Field Level Media
Jan 18, 2018
Colorado used a late 11-0 run to blow open a tight game and earn an 82-73 Pac-12 win Thursday night over Washington State at Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo.
Five players reached double figures for the Buffaloes (12-7, 4-3), led by McKinley Wright's 17 points. George King added 16, canning 4 of 10 3-point attempts and also pulling in nine rebounds. Namon Wright also scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double, and Dominique Collier chipped in 13 points. Lucas Siewert finished with 11 in a reserve role.
Viont'e Daniels led the Cougars (9-9, 1-5) with 18 points, all on 3-pointers, while Carter Skaggs drilled five 3-pointers and scored 17.
Colorado appeared to have the contest well in hand when a free throw by Siewert with 15:07 remaining gave it a 58-32 advantage. But Washington State made a stunning comeback, going on a 26-5 spurt and closing within 63-58 with 8:15 remaining when Skaggs drained consecutive 3-pointers.
However, the Buffs allowed the Cougars to get no closer. King hit a layup with 7:04 left to stop the spurt, followed by nine straight points from McKinley Wright, including a layup with four minutes remaining to up the margin to 16 and wrap things up.
Colorado took the lead for good six minutes into the game when King hit a 3-pointer to make it 15-12. It made a push late in the first half, using a 12-4 run to finish the half and taking a 42-27 lead into intermission when Siewert converted a layup with 35 seconds remaining.
The Buffs sank 51.7 percent of their field goal attempts for the game and were a solid 13-of-18 at the foul line. Washington State ran most of its offense around the 3-point line, going 15-of-34 behind the arc but only making 40.9 percent of its shots for the night overall.
The Cougars tried just five free throws as a result of all their long-range offense and were outrebounded 39-29. Colorado enjoyed a 15-6 advantage in fast-break points.
--Field Level Media