BOULDER — Home cooking appeared to be just what the doctor ordered for the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday night.
The Buffs returned to the CU Events Center for their first home game in more than a month, and treated themselves to a runaway 92-60 win over Washington State.
Colorado ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in Pac-12 play while the Cougars fell to 7-8, 0-2.
Thursday's effort was the textbook definition of a balanced effort. The Buffs put four players in double figures, led by a career-high 26 points from sophomore Tyler Bey, who also pulled down 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. Sophomore forward D'Shawn Schwartz added a career-high 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four assists; sophomore point guard McKinley Wright IV chipped in 10 points and seven assists; and junior guard Shane Gatlingscored a career-high 17 with a career-best five 3-pointers. Freshman Evan Battey, meanwhile, had a career-high 14 rebounds.
The Buffs also regained their shooting eye, which had abandoned them on a recent swing through Arizona. After shooting just 34.2 percent from the field in a pair of losses in the desert, CU hit 35 of its 64 field goal attempts (54.7 percent) against the Cougars, while holding WSU to just 36.8 percent from the floor (21-for-57). Colorado was 11-for-27 from 3-point range and 24-for-37 from inside the arc.
The Buffs also held a 41-27 edge on the boards and finished with a season-high 20 assists and just 12 turnovers, their fewest since having just eight against Colorado State in early December.
Marvin Cannon led WSU with 14 points.
"It's nice to see the ball go in the basket," head coach Tad Boyle said. "We haven't seen that in a while. We got some guys going. Making 11 threes is obviously big. We knew we were going to see a lot of zone, we didn't know how much. They started out man, and when they went to there zone, we did a good job there, too."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After spotting the Cougars an early 5-0 lead, the Buffs put together a 16-0 run to take command and Washington State never came closer than seven again. Gatling had a pair of 3-pointers in the surge, Bey added one trey and Wright wrapped up the run with a steal and coast-to-coast roll for a layup. The Buffs built their lead to 18 late in the first half, led by 16 at intermission, 41-25, and steadily built the lead throughout the second half, pushing it to 36 with just more than a minute to play.
"I don't know if it's home, I don't know what it is," Boyle said of the Buffs' turnaround. "I just know it was just nice to see the shots go in and that gave us some energy on the defensive end, which helps."
Gatling's early 3-pointers set the tone for his best night yet as a Buff, as he came off the bench to finish 5-for-10 from long distance.
"It felt good," Gatling said. "I've been putting extra hours in the gym lately. My teammates kept telling me to shoot the ball and stay confident. It felt good in warmups, my first couple of shots went down so I kept shooting."
WSU briefly cut CU's lead to seven midway through the first half, but Colorado answered with an 8-0 run to take command for good. Bey punished the Cougars inside with 15 points in the first half while Battey had 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Bey's night signaled the end of a scoring slump that had seen him score just 22 points combined in his last four games.
"Part of it was we did a good job of getting him the ball in the zone where we wanted to get the ball," Boyle said. "And then, Lucas (Siewert) and Evan and our perimeter guys did a good job of getting him the ball down low. He's really good around the baseline, he's really good around the rim. When Tyler catches it down there, usually good things happen."
Sophomore Schwartz, meanwhile, may have had his best all-around game as a Buff. He had five points in an 8-0 Colorado run late in the first half, then hit two quick buckets early in the second half just after WSU had shaved CU's cushion back down to double digits.
"We'll take that from D'shawn every night," Boyle said. "We've asked him to be aggressive and he was aggressive tonight. He didn't play perfect, but he played aggressively. Offensively he was rebounding the ball and he's a good passer."
Now, the Buffs know the road gets tougher on Saturday, when Washington pays a visit to the Events Center for an 8 p.m contest. The Huskies are 11-4 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play after a convincing 69-53 win at Utah on Thursday.
"We did a lot of good things and we're going to need to hopefully use this as a springboard into Saturday," Boyle said. "Saturday's game is going to be a different game, a different animal. We know we're going to see 40 minutes of zone and we're going to have to really make some shots."
TURNING POINT: Colorado established control with a 16-0 run early and the Cougars never came closer than seven the rest of the night.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs needed a win not only to regain some confidence, but also to stay within reach of the Pac-12 upper division. Thursday's win accomplished both.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs hit virtually every one of their team goals: they outrebounded the Cougars 41-27, they held WSU to just 36.8 percent shooting (21-for-57) and had 20 assists and only 12 turnovers. … The Buffs also held WSU to just 2-for-18 shooting from 3-point range. Cougars Viont'e Daniels and Carter Skaggs, who combined to hit 11 threes against Colorado last year in Boulder, did not have a single trey Thursday.
NOTEWORTHY: Bey recorded his seventh career double-double with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. … Schwartz added a career-high 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four assists. … Shane Gatling scored a career-high 17 with a career-best five 3-pointers. … Evan Battey, meanwhile, had a career-high 14 rebounds.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I really wasn't a fun guy to be around. We had long practices, we had long film sessions. But the things we talked about in those sessions, our guys really responded tonight. Not only did they know what to do, they went out and did it." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"I think we played for each other today. We found our groove today. The groove that we had at the beginning of the season when we were winning games and then we had that slump, but we are working through it. On Saturday, we are going to have an even better game, I guarantee it." — CU sophomore forward Tyler Bey.
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up a two-game homestand Saturday with an 8 p.m. game against Washington at the Events Center (ESPNU).
The Buffs returned to the CU Events Center for their first home game in more than a month, and treated themselves to a runaway 92-60 win over Washington State.
Colorado ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 10-5 overall and 1-2 in Pac-12 play while the Cougars fell to 7-8, 0-2.
Thursday's effort was the textbook definition of a balanced effort. The Buffs put four players in double figures, led by a career-high 26 points from sophomore Tyler Bey, who also pulled down 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. Sophomore forward D'Shawn Schwartz added a career-high 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four assists; sophomore point guard McKinley Wright IV chipped in 10 points and seven assists; and junior guard Shane Gatlingscored a career-high 17 with a career-best five 3-pointers. Freshman Evan Battey, meanwhile, had a career-high 14 rebounds.
The Buffs also regained their shooting eye, which had abandoned them on a recent swing through Arizona. After shooting just 34.2 percent from the field in a pair of losses in the desert, CU hit 35 of its 64 field goal attempts (54.7 percent) against the Cougars, while holding WSU to just 36.8 percent from the floor (21-for-57). Colorado was 11-for-27 from 3-point range and 24-for-37 from inside the arc.
The Buffs also held a 41-27 edge on the boards and finished with a season-high 20 assists and just 12 turnovers, their fewest since having just eight against Colorado State in early December.
Marvin Cannon led WSU with 14 points.
"It's nice to see the ball go in the basket," head coach Tad Boyle said. "We haven't seen that in a while. We got some guys going. Making 11 threes is obviously big. We knew we were going to see a lot of zone, we didn't know how much. They started out man, and when they went to there zone, we did a good job there, too."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After spotting the Cougars an early 5-0 lead, the Buffs put together a 16-0 run to take command and Washington State never came closer than seven again. Gatling had a pair of 3-pointers in the surge, Bey added one trey and Wright wrapped up the run with a steal and coast-to-coast roll for a layup. The Buffs built their lead to 18 late in the first half, led by 16 at intermission, 41-25, and steadily built the lead throughout the second half, pushing it to 36 with just more than a minute to play.
"I don't know if it's home, I don't know what it is," Boyle said of the Buffs' turnaround. "I just know it was just nice to see the shots go in and that gave us some energy on the defensive end, which helps."
Gatling's early 3-pointers set the tone for his best night yet as a Buff, as he came off the bench to finish 5-for-10 from long distance.
"It felt good," Gatling said. "I've been putting extra hours in the gym lately. My teammates kept telling me to shoot the ball and stay confident. It felt good in warmups, my first couple of shots went down so I kept shooting."
WSU briefly cut CU's lead to seven midway through the first half, but Colorado answered with an 8-0 run to take command for good. Bey punished the Cougars inside with 15 points in the first half while Battey had 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Bey's night signaled the end of a scoring slump that had seen him score just 22 points combined in his last four games.
"Part of it was we did a good job of getting him the ball in the zone where we wanted to get the ball," Boyle said. "And then, Lucas (Siewert) and Evan and our perimeter guys did a good job of getting him the ball down low. He's really good around the baseline, he's really good around the rim. When Tyler catches it down there, usually good things happen."
Sophomore Schwartz, meanwhile, may have had his best all-around game as a Buff. He had five points in an 8-0 Colorado run late in the first half, then hit two quick buckets early in the second half just after WSU had shaved CU's cushion back down to double digits.
"We'll take that from D'shawn every night," Boyle said. "We've asked him to be aggressive and he was aggressive tonight. He didn't play perfect, but he played aggressively. Offensively he was rebounding the ball and he's a good passer."
Now, the Buffs know the road gets tougher on Saturday, when Washington pays a visit to the Events Center for an 8 p.m contest. The Huskies are 11-4 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play after a convincing 69-53 win at Utah on Thursday.
"We did a lot of good things and we're going to need to hopefully use this as a springboard into Saturday," Boyle said. "Saturday's game is going to be a different game, a different animal. We know we're going to see 40 minutes of zone and we're going to have to really make some shots."
TURNING POINT: Colorado established control with a 16-0 run early and the Cougars never came closer than seven the rest of the night.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs needed a win not only to regain some confidence, but also to stay within reach of the Pac-12 upper division. Thursday's win accomplished both.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs hit virtually every one of their team goals: they outrebounded the Cougars 41-27, they held WSU to just 36.8 percent shooting (21-for-57) and had 20 assists and only 12 turnovers. … The Buffs also held WSU to just 2-for-18 shooting from 3-point range. Cougars Viont'e Daniels and Carter Skaggs, who combined to hit 11 threes against Colorado last year in Boulder, did not have a single trey Thursday.
NOTEWORTHY: Bey recorded his seventh career double-double with a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. … Schwartz added a career-high 16 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four assists. … Shane Gatling scored a career-high 17 with a career-best five 3-pointers. … Evan Battey, meanwhile, had a career-high 14 rebounds.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I really wasn't a fun guy to be around. We had long practices, we had long film sessions. But the things we talked about in those sessions, our guys really responded tonight. Not only did they know what to do, they went out and did it." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"I think we played for each other today. We found our groove today. The groove that we had at the beginning of the season when we were winning games and then we had that slump, but we are working through it. On Saturday, we are going to have an even better game, I guarantee it." — CU sophomore forward Tyler Bey.
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up a two-game homestand Saturday with an 8 p.m. game against Washington at the Events Center (ESPNU).
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