Lackluster effort doesn't stop Buffaloes from topping Terriers

BOULDER– A lot of fans didn’t wake up after last night’s Pac-12 South title win at Folsom Field to come watch the Colorado Buffaloes basketball team take on the Wofford Terriers at the Coors Events Center. And at least in the early going, the basketball team forgot to wake up too.

Head coach Tad Boyle talked about the sleepiness following the showing, “What our players need to understand is every time they step on the floor we have to be ready to go.”

Colorado would end up having the lead for almost 29 minutes of the game but it would never feel that comfortable for the Buffaloes. Every time the Buffs were able to do something offensively, they would turn around and play lazy defense to let the Terriers right back in it. Eventually they pulled away in the second half, winning 75-60.

Xavier Johnson got things rolling when he scored eight points in the first five minutes for the Buffaloes. Johnson was 4-for-8 from the field and had 12 points in the first half.

Colorado struggled to stop the Terriers at all on the defensive end and weren’t able to force them into any bad shots. Wofford was able to take advantage of that and shot the ball very well in the first half. They were an even 50.0% (13-for-26) from the field, including 40.0% from the three-point line.

Freshman Deleon Brown was able to hit a three at the end of the shot clock with about five minutes left which turned out to be a much-needed momentum shift for the Buffs to have a lead going into the break.

At the start of the second half it was more of the same for the Buffaloes. They continued to look lazy on defense and weren’t able to get anything going on the offensive end. And then finally midway through the second half the Buffs were able to go on an 11-0 run and eventually take over the game. That run would involve a crucial three-pointer by George King that would end up being the turning point of the game.

From there, with the experience of their seniors, the Buffaloes were able to control the rest of game and ultimately get their fifth victory of the season. Johnson was able to tie his career high with 27 points and pickup his seventh career double-double with 12 rebounds.

“We’ve got some big games coming up from here on out and we need to get better as a team,” Johnson said after the game. “We’re all capable of scoring and dominating. It’s just who wants to dominate.”

Some other standout players were George King who finished the game 4-of-4 from the field and scored ten points. Wesley Gordon finished with ten points and nine rebounds and Derrick white also had ten points.

The Buffs moved to 5-1 and will be looking forward to their matchup with the Colorado State Rams on Wednesday.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Xavier Johnson
27 points (9-for-14) and 12 rebounds

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME:

George King’s three-pointer with 13:34 left in the second half.

BY THE NUMBERS:

COLORADO-WOFFORD
FG : 56.5%-43.4%
3FG : 50.0%-34.8%
FT : 63.0%-75.0%
Turnovers: 12-13
Rebounds: 32-25