BOULDER — A furious Colorado rally in the second half came up just short Saturday night, as the Buffs dropped a 77-70 decision to Washington at the CU Events Center.
The Buffs, who played much of the game without star point guard McKinley Wright (shoulder injury), rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to cut the margin to one with just more than seven minutes left. But that was as close as the Buffs could come, as the Huskies answered each Colorado rally and held on down the stretch for the win.
CU fell to 10-6 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 play while the Huskies improved to 12-4, 3-0.
D'Shawn Schwartz led Colorado with a career-high 22 points — his second straight game with a career high — and Tyler Bey added 15 points and nine rebounds. Shane Gatling added eight points and a career-high six assists.
Jaylen Nowell led UW with 19 points.
The Huskies shot 55.1 percent from the field (27-for-49), including a red-hot 19-for30 in the first half, paving the way for a 48-35 lead at intermission. The Buffs, who battled foul trouble for much of the night, connected on 44.4 percent of their field goal tries (24-for-54).
While obviously disappointed with his team's loss, CU head coach Tad Boyle still said he was proud of the way Colorado battled back.
"I thought there were some really good things that came out of tonight's game, out of a loss," Boyle said. "I don't say that very often, but I thought with all the things we battled tonight — our defensive atrociousness, them scoring 48 points and shooting 63 percent — as bad as that was, for our guys to battle back, with McKinley going out and the foul trouble we battled all night long, is a testament to our guys."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs had no answer for the Huskies in the first half. Colorado missed its first seven shots and had two turnovers in the first five minutes while the Huskies hit five of their first six field goal tries to take a 12-0 lead.
The Buffs finally found their footing and temporarily closed the gap to five with a 9-2 run, but Washington answered to quickly push the lead back to double digits. The Huskies hit eight 3-pointers in the opening half, paving the way for a 48-35 lead at intermission.
Wright, who suffered a shoulder injury in practice in late December, re-injured his shoulder with just under eight minutes to play in the half.
That could have been the end for Colorado — but instead, the Buffs battled back in the second half with Gatling running the point and Schwartz and Daylen Kountz finding their offensive groove. After trailing by as much as 15 early in the half, CU rallied to cut the deficit to one, 63-62, with 7:17 still remaining.
The Buffs first closed the gap to five with a 14-4 run, sparked by six straight points from Kountz, including a 3-pointer at the 12:30 mark. The Huskies then pushed the lead back to 10, but Colorado answered with a 9-0 run to narrow the lead to one. Schwartz had seven of the nine — a 3-pointer and four free throws — before Evan Battey connected inside to cut Washington's lead to 63-62.
"I look at the way our team responded when McKinley went out — they could have folded their tents because we know how important McKinley is to us," Boyle said. "We could have got our heads down and felt sorry for ourselves and had an emotional deflation happen, but that didn't happen. That to me is a good sign for our team."
The Buffs were also hampered by foul trouble with their big men all night. Battey, who played just 11 minutes because of foul troubles — he fouled out in the second half — still finished with six points and two rebounds. CU's Lucas Siewert also fouled out, and Tyler Bey found himself in foul trouble early in the second half.
"I do want to tip my hat to our guys," Boyle said. "Our rotation was really limited, due to foul trouble and McKinley going out. I thought our guys grew up tonight a little bit, as crazy as that sounds."
After Colorado cut the lead to one, Washington pushed the edge back to five, but the Buffs refused to go away. With 3:47, a Siewert bucket inside pulled Colorado back to within three, 70-67, only to see the Huskies draw a foul on a 3-point shot on their next possession. Matisse Thybulle drained all three foul shots and the Buffs never came closer than six again.
WRIGHT STATUS: Boyle said they should know more on Wright's status this week. Wright hurt his shoulder in practice in late December and was injured Saturday when he tangled up with UW's Noah Dickerson in battle for a rebound.
"We don't know how bad, we'll get a better feel for that as we get into next week," Boyle said. "I do know he's been playing less than 100 percent. Obviously we didn't announce that to the world. People need to understand how tough that kid is. When we went to Arizona, we weren't sure he was going to play and he ends up playing both games. He's got the heart of a lion. That kid's toughness will never be questioned. In terms of the injury and what the prognosis is and what it means for him the rest of the season, at this point we don't know that."
SCHWARTZ CAREER HIGH: Sophomore D'Shawn Schwartz had a career high in points for the second straight game, following up a 16-point effort against Washington State with 22 against the Huskies.
"I like the way Shane, Lucas and Daylen stepped up vocally, myself included," Schwartz said "I think we came closer together and really battled as a team. When McKinley went down it felt like something we needed to do in order to compete."
ASSISTS FOR GATLING: After hitting a career-high five 3-pointers against Washington State, Gatling had just one in a 1-for-10 shooting night. But he also had six assists and just one turnover in a career-high 35 minutes.
"When McKinley went down, I was telling my team that we have to keep playing," Gatling said. "They were keying on me, so I just had to make plays for others and help my team in different ways."
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 1-3 in conference play with a home loss, it means Colorado needs to pick up an extra win on the road. CU will have that chance over the next two weeks, with three away from home in the stretch.
KEY STATISTICS: The Huskies shot 55 percent from the field (27-for-49), including 19-for-30 in the first half and 8-for-13 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes. CU, meanwhile, was just 6-for-15 from long distance for the game.
QUOTEWORTHY: "The margin for error for this team with foul trouble, with McKinley going out, shrinks significantly. But I can't emphasize enough that I'm proud of the way our guys responded and the way they fought and competed in the second half." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"It's a game of runs and there were a couple possessions where we had a good shot to tie it up and missed. They came down, we fouled the 3-point shooter and they made free throws. That really hurt and we just played catch-up from there on." — CU's D'Shawn Schwartz
TURNING POINT: After the Buffs closed the gap to one, the Huskies regained control with four straight points, then put together an 8-2 run to put the game away.
NEXT UP: The Buffs have just one game next week, a Jan. 20 (Sunday) visit to Utah for a 4 p.m. matchup with the Utes.
The Buffs, who played much of the game without star point guard McKinley Wright (shoulder injury), rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half to cut the margin to one with just more than seven minutes left. But that was as close as the Buffs could come, as the Huskies answered each Colorado rally and held on down the stretch for the win.
CU fell to 10-6 overall and 1-3 in Pac-12 play while the Huskies improved to 12-4, 3-0.
D'Shawn Schwartz led Colorado with a career-high 22 points — his second straight game with a career high — and Tyler Bey added 15 points and nine rebounds. Shane Gatling added eight points and a career-high six assists.
Jaylen Nowell led UW with 19 points.
The Huskies shot 55.1 percent from the field (27-for-49), including a red-hot 19-for30 in the first half, paving the way for a 48-35 lead at intermission. The Buffs, who battled foul trouble for much of the night, connected on 44.4 percent of their field goal tries (24-for-54).
While obviously disappointed with his team's loss, CU head coach Tad Boyle still said he was proud of the way Colorado battled back.
"I thought there were some really good things that came out of tonight's game, out of a loss," Boyle said. "I don't say that very often, but I thought with all the things we battled tonight — our defensive atrociousness, them scoring 48 points and shooting 63 percent — as bad as that was, for our guys to battle back, with McKinley going out and the foul trouble we battled all night long, is a testament to our guys."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs had no answer for the Huskies in the first half. Colorado missed its first seven shots and had two turnovers in the first five minutes while the Huskies hit five of their first six field goal tries to take a 12-0 lead.
The Buffs finally found their footing and temporarily closed the gap to five with a 9-2 run, but Washington answered to quickly push the lead back to double digits. The Huskies hit eight 3-pointers in the opening half, paving the way for a 48-35 lead at intermission.
Wright, who suffered a shoulder injury in practice in late December, re-injured his shoulder with just under eight minutes to play in the half.
That could have been the end for Colorado — but instead, the Buffs battled back in the second half with Gatling running the point and Schwartz and Daylen Kountz finding their offensive groove. After trailing by as much as 15 early in the half, CU rallied to cut the deficit to one, 63-62, with 7:17 still remaining.
The Buffs first closed the gap to five with a 14-4 run, sparked by six straight points from Kountz, including a 3-pointer at the 12:30 mark. The Huskies then pushed the lead back to 10, but Colorado answered with a 9-0 run to narrow the lead to one. Schwartz had seven of the nine — a 3-pointer and four free throws — before Evan Battey connected inside to cut Washington's lead to 63-62.
"I look at the way our team responded when McKinley went out — they could have folded their tents because we know how important McKinley is to us," Boyle said. "We could have got our heads down and felt sorry for ourselves and had an emotional deflation happen, but that didn't happen. That to me is a good sign for our team."
The Buffs were also hampered by foul trouble with their big men all night. Battey, who played just 11 minutes because of foul troubles — he fouled out in the second half — still finished with six points and two rebounds. CU's Lucas Siewert also fouled out, and Tyler Bey found himself in foul trouble early in the second half.
"I do want to tip my hat to our guys," Boyle said. "Our rotation was really limited, due to foul trouble and McKinley going out. I thought our guys grew up tonight a little bit, as crazy as that sounds."
After Colorado cut the lead to one, Washington pushed the edge back to five, but the Buffs refused to go away. With 3:47, a Siewert bucket inside pulled Colorado back to within three, 70-67, only to see the Huskies draw a foul on a 3-point shot on their next possession. Matisse Thybulle drained all three foul shots and the Buffs never came closer than six again.
WRIGHT STATUS: Boyle said they should know more on Wright's status this week. Wright hurt his shoulder in practice in late December and was injured Saturday when he tangled up with UW's Noah Dickerson in battle for a rebound.
"We don't know how bad, we'll get a better feel for that as we get into next week," Boyle said. "I do know he's been playing less than 100 percent. Obviously we didn't announce that to the world. People need to understand how tough that kid is. When we went to Arizona, we weren't sure he was going to play and he ends up playing both games. He's got the heart of a lion. That kid's toughness will never be questioned. In terms of the injury and what the prognosis is and what it means for him the rest of the season, at this point we don't know that."
SCHWARTZ CAREER HIGH: Sophomore D'Shawn Schwartz had a career high in points for the second straight game, following up a 16-point effort against Washington State with 22 against the Huskies.
"I like the way Shane, Lucas and Daylen stepped up vocally, myself included," Schwartz said "I think we came closer together and really battled as a team. When McKinley went down it felt like something we needed to do in order to compete."
ASSISTS FOR GATLING: After hitting a career-high five 3-pointers against Washington State, Gatling had just one in a 1-for-10 shooting night. But he also had six assists and just one turnover in a career-high 35 minutes.
"When McKinley went down, I was telling my team that we have to keep playing," Gatling said. "They were keying on me, so I just had to make plays for others and help my team in different ways."
WHAT IT MEANS: Now 1-3 in conference play with a home loss, it means Colorado needs to pick up an extra win on the road. CU will have that chance over the next two weeks, with three away from home in the stretch.
KEY STATISTICS: The Huskies shot 55 percent from the field (27-for-49), including 19-for-30 in the first half and 8-for-13 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes. CU, meanwhile, was just 6-for-15 from long distance for the game.
QUOTEWORTHY: "The margin for error for this team with foul trouble, with McKinley going out, shrinks significantly. But I can't emphasize enough that I'm proud of the way our guys responded and the way they fought and competed in the second half." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
"It's a game of runs and there were a couple possessions where we had a good shot to tie it up and missed. They came down, we fouled the 3-point shooter and they made free throws. That really hurt and we just played catch-up from there on." — CU's D'Shawn Schwartz
TURNING POINT: After the Buffs closed the gap to one, the Huskies regained control with four straight points, then put together an 8-2 run to put the game away.
NEXT UP: The Buffs have just one game next week, a Jan. 20 (Sunday) visit to Utah for a 4 p.m. matchup with the Utes.
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