King's regal night crowns Buffaloes in first conference win

 

BOULDER- In a matchup of the two worst teams in the Pac-12, the Colorado Buffaloes, and the Oregon State Beavers, it was the Buffaloes who pulled out the victory to defeat the Beavers 85-78.

“A win is a win, we’ll take it,” head coach Tad Boyle said after the game. “I thought offensively we were terrific. You guys know that I always talk about defense and rebounding, and that’s still an issue with this team, obviously.”

The Buffaloes started five players Boyle doesn’t usually start in Thomas Akyazili, Deleon Brown, Bryce Peters, Tory Miller and Lucas Siewert.

“Other guys have had their opportunities, so it was time to give these guys a chance,” Boyle said. “It’s not an indictment on the guys that haven’t been starting.”

Plenty of people didn’t know what to expect if they were expecting anything, while the two teams with 0-7 records in Pac-12 play went up against each other. The Buffaloes jumped out to a 9-2 lead but it was Oregon State who had the hot shooting early, hitting nine of their first ten shots while going four-of-four from the three-point line during that stretch.

The Beavers were unable to build much of a lead despite shooting the ball so well. George King was able to keep the Buffs in the basketball game hitting his first three three-point attempts and totaling 17 points in the first half. King was able to provide the Buffaloes with a 41-40 lead at halftime.

“If I see a few go in it opens the floodgates for sure,” King said on hitting his first few three-pointers.

Both teams in the second half could almost feel that first Pac-12 win. It was the Buffs who were able to pull away behind getting defensive stops and the shooting of Peters. The freshman was able to hit two crucial three-pointers around the six-minute mark which provided the Buffaloes with a six-point cushion.

That cushion proved to be enough as the Buffs went on to defeat the Beavers 82-75. Peters had his career high in points with 15 and also had a career-high in three-pointers made with four.

“That’s the Bryce Peters we see in practice,” Boyle said. “The offensive guy that has some swagger.”

On George King night, where the student section was handed out crowns, King led the team with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting.

It wasn’t all roses for the Buffaloes as the defense looked stagnant during parts of the game, they shot an abysmal 48.4% from the free throw line and Wes Gordon was a M.I.A. for the entire game, finishing with zero points, one rebound, and two assists. A few things CU will have to fix before they take on the No. 10 Oregon Ducks this Saturday.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

George King
24 points (8-for-15), 3 rebounds

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME:

Bryce Peters’ back-to-back threes with around six minutes left in the game.

BY THE NUMBERS:

HIGHLIGHTS:

📣WATCH | Highlights from the 85-78 win tonight over Oregon State 👏👏👏#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/2krn7xEthC

— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) January 27, 2017