The University of Colorado Buffaloes hit the road for Seattle for a Wednesday night Pac-12 showdown with the Washington Huskies. Heading into the matchup, the Buffs were businessmen looking for the sale of their first conference victory. To put a tragic result into a few words, the Buffaloes seemed destined for a comfortable win over a Pac-12 team at halftime but a second half meltdown resulted in a 85-83 loss in the final seconds of overtime.
The loss gives the Buffaloes (10-9, 0-6 Pac-12), a team with four seniors and a fourth-year junior, a comfortable position in last place within the Pac-12.
Senior guards Derrick White and Xavier Johnson were the Buffs’ main threats. They shot a collective 19 of 43 from the floor. White dropped 23, made all his free throws and had eight assists. Johnson earned a double-double, snagging 11 boards and scoring a team-high 24 points.
The Buffaloes built up a solid lead in the first half, with junior guard George King leading the contributions. Johnson had a big dunk with 8:38 left in the first half, putting the Buffs up 25-17. Colorado would outscore the Huskies 14-7 in the rest of the half to take a 39-24 lead at halftime.
The Buffaloes retained a double-digit win for much of the first 10 minutes of the second half. But Washington’s Markelle Fultz was on his way to a 37-point performance and the Huskies were able to out-muscle the Buffs, outscoring CU 43-28, with much of the scoring coming in the final ten minutes.
White and Johnson scored consistently throughout the final half of regulation, but Fultz played furiously, too, and the two teams headed to overtime, tied at 67.
Within the first 45 seconds, the Buffs were down four, 71-67. The Buffaloes crept back into things, as White made a major statement with a dunk with 2:32 left. He drew fouls and made a few free throws afterwards, giving Colorado a 74-73 advantage.
At the 1:36 mark, a free throw by King tied the score 76-76. Johnson knocked the ball in the hoop with just 33 seconds left, putting Colorado up 81-80.
But in the final 30 seconds, the Buffs were unable to get the offense going, as junior guard Dom Collier missed a shot from deep with the team down 83-81.
King fouled the Huskies’ David Crisp, who made two free throws with 11 seconds left putting Washington up by four. The Huskies called timeout with two seconds left, leading 85-81. A big dunk from junior forward Tory Miller was not enough, and the Buffaloes fell hard 85-83.
The Buffs shot 45.6 percent from the floor on the night, slightly better than Washington, which managed a 45.3 make rate.
Free throws again troubled the Buffaloes in a deciding manner, as the team went just 11-17 from the charity stripe.
The surely stinging Buffaloes stay on the road and will play Washington State in Pullman this Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MST.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo.
