Colorado
8-5, 1-0Pac-12
UCLA
8-6, 0-1Pac-12
Brooks: Buffs Battle Minus Scott, Defeat Bruins 62-56
January 03, 2015 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes muscled and hustled their way from underneath UCLA's thumb Friday night at the Coors Events Center – and they did it the hard way.
With starting post Josh Scott sidelined, the Buffs pulled together and pulled away for a 62-56 victory. It was CU's first win against UCLA since joining the Pac-12 Conference and only the second win in their 10 meetings overall.
In winning their 2015 Pac-12 opener, the Buffs (8-5, 1-0) broke a two-game losing streak while the Bruins (8-6, 0-1) lost their fourth straight.
"If ever a team needed a win, the Colorado Buffaloes needed one tonight. I don't want to think where our heads would be if we didn't (win)," said coach Tad Boyle, who downplayed his 100th win at CU, calling it "no bigger than the 99th. I want the 101st . . . it's all about the next game."
That's on Sunday, and Boyle and the Buffs left the CEC wondering whether the 6-10 Scott might contribute to win No. 101, which could come against Southern California (noon, Pac-12 Network). Scott, CU's leading rebounder (7.7 rpg) and second-leading scorer (14.8 ppg), was in uniform but was held out of the game due to back spasms. His status for Sunday has not been determined.
But on Friday night, Scott's best bud from Colorado Springs – Wes Gordon – was, in Boyle's words, "a man-child." The 6-9 Gordon contributed a career night in rebounds (14) and blocked shots (7). Making seven of eight free throws, he added 11 points for his second double-double of the season and the third of his career.
While Boyle said he didn't specifically challenge Gordon in individual meetings this week, he "mentioned" that Gordon would surely benefit from playing more aggressively. Maybe the casual approach works better. "I know what Wes is capable of doing," Boyle said. "Wes stepped up."
Other Buffs did, too. Askia Booker scored a team-high 20 points and Xavier Johnson was a "four" man possessed in the second half, when he scored 11 of his 14 points and hit the launch button on an 11-0 run that brought the Buffs back from a 43-37 deficit. With "XJ" scoring seven points in that stretch, CU went up 48-43 with 7:30 to play.
UCLA would lead only once more (49-48), while CU would build its lead to a game-best seven (58-51) with 2 minutes remaining.
Johnson said the Buffs did what they couldn't do in two close losses in Hawai'i – finish strong – because they "just wanted it. We had a lot of players step up since Josh was out . . . everybody stepped up big for us and put in work for us tonight and that's how we were able to come away with the victory."
Stepping up also required compensating for 18 turnovers that cost the Buffs 23 points. They held the Bruins to 31.4 percent shooting from the field (22-of-70) and limited them to 6-for-26 from beyond the arc. The normally accurate Bryce Alford went 0-for-9 from 3-point range and finished 2-for-16 overall (8 points).
CU also hit 21 of its 25 free throw attempts, which helped offset the Buffs' 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the field. Down 23-17 at halftime in rebounding, CU pushed back in the second half and finished in a 41-41 dead heat on the boards.
It was emblematic of what Boyle called "great toughness and resiliency . . . we didn't necessarily play great, but we competed and showed great toughness throughout the game."
Boyle told his team about 30 minutes before the game that Scott wouldn't play. "I wanted to give them some time to digest that," he said, and Booker helped in that process. Before the Buffs returned to the floor for the final time before tip-off, Booker said he "grabbed the guys and told them, 'Everybody in the gym doesn't think we can win without Josh Scott.'
"And I told them we are guaranteed to win this game if we play hard enough and we play together. The outcome is that we won; we played together and hard."
Scott's absence obviously was felt on the boards, where the Bruins held their six-board first-half advantage. But on the scoreboard at intermission, the Buffs were a point up (28-27) and were playing the brand of defense that would compensate for their leading rebounder being out of commission.
UCLA's leading scorer, Alford (17.5 ppg), was held to four first-half points. Norman Powell picked some of that slack with eight – just over half his average (15.1 ppg) – and finished with a game-high 22 points.
The Buffs got 10 first-half points from Booker, with none of his teammates contributing more than five (freshman Tory Miller). But "Ski" initiated a 12-2 run with five points and helped his team bounce back from a 9-3 deficit and take a 15-11 lead.
After the Buffs made their run and went up 14-11 on Booker's second trey of the half, the visitors managed three ties but never led again before intermission. That would change quickly, though, once the second half began.
Scoring the second half's first seven points – five of them by Isaac Hamilton – UCLA surged ahead 34-28, prompting a Boyle timeout with 18:07 remaining. It took just under 2 minutes, but the Buffs finally scored on a short baseline jumper by Johnson.
It would take better execution, though, and CU temporarily got it. A 7-0 run pushed the Buffs back ahead 37-36 with 14:02 left, but that one-point lead was as tenuous as going 40 minutes minus Scott.
Answering with their own 7-0 run – Powell contributed five of those points – the Bruins matched their largest lead by taking a 43-37 lead at the 12:12 minute mark. The Buffs didn't blink. Three minutes later, behind seven straight points by Johnson, they had pulled to 43-42.
"I thought (Johnson) gave us an unbelievable spark and energy during that second half," Boyle said. "He wanted the ball, demanded the ball and was going strong . . . we played at him at the four spot (and) he was a beast down there."
CU regained the lead (44-43) on a run-out stuff by Jaron Hopkins that raised the CEC decibels to near jet engine level. And it went up from there on a muscular put-back by Johnson that gave CU a 46-43 lead with 8 minutes left. With two Booker free throws, CU's run was extended to 11-0 and its lead went to 48-43.
The Bruins caught up and then some, taking a 49-48 advantage until Booker's fourth trey of the night and Gordon's pair of free throws shot CU ahead 53-49 with what promised to be a back-and-forth final 4:37.
It wasn't.
After Powell hit a runner to pull the Bruins to within 53-51, the Buffs surged behind three of four Gordon free throws and a wicked stuff by Hopkins to take their biggest lead of the night – 58-51 – with 2 minutes showing.
UCLA got to within 60-56, but came no closer. The Buffs had broken through.
"It feels good," Johnson said. "All the hard work we put in finally showed. I'm happy we were able to come out with the victory . . . we're going to keep progressing from here."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDUÂ
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