Colorado
19-7, 8-5Pac-12
Washington
15-10,7-6Pac-12
Buffs Hold Off Washington Down Stretch, 81-80
February 13, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Not this time.
One year after falling to Washington on a buzzer-beater in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes dodged a repeat Saturday, holding on for an 81-80 win over the Huskies in front of the Coors Events Center's biggest crowd of the season (9,476). They did it with a whopping 55-35 edge on the boards, outstanding balanced scoring, and some good old-fashioned grit when they needed it most.
It was the Buffs' second straight win without the services of injured big man Josh Scott (ankle injury), the second straight nail-biter — and the second game in a row in which the Buffs saw a double-digit lead melt away.
Thursday, the Buffs used a George King buzzer-beater at the end of the first overtime to pave the way for an 88-81, double-overtime win over Washington State.
No extra time was necessary Saturday, but it still came down to the very end. UW's Andrew Andrews — who hit the game winner against CU a year ago — just missed a jumper with 2.4 seconds left and CU clinging to its one point lead. Wesley Gordon rebounded for the Buffs, and while he missed two ensuing free throws, the Huskies tossed the ball out of bounds on the in-bounds play following a rebound and CU walked away with the win.
"We all knew the ball was going to him," said CU forward Wesley Gordon, who finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks for his third straight double-double. "We just didn't want it to happen again. We didn't want last year, Part II."
The Buffs wouldn't have had to endure the drama if they could have protected a lead. They were up by 17 in the first half, 12 at intermission and — after the Huskies pulled to within one early in the second half — up by 15 with 7:37 to go in the game after a 24-10 run.
"This game didn't have to be as close as it was, but you have to give Washington credit," said CU coach Tad Boyle, whose team improved to 19-7 overall and 8-5 in the Pac-12. "Our defense for the most part of the game was good, but for the last 5 minutes and 11 seconds, it wasn't very good."
Still, as Boyle noted, the Buffs did enough to win, and they did it without the help Scott, their leading scorer and rebounder.
"This team has shown toughness and grit all year long," Boyle said. "That's what you have to do if you want to be where we want to be, which is in the top half of the league, competing for a championship."
The Buffs will no doubt be in the top half of the league when the Pac-12 dust settles from the weekend. Saturday's win assures that they will be in no worse than a tie for third with five conference games remaining.
The Buffs played brilliantly at times on Saturday, getting contributions from all eight pieces of their regular rotation. Along with Gordon's double-double, George King chalked up his first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), while Josh Fortune finished with 13 points and nine rebounds and Dominique Collier and Tre'Shaun Fletcher each scored 10.
That balance and an attitude on the glass that was ferocious, led to perhaps the Buffs' best first half of the year. Colorado broke an 11-11 tie early in the game with a 6-0 run and never trailed again, building the cushion to as much as 17 when back-to-back Fletcher 3-pointers gave CU a 33-16 edge.
But the Huskies did manage to narrow the gap to 12 by the half, then quickly closed CU's edge to just a single point early in the second half. Six CU turnovers in the first five minutes of the second period — the Buffs finished with 22 — helped UW close CU's lead to 48-47.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to watch our team and figure out where we struggle, which is taking care of the ball," Boyle said. "When we put together a defense and rebounding effort like we did tonight with a turnover game like we did against Washington State (eight turnovers), we're going to beat everybody in this league."
But almost as quickly as the Huskies narrowed the gap, CU once again opened up a cushion, putting together a 24-10 run. Guard Thomas Akyazili fueled the burst with nine straight points, and with less than eight minutes to play, the Buffs held a 15-point edge, 72-57.
"I looked at the clock and said, 'Guys, if we hold them to less than 72, we win the game. They can not beat us if we do that,'" Boyle said. "We didn't get that done."
Indeed, the Huskies had one more rally in them. Andrews scored 11 of his 18 points down the stretch — including a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left for UW's final points — before missing his 14th shot of the game to preserve the Colorado win.
"Give Colorado a lot of credit," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. "This weekend they survived huge adversity. They did a great job of finding a way to get it done. Wesley Gordon stepped up in Josh Scott's absence and had a big-time game. He really hurt us; give him a lot of credit."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
