Three takeaways from the Buffs' 81-74 comeback victory over Stanford

BOULDER — As the clock was winding down in the first half, Colorado simply hadn’t played up to its standards. The Buffs’ first-half shooting was off while they struggled to get quality shots. Still, CU had to be relieved to keep it within double-digits.

Then, with 0.2 seconds on the clock, Stanford’s Tyrell Terry drew a foul on a 3e-point attempt. As the crowd rained down boos, head coach Tad Boyle got his money’s worth on a technical foul. As he made sure the refs heard his point of view, Terry sank five free throws in a row to put the Buffs down.

Early in the second half, the deficit grew to 16 as Colorado was desperately looking for a spark. In response, CU had an incredible 59 -oint second half that saw McKinley Wright IV and D’Shawn Schwartz light up the floor with efficient scoring. With that strong effort, Colorado completes a weekend sweep while moving to 19-5 on the season, as well as first within the conference.

Here’s what went down in the comeback victory:

The backcourt continued its hot streak

When Colorado needs a jolt on offense, it has two complementary options to get it done. Wright had one of his best games of the season behind his 21-point outing, as he was 75% from three and made 10 free throws. On top of that, D’Shawn Schwartz was a man possessed in the second half, dropping 20 points of his own behind another stellar shooting night.

Combined with Shane Gatling’s explosive playmaking from the two-guard spot, the Buffaloes starting backcourt is one of the best in the country when looking at both scoring and experience. Both factors, among others, will be important down the stretch, as was on display this evening. While having dominant players in the post, it is much easier to spark comebacks from your gaurds because they have the ball in their hands more often.

There were several plays tonight that could serve as true turning points, but one, in particular, was a 3-point bomb from Wright that tied the game at 49 and completely swung the momentum toward Colorado. To that point, both teams had an impressive 3-point shooting streak, but Wright’s ability to pull up in transition and knock down a huge shot gives Colorado an intangible strength for tournament atmospheres.

Of course, Colorado was favored by 8.5 at home, and Stanford is still trying to prove itself as a player in the conference. However, the now 16-7 Cardinals are still a Q1 team, and tonight proved to be a huge emotional victory for the Buffaloes.

Colorado’s bigs bounced back

Cal was a tough game for Evan Battey and Lucas Siewert, as although the Buffs came away with a win, they were left craving more against Stanford.

First, Tyler Bey was limited in his effectiveness as the Cardinals took away the inside early, leaving him with no room to work with. He was able to find creases eventually, leading to another double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. While Bey had to take his time inside, Lucas Siewert was a sparkplug in the second half behind two deep balls that ended his short cold-streak and lifted the Buffs back into the game.

Although Bey and Siewert had strong outings, it was Battey who provided the emotional shot needed to get the Buffaloes back on track. Battey, who was involved in the scary collision with Stanford’s Oscar da Silva, played the final ten minutes with tears in his eyes as he processed the crash. Through the emotion, he sank a three-ball that extended the Buffs lead and his point total to 13. Battey struggled on the defensive glass but earned both his rebounds on offensive putbacks.

While the start of this season saw the combination of Bey and Battey become a true force, they have continued to improve their complementary basketball skills to find new ways to contribute regardless of how defenses scheme against them.

The rotation is becoming solidified

Only two players, Lucas Siewert and Eli Parquet, outside of Colorado’s starting five saw double-digit minutes in Saturday’s showdown. For a team with so much depth, it is interesting to see the rotation begin to dwindle further toward those making the most of every minute.

While the starting five of Wright, Gatling, Schwartz, Bey, and Battey has been locked in for all of the conference schedules, the six, seventh, and eighth man on the bench had changed on a week-to-week basis.

Now, Tad Boyle is making it clear who to watch out for moving closer to March. Siewert has been a staple of the rotation all season, so his lion share of the bench minutes is not a surprise. However, the resurgence of Eli Parquet in recent weeks has been interesting to watch.

Although he started the seven games in the back half of conference play, Parquet had been averaging less than five minutes per game for all of January. Fast forward to the last three games and Parquet has seen an average of 19 minutes per game. But it is not due to his scoring, as Parquet is an average shooter on the team, but his defensive capabilities that has Boyle in love.

While score-first gaurds like Daylen Kountz and Maddox Daniels see action on a need basis, Parquet is quietly carving himself a role to consistently contribute come tournament time.

Looking ahead

Colorado completed the weekend sweep, but there is little time to celebrate in Boulder as the Buffs prepare for the Oregon road trip. First on the schedule is a stop in Eugene to take on the No. 14 Oregon Ducks, who currently project as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and are right behind Colorado atop the Pac-12 Conference. With a win over Oregon State Saturday night, the Ducks could match the Buffs at 8-3 in conference play.

The Buffaloes took care of business in their last battle with Oregon, coming away with the 74-65 victory in Boulder on Jan. 3. That being said, the Ducks are still among the nation’s elite programs, and a regular-season sweep could catapult Colorado ahead in seeding for both the conference and national tournaments.

Tip-off between the Buffs and Ducks is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST on ESPN.