Colorado
10-6, 0-3PAC-12
Arizona
15-2, 4-0PAC-12
Buffs Comeback At Arizona Falls Short
January 07, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Colorado Buffaloes cut a 20-point second-half deficit down to five Saturday but could never completely close the gap and fell, 82-73, to No. 17 Arizona at the McKale Center.
The Buffs, who dropped their third straight to fall to 10-6 overall and 0-3 in Pac-12 play, ended up with more field goals (27-24), more 3-pointers (9-8) and more rebounds (38-32) than the hosts. But the Wildcats ended up with a 33-14 edge in free throw attempts and outscored the Buffs 26-10 from the stripe.
"I applaud our guys' fight and effort," Buffs head coach Tad Boyle said. "We cut it to five (but) we couldn't get over the hump. The difference in the game was free throws. They could get to the free throw line, we couldn't get to the free throw line."
Xavier Johnson led the Buffs with 26 points and six rebounds, George King had a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and Wesley Gordon added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Lauri Markkanen led Arizona with 22 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs jumped out to a quick 10-1 lead, getting a 3-pointer from King to open the scoring and quickly following with a Gordon offensive rebound and basket, a Josh Fortune dunk and another King 3-pointer.
That led to an Arizona timeout and the Wildcats began to chip away at the lead after the break, narrowing CU's edge to 13-10.
Colorado momentarily stemmed the tide, getting a 3-pointer from Derrick White and another Gordon bucket for an 18-10 edge, but the Wildcats knocked out an 11-0 run to take a lead they never relinquished.
Colorado halted the run briefly with a King runner in the lane, but Arizona answered with eight straight points, then a 10-0 run to end the half. It all added up to a 29-9 finish in the last 13 minutes after Colorado's 18-10 lead.
The Buffs contributed to the big Arizona finish with a string of costly turnovers. All told, the Buffs committed eight turnovers in the first half, which the Wildcats converted into 13 points. Colorado finished with 15 turnovers, which the Wildcats turned into 24 points.
"I look at free throws and I look at us taking care of the basketball," Boyle said. "Those are the two areas I think cost us the game. Fifteen turnovers is too many against a good team like Arizona on their home floor. They had 24 points off of our turnovers and they outshoot us 26-10 at the free throw line."
The 10-0 Arizona burst at the end of the half started with three free throws from Kadeem Allen, then another Allen free throw after a technical on Boyle. Allen finished the first half with 12 points.
"I was a little frustrated in the first half," Boyle said. "I thought the second half our guys settled in a little bit and I thought we played well."
Colorado closed the half with a 3-pointer from Johnson at the buzzer, but the Buffs still trailed 39-27 at intermission.
The Wildcats then seemed poised to put the game away early in the second half. Sparked by a pair of 3-pointers from Markkanen, the Wildcats built their lead to 20, 59-39, with just under 12 minutes to play.
But the Buffs refused to quit and began shaving the deficit. Led by Gordon and King, Colorado closed the gap to 12 at two different junctures midway through the half, then cut the margin to five at 69-64 with three minutes remaining on a King offensive rebound and bucket.
That was as close as the Buffs could get, though. A Johnson turnaround jumper cut the Arizona margin back to five, 71-66, with 2:20 to go, but Arizona bumped the lead back to nine, then kept the Buffs at bay at the free throw line over the final two minutes.
Gordon was especially tough for the Buffs in the second half. After playing just 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and scoring just four points, he came back after intermission to add 12 points and five rebounds. King, meanwhile, was the game's leading rebounder, with five of his 11 boards coming on the offensive end.
"That's the Wesley Gordon we need, we need it on a nightly basis," Boyle said. "We need that effort, we need that scoring ability in the post."
TURNING POINT: A 19-2 Arizona run, aided by four Colorado turnovers after the Buffs had built an 18-10 edge in the first half, gave the Wildcats a lead they never relinquished.
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 10-6 overall and 0-3 in Pac-12 play, the Buffs return home for a pair of games in desperate need of a win.
KEY STATISTICS: The Wildcats hit 26 of 33 free throws while the Buffs hit 10 of their 14, a differential of 16 points and 19 attempts at the line. That was enough to overshadow CU's edge in field goals. … The Wildcats converted 15 Colorado turnovers into 24 points.
CU STANDOUTS: George King had a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, his fifth of the season and sixth of his career. … Wesley Gordon had season-high 16 points and nine rebounds. … Xavier Johnson had 26 points and six rebounds.
NOTEWORTHY: The Buffs became the first team this year to surpass the 70-point mark against Arizona. … Gordon's season-high 16 points were just one short of his career high (17 vs. Washington last season). … Johnson's 26 points were one short of his career high (27 vs. Wofford earlier this year and 27 vs. Washington in 2014). … After his 35-point effort against Arizona State, Derrick White was obviously a focal point of Arizona's defense and finished with just seven points. White did, however, have three assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Since that Utah game (a 76-60 loss) we've grown up a little bit. I think we've figured out that the intensity level we play with shouldn't have to go up. We have 32, 31 of these things guaranteed to us so we've got to take advantage of every one of them and be ready to play. Tonight we were." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"He (Boyle) was happy with our effort and the way we competed. He said if we compete like this and play with this amount of effort he'll have no problem with us the rest of the season. But we have to do it every game. It can't just be every now and then." — CU's George King
"We're not going to take any moral victories, we're not happy with this result, don't get me wrong. We've got to start winning some basketball games, but we don't have to win 15 games. We've got to win the next game and that's all we have to focus on." — Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs finally get a Pac-12 game at home on Thursday when they play host to No. 4 UCLA in a 9 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center. They follow that up with a 6:30 p.m. home game Sunday vs. No. 25 USC.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
