Colorado falls to .500, remain winless in conference

FIVE HUNDRED – The Colorado Buffaloes stayed winless in conference play for 2017, as they were taken care of by the Washington State Cougars 91-89 in overtime.

Colorado relied on their principle of rebounding, winning the board battle 40-29. While Washington State was hot from the three-point line, shooting 50% (13-of-26). The shooting of the Cougars and the lack of perimeter defense plagued Colorado in their seventh straight loss. WAZZU came into Saturday 11th in the Pac-12 in three-point shooting 32.7%, a stark difference from what happened in their matchup against CU.

The Buffaloes got nice contributions from Xavier Johnson, Derrick White, Wes Gordon and George King but they were outmatched by the Cougars’ Charles Callison. The home team’s guard game in averaging 7.7 points per game, he nabbed 30 for the Cougars on 12-of-16 shooting, including six three-pointers.

White answered Callison, staring for Colorado, hitting 25 points, while adding six assists and five rebounds. Ike Iroegbu tacked on 20 of his own on 8-of-16 shooting, supplementing with eight rebounds and four assists. The Cougars star Josh Hawkinson also had 17.

Very much like their prior game in the Washington swing the game went to overtime, unlike the game against the Huskies though the Buffs trailed at the half and battled back. While it never felt as though Colorado had any momentum, clutch play from White forced overtime and almost forced a second overtime.

Colorado will host Oregon State on Thursday in Boulder, still seeking their first conference win of 2017.