The Colorado Buffaloes survived a big and unexpected test on their home floor Thursday night, defeating the Washington State Cougars, 88-81. The now 18-7 (7-5) Buffs were forced into double-overtime for the first time this year.

King is clutch

George King led the Buffs with 21 points, his 6-of-12 shooting and seven free throws displayed his efficiency too. But one play from King’s night stood out:

That buzzer-beating shot to keep CU alive and force double-overtime came with the clock dwindling down and the Buffs were trailing by three.

“It was a big-time shot,” Tad Boyle said. “He had the awareness to know that we needed a three. We took advantage of the chance Washington State gave us, and thank goodness because this would have been a heartbreaking loss for this program.”

“I was the reason why we (CU) lost to Oregon State,” King told remembering two missed box-outs on free throws.

Well on Thursday, King was the reason why the Buffs beat Washington State.

Scott-less

The Buffs were without senior star big man Josh Scott on Thursday due to an ankle injury which he suffered at Oregon State. Colorado escaped with a win without Scott but the big man’s absences was felt.

The Buffaloes were not able to rely upon the center’s hands Thursday night, and when he was needed most in crunch time, a question of — who can make pressure shots on this team besides Scott was answered. King was obviously up to the task, but so too were Xavier Talton and Wes Gordon.

“We have a veteran group,” Talton told. ” I think that everybody can share a leadership role. Being the lone senior out there on the floor, it was definitely different not having him (Scott) out there.”

The senior, Talton, had 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting, hitting four clutch free throws down-the-stretch. He was also able to grab five rebounds which led amongst CU’s backcourt players.

Gordon had an economical 15 points and 12 rebounds, but he was admittedly tired after the contest. The forward played a game-high 45 minutes. The combination of Scott’s injury and Tory Miller’s foul trouble had the Buffs heavily relying on the junior.

The area where Scott was missed most was the glass. CU got out-rebounded 40-36 by the Cougars, rarely does a Tad Boyle-coached team lose the battle on the boards.

Quick turnaround

Just 38 hours after they left the court at the Coors Events Center the Colorado Buffaloes will return to the Keg to face the fourth place Washington Huskies at noon on Saturday. Boyle said after Thursday’s affair that the team would have a very light day of perpetration on Friday and that the team needs to play better on Saturday than they did against WSU. The coach also said that he feels confident that his team will be better for the matchup against Washington, stating that it was mental mistakes that plagued them on Thursday night and that those mental errors are something they can work on while rehabbing on Friday.