Looking ahead to the conference tournament in Las Vegas next week, the Colorado men’s basketball team is in desperate need of confidence and momentum. That didn’t come in Pullman, Washington last night, as the Buffs gave up a frustrating 96-91 overtime loss to Washington State.
In the final seconds, Colorado clung to a two-point lead, but a botched in-bounds play turned into a Cougars’ possession. DeVonte Lacy tied the game at 77-77 as the clock ran down, sending the final regular season match-up to overtime. The Buffs never recovered, taking a five-point loss for the books.
The final play of regulation centered around senior guard Askia Booker, who is notoriously CU’s best free-throw shooter. As planned, Booker was double-teamed, but no fouls were called in the short time he had to shoot the basketball. Instead, a jump ball caused the Cougars to gain the final possession.
On the bright side, Josh Scott recorded a career-high of 32 points and 12 rebounds, due to catching fire in the first half. Scott hit seven of his first thirteen shots. The double-double was his fifth of the season. Alongside him, Booker contributed 26 points on the night. The Buffs also had ten more rebounds than the Cougars (40-30).
Scott’s performance was almost matched by WSU’s Josh Hawkinson, who was 9-12 from the field. The difference with Hawkinson, though, was the range of shots he hit during the night. Hawkinson scored from almost every point in the paint, drawing a blank from the CU defense.
Defensively, there is much to be adjusted before next week’s first-round match up in Vegas. WSU sunk 14 of their last 15 first-half shots on Colorado’s watch. The Cougars’ first half shooting percentage, 60.6, is the highest allowed by the Buffs this season.
The Cougars killed Colorado’s confidence early in overtime, after WSU’s Dexter Kernich-Drew and DaVonte Lacy sunk consecutive three-point shots. According to head coach Tad Boyle, Colorado simply didn’t execute enough opportunities to overtake the lead, despite hanging close.
Xavier Johnson was the third top-scoring Buffalo behind Scott and Booker, contributing nine points and eight rebounds to Colorado’s stat totals. The Buffs’ regular season record is now set at 14-16, with seven conference wins.
Colorado is seeded tenth in this year’s Pac-12 conference tournament, and will play No. 7 seed Oregon State on Wednesday, March 11 at 7:10 p.m. MST. The game tips off at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Fans can catch the early action on the Pac-12 Networks. Once the tournament passes the first three quarterfinal games, ESPN will take over coverage, airing the last quarterfinal, semifinal, and final games through Saturday, March 14.
Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Jordyn Siemens at Jordyn.Siemens@colorado.edu.
