LAS VEGAS – The Colorado Buffaloes were the bees knees under the bright shining lights of Las Vegas on Tuesday night, defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions in a real sockdolager.
The match was a bare-knuckle brawl just like Dempsey and Tunney back in ’27 and the Buffaloes were the undisputed heavy-weight champions of the night, coming out with a victory by the count of 71-70.
In the first half, both teams looked like a couple of flapper girls who were a little loopy on the gin and juice, barely able to find the peach basket at all, but once the Buffaloes found themselves trailing by a wide margin senior forward Josh Scott started doing the Jitterbug while the Nittany Lions were doing the Charleston.
J40: We were down seven at one point and I was like, "It's time to go."
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 23, 2015
Scott scored 13-consecutive points for the black and white Buffaloes to keep them in the game and send the boys into the halftime break tied at 25.
In the locker room head coach Tad Boyle must have told the troops that he was sick and tired of their phonus bolonus, because the second half was a choice bit of calico. The Buffaloes shot 46.2 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from behind the arc in the second time period on their way to outscoring the Nittany Lions 46-45 in the half.
Wesley Gordon was the cat’s meow on defense for Colorado giving the icy mitt to Penn State three times while recording six rebounds to go with his 10 points.
In the end, it was a hotsy tostsy win for the Buffaloes, who will quite surely have a chance to crack their way into the polls with a win over the Mustangs of Southern Methodist on Wednesday.
Boyle: I told the team in the locker room, you have to figure out how to win games when you don't play your best. Tonight was one of those.
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 23, 2015
HIGHLIGHTS
https://vine.co/v/iABIWmm7W3O
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Josh Scott
The box score says he had the best game so we’re going with that.
TURNING POINT
Tad Boyle said Brandon Taylor’s technical foul was the turning point of the game so we’re going with that.
Boyle: The play of the game was Taylor's technical foul.(@SamPhillips303)
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 23, 2015
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Boyle: Josh Scott is the most underrated player in the country.
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) December 23, 2015
BY THE NUMBERS
5 – Colorado hit five consecutive threes at one point in the second half.
11 – Colorado’s extended their win-streak to 11 on the night
760 – The radio station that gave us our only chance to have any idea what was going on in the game.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Buffaloes take on the no. 18 ranked SMU Mustangs on Wednesday night for a chance at the Las Vegas Classic championship as well as an almost guaranteed spot in the top 25 heading into Pac-12 play.
