregon run, part of the 15-2 Oregon closing surge, and Wright and Tyler Bey were both held scoreless after intermission. Bey finished with a season-low four points and eight rebounds.
"The first half, we got great looks," Wright said. "For some reason the second half they made a couple shots and let the crowd affect us. That was pretty much it."
TURNING POINT: Colorado still led by five, 58-53, with under five minutes to play. But a Pritchard 3-pointer and two Richardson free throws after a timeout tied the game, and Richardson hit another trey after another timeout to give the Ducks the lead, part of a 12-0 run.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs and Ducks are now tied for the league lead, with CU facing four road games in its final six regular season contests. Colorado now faces a critical road game at Oregon State on Saturday.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs committed 18 turnovers, their most in Pac-12 play this year, which led to 16 Oregon points … the Ducks also had a 20-14 edge in second-chance points and a 15-9 edge in bench points.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We have to bounce back mentally, emotionally. And that's the challenge I gave them in the locker room. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves. I'm not going to let this team do that. We have to bounce back, that's my job as a coach to make sure that that happens." — CU head coach Tad BoyleÂ
UP NEXT:Â The Buffs wrap up their road trip with an 8 p.m. game Saturday at Oregon State (FS1), then return to Boulder next week for their final two home games of the year when they host USC on Thursday (7 p.m.) and UCLA the following Saturday (2 p.m.).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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