Colorado
21-9,10-7Pac-12
Stanford
20-9,9-7Pac-12
Colorado Rally Comes Up Short As Buffs Fall At Stanford
March 01, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
STANFORD, Calif. — Colorado rallied to cut a 15-point deficit down to three here Sunday in the final minutes, but that was as close as the Buffaloes could come as they dropped a 72-64 decision to Stanford at Maples Pavilion.
The Buffs' third straight loss — their longest losing streak of the season — dropped No. 21/20 CU to 21-9 overall and 10-7 in Pac-12 play. Stanford improved to 20-9, 9-7.
The Buffs trailed by as much as 15 in the first half and again in the second half before cutting the deficit 65-62 with 3:46 still to play. But CU went cold again down the stretch and the Cardinal held on for the win.
Tyler Bey led Colorado with 17 points and seven rebounds and McKinley Wright IV had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Buffs, his sixth of the year and 11th of his career. D'Shawn Schwartz added 14 points for CU.
The Cardinal had four players in double figures, led by Bryce Wills with 19 points — 17 coming in the second half.
The loss drops CU into a tie with USC for fourth place in the Pac-12, and a half-game behind Arizona State and a half-game ahead of Arizona. The Buffs own the tiebreaker over USC and ASU, but would lose a tiebreaker with Arizona.Â
Stanford shot 52.5 percent from the floor in the game, the second straight opponent to shoot better than 50 percent against CU and the fourth to shoot at least 45 percent. CU is 1-3 in that stretch.
The Buffs shot 42.6 percent, but hit just five of their 20 3-point field goal tries.
The biggest difference came in the paint, where Stanford held a dominating 56-34 edge as the Cardinal drove to the bucket almost at will all night long.
"Our defense right now is not good enough to win a game on the road," CU coach Tad Boyle said. "Our defense was not good enough to win a close game at home against UCLA. Our defense failed in the second half. Until we get that back, it's gonna be like this. We have a week to figure it out. I have to do better job as a coach, obviously, and we'd better figure it out."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs were once again plagued by a slow start, falling behind midway through the first half by as much as 15 after a 22-7 Stanford run before pulling to within seven, 35-28, with an 8-0 run just before halftime. Eli Parquet and Wright had 3-pointers in the run and Bey added a dunk.
The Buffs then continued their comeback in the second half, slicing Stanford's lead down to three, 45-42, on a Lucas Siewert 3-pointer with 15:07 still to play.
But the Cardinal answered with a 12-2 run to push the edge back to 13, then bumped the cushion to 15 points, 63-48, with 9:17 to go. Wills was almost unstoppable in the run, hitting five baskets, most on drives to the rim.
Colorado, however, refused to go away. Following a timeout and still trailing by 13, Colorado put together a 10-0 run to pull within three, 65-62. Wright had three straight buckets for the Buffs before Bey followed with two more, including a tip-in with 3:46 to play.
"Offensively we played with much more purpose and poise in the second half," Boyle said. "We played inside out much better and we shared the ball. Wereally went inside and we put some pressure on them."
But CU's rally led to a Stanford timeout, and the Buffs turned it over following the timeout. Colorado then had four more empty possessions while Wills got another bucket with 2:41 remaining to push Stanford's lead back to five. Wills added another basket with just under a minute to play and the Buffs managed just two more points in the final minute.
"Nobody's guarding," CU's Wright said. "We've got three, maybe four guys who really take defense personally. I'm trying my best to figure out how to get this whole team back to the defensive team we were earlier in the year and get guys to guard."
The Buffs also once again found it difficult to get to the foul line. CU was just 7-for-8 from the line, the fifth time in the last six games the Buffs have had 10 or fewer free throws. Stanford didn't have many more, hitting seven of 11.
TURNING POINT: The Buffs had momentum on their side late in the game after a 10-0 run that pulled them to within three, but a turnover on their next possession followed by three more empty possessions sealed their fate.
WHAT IT MEANS: Less than two weeks ago, the Buffs were in sole possession of first place. Now, they must find a way to finish in the top four in conference play and pick up the first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. They have one more chance for a regular season win, which comes next Saturday at Utah.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs allowed Cal to shoot 52.5 percent from the floor (31-for-59) and also gave the Bears a 56-34 edge in points in the paint.
QUOTEWORTHY: "You can't feel sorry for yourself right now. This is uncharted territory for this team, three losses in a row. You think anybody cares? I promise you they don't. We have to take it upon ourselves to do what we're capable of doing." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up their regular season Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. game at Utah. After that, it's the March 11-14 Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.Â
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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