Colorado
10-10, 0-7
Washington State
10-9, 3-4
Buffs Fall To WSU In Overtime To Extend Skid To 7
January 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
PULLMAN, Wash. — The script changed slightly but the result was the same for the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, as they dropped their seventh straight game, a 91-89 overtime loss to Washington State.
The Buffs overcame a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes to force overtime, but were outscored 4-0 in the final minute of the extra period to leave them winless in Pac-12 play.
The loss, coming on the heels of an OT defeat at Washington on Wednesday, dropped the Buffs to 10-10 overall and 0-7 in Pac-12 play. WSU improved to 10-9, 3-4.
"Same old story," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "We let a team that's been struggling to score, that scored 47 points in this building two nights ago against Utah, hang 91 on us. … They made some tough shots, don't get me wrong. But our defense right now is not good enough to beat anybody in this league. It doesn't matter who we play, it doesn't matter where we play them."
Indeed, the Cougars looked nothing like the team that came into the game as the second-lowest scoring team in the Pac-12 and the second-worst 3-point shooting team. The Cougars shot 54 percent from the field for the game (35-for-65), including 50 percent from 3-point range (13-for-26). WSU's Charles Callison had a career-high 30 points on 12-for-16 shooting, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range and Viont'e Daniels was 4-for-5 from long distance.
The Buffs shot a respectable 47 percent from the floor (32-for-67) but were just 6-for-21 from beyond the arc. Derrick White led the Buffs with 25 points, Xavier Johnson scored 17, George King had 16 and Wesley Gordon chipped in 15.
"We play well enough offensively, we rebound the ball well enough," Boyle said. "But it's always something with this team. When you can't rely on your defense and you can't rely on your rebounding night in and night out, you're going to be in these kinds of games and then you can't finish them off because you can't get stops."
HOW IT HAPPENED: For the fourth time in their seven-game losing streak, the Buffs had the lead in the final minute of regulation or overtime but couldn't close the deal.
Saturday, they came back to force the extra period, then jumped out to a four-point lead in the first minute of overtime on two free throws from King and a Johnson basket.
But the Buffs turned the ball over on their next possession, then missed two straight shots while the Cougars hit a pair of buckets to tie the score, 87-87. Colorado finally regained the lead on a White drive to the basket with 1:49 remaining and had a chance to extend the lead to four after forcing a WSU miss, but a turnover handed the ball back to the Cougars with under a minute to go.
WSU's Josh Hawkinson then tied the game from the paint with 40 seconds remaining. CU's Bryce Peters missed a short attempt on CU's next possession and Washington State's Ike Iroegbu grabbed the loose ball and went the length of the floor for the winning bucket with 10.5 seconds left.
Colorado's last chance ended with a White 3-pointer bouncing off the rim just before the buzzer.
"Again, another one-possession game that went the other team's way," Boyle said. "We had the lead within the last minute of the game; we've had the lead within the last minute of four games in seven conference games and we've come up on the short end, which means we can't get stops when we need to get stops. It's the same old stuff. It happened against Washington, it happened USC, it happened against Arizona State and tonight it happened against Washington State."
As has also been the case in the losing streak, the Buffs started quickly in this one, jumping out to a 14-7 lead just six minutes into the game. Gordon had four points in the early run, Johnson added three and King added a 3-pointer.
But again, the Buffs couldn't maintain the pace. After hitting six of their first 10 field goal tries, they hit just four of their next 13. At the same time, their defense went lax and the Cougars heated up. Washington State put together a 13-4 run and finally took its first lead of the game at the 9:38 mark on a Callison basket.
WSU then built its lead to as much as seven, 34-27, with just under four minutes to play but the Buffs managed to close the gap to four, 39-35, by halftime. Johnson led the Buffs with 10 points in the first half and Gordon added eight.
Washington State built its lead to as much as 10 in the second half, mostly on the strength of Callison's 3-pointers. The Buffs closed the gap to two, 81-79, with 1:36 to go on a White three-point play, then finally tied it at 83-83 with 7 seconds left on two White free throws after WSU's Ike Iroegbu missed the front end of a one-and-one with 16 seconds to go.
Callison finally missed at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
WHAT IT MEANS: In the midst of their worst conference start since the 1992-93 season, the Buffs return home next week for a pair of games. A team that entered the season with the stated goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament now has just 11 conference games remaining.
TURNING POINT: After taking a two-point lead with 1:49 to go in overtime, the Buffs went scoreless down the stretch.
CU STANDOUTS: White finished with 25 points — 21 in the second half — and had six assists and five rebounds. … Johnson had eight rebounds to go with his 17 points. … King had nine rebounds to accompany his 16 points and Gordon had six rebounds with his 15 points. Overall, the Buffs had a commanding 40-29 edge on the boards.
KEY STATISTICS: The Cougars hit at least 50 percent of their shots in all three periods and finished 54 percent from the field for the game (35-for-65). That included a 13-for-26 night from 3-point range, with Callison and Daniels combining to hit 10 of their 14 long-distance tries.
NOTEWORTHY: CU saw its three-game win streak over the Cougars snapped as WSU narrowed the Buffs' all-time lead in the series to 9-3. … The seven-game losing streak is CU's longest since 2008-09 and the longest in the Boyle era. It's CU's first 0-7 conference start since 1992-93. … CU's skid in Pac-12 road games hit 10. … CU is now Colorado drops to 49-54 all-time in overtime and has lost its last two. The Buffaloes are 17-24 in road overtime contests. … The road trip marked CU's first back-to-back overtime since the Buffs opened the 1996-97 season with a pair, both win by Colorado. … Johnson recorded his sixth straight game scoring in double figures and 16th this season. He is also now 17th in career points at CU and tied for 14th in career starts (86).
QUOTEWORTHY: "It's like coach said at practice this morning. When teams see Colorado on the schedule now, they're smelling blood and they take advantage of that and we're being exposed. That needs to stop." — CU's George King
"Our guys showed tremendous fight to get back in this thing and send it to overtime. I've got to credit our guys for that. This team obviously hasn't quit, hasn't given up. But we aren't committed to doing the things that win games. We're interested in doing it sometimes." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs return home Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. game against Oregon State, followed by a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday at home vs. Oregon. The Buffs have seven of their final 11 games at home.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
