King's Double-Double Big Boost For Buffs In Win Over Washington

BOULDER — With two of their big men on the bench, the Colorado Buffaloes knew they would need a little extra punch on the boards Thursday night against Washington.

CU junior George King was on hand to deliver. King produced his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Buffs to an 81-66 victory.

After the game, Buffs head coach Tad Boyle paid King a major compliment, comparing him to former Buffs standout and current Oklahoma City Thunder player Andre Roberson.

"Tonight George took it up a notch," Boyle said. "Tonight he had some Andre Roberson-type rebounds for us. He went up in a crowd grabbing it over everyone at one point. He had seven offensive rebounds, which means seven extra possessions that he got for our team. ... Before the game I told my staff that I sure hope George plays well tonight because we need him to step up and he sure did."

A year ago, King averaged 13.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game for Colorado. While his scoring average has dipped slightly this season, his rebounding numbers have taken a big jump, particularly in Pac-12 play, as he is averaging a team-leading seven boards per game in conference play.

"I knew Xavier (Johnson) and Wes (Gordon) were out so I'm a versatile player and I played some forward tonight," King said. "I tried to take advantage of my advantages down low."

King has had at least eight rebounds in eight of his last 11 games. Earlier in the week, he said he came into the season with an eye on increasing his production on the boards.

"I told myself at the beginning of the year that I should average 10 rebounds per game and I'm still trying to do that," King said. "I wasn't necessarily setting out to try to outrebound my teammates, but I think the type of player I am, as athletic as I am, I'm capable of doing that."

But most importantly, he's giving the Buffs more balance and more weapons. He had 10 points in the paint against the Huskies to go along with a 2-for-2 night from 3-point range.

And, he continued to play some solid defense, another area of his game he set out to improve this season.

"I think our defense picked up these last five games and that's something we can build on going forward and even more now we have Xavier and Wesley back," King said. "The future is bright for us."

King also scored at key times. He had the final four points in an 11-0 CU run that put the game away down the stretch and a big offensive rebound and bucket in the first half that helped extend CU's lead to 13 after the Huskies had cut the margin to six.

BUFFS NOTES: Junior Tory Miller had a season-high 11 points to go along with five rebounds and a career-high tying three steals. … Freshman Lucas Siewert had career highs in points (12), rebounds (6) and steals (2). … Dominique Collier had 10 points to go along with a season-high five assists and a career-high four steals. … Bryce Peters had 10 points and a career-high six assists.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu