BOULDER — Before Saturday, McKinley Wright IV’s Colorado Buffaloes had lost three-straight games to UCLA.
Wright felt that he was part of the problem.
“The last couple of times we played UCLA I thought I wasn’t aggressive enough and we lost the last three times we played them,” Wright said after Saturday’s game. “So I put it in my mind that if I’m going to take 14 or 15 shots and if we lose like that, then we lose like that. I just tried to stay aggressive.”
Wright started hot on Saturday.
He opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and hit a jumper on the next possession to give Colorado a 5-0 lead. He blocked a layup to stop the Bruins from tying the game at 9. He scored 10 in a row for Colorado while trimming the UCLA lead from four to zero.
By halftime, Wright had scored 17 points and nobody else on the team had made a second shot. And Colorado was only one point behind the first-place team in the Pac-12. (Oh, and Wright scored the first bucket after halftime to give Colorado the lead.)
“I’m a do-it-all point guard,” Wright said. “I’ve been like that my whole life. I’m small. I’m 6-feet and an undersized point guard so I just try to find ways to impact the game. My defense is the area that I’m continuously trying to improve at because at the next level, it’s only going to get harder. I’m just trying to showcase what I can do in each area. I can rebound the ball, share the ball, score the ball, and do whatever the team needs me to do.”
He did everything for Colorado on Saturday, as he often has throughout his time in Boulder. He scored 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He grabbed five rebounds and passed out six assists. He notched a steal and a block to boot.
Or, in fewer words:
“He just said, ‘You know what, we’re not losing on my senior night.’ At that point on, he took the game over.”
Who did this quote come from?
…His coach?
…The home team play-by-play guy?
…Maybe a fan?
No. That was what the opposing coach, Mick Cronin, had to say.
That’s how dominant Wright was.
To be clear, Wright’s teammates didn’t underperform against UCLA. He just didn’t lean on them on Saturday like he did when he dished out 14 assists in the win over No. 19 USC on Thursday.
Jeriah Horne’s efficient 10 points could have been more if two 3-pointers hadn’t been called off.
Evan Battey did some heavy lifting on the block.
Tristan da Silva didn’t miss while putting up 10 quick points.
And on top of the box score production, they gave Wright some help that isn’t as obvious.
“My teammates tell me to go,” Wright said. “They’re like ‘Okay ‘Kin it’s that time.’ And everytime it’s crunch time D’Shawn [Schwartz] is the one that always says ‘Yeah it’s that time 2-5.’ They believe in me and the coaches believe in me, and I’ve been telling you guys for four years, when you have a coaching staff like I do and teammates like I do that believe in you, it makes the game so much easier.”
But the story on Saturday was McKinley Wright.
Just like when he dropped 21 and knocked off No. 4 Oregon or when he dropped 29 and toppled No. 13 Dayton.
Just like when he dropped 30 in a double-overtime barnburner against South Dakota State or when he died Colorado with 19 in a single-overtime win over No. 4 Arizona State three weeks later… as a true freshman.
Wright’s 125th game as a Colorado Buffalo was a win, just like so many others and if you didn’t see that coming then you haven’t been paying attention.
