Trojans enter enemy territory, surprise Buffaloes late

REMEMBER WHEN THE SPORTS WERE GOOD, METU- The Colorado Buffaloes horsed around too much and were unable to finish yet another game off. It looked as though CU had the upper hand late but much to their dismay the No. 25 Southern Cal. Trojans shocked them right before they waived the white flag, winning 71-68. The Buffs fell to 0-5 in Pac-12 play (10-8), their worst start since Chauncey Billups was a freshman (1995-1996).

“Obviously it’s very disappointing,” Tad Boyle said after the game. “Our team is hurting right now. This is a time where we’ll be tested… we just have to believe in the process.”

The Buffaloes shot the ball incredibly well in this game, especially from the three-point line. Shooting 45.5% from the field, and 45.8% from deep. The reason CU lost was they didn’t stick to their fundamental of rebounding—giving up 17 offensive rebounds to USC. The Buffs also were reckless, turning over the ball 17 times.

“Offensive rebounds and turnovers are a pretty simple formula for getting beat,” Boyle said. “We have to get better in every phase of the game. But tonight it was turnovers and second chances for them.”

The first half of the contest showed a Colorado Basketball squad that hadn’t been on display since the Xavier game. They finally played with a sense of urgency.

The Buffs had some great ball movement on multiple offensive possessions and were able to make their three-pointers when they were open. Five different players made three-pointers in the first half, including Dominique Collier, who had two threes of his own as he led the team with 11 points in the first half. This was a solid feat considering USC was playing zone defense, something Colorado has struggled against.

That led to the Buffaloes jumping out to a 22-11 early in the basketball game. They would slowly watch that lead fade away as USC was able to cut the deficit to just one point by the end of the first half.

“Halftime we should’ve been up by ten,” Boyle said. “We were really shooting the ball well. But we turned it over ten times.”

The second half was back and forth pretty much the whole way through. The Buffaloes went cold shooting the rock with about nine minutes left and USC would pull away to a seven-point lead with just two minutes left.

Xavier Johnson rallied the Buffs late, hitting two big three-pointers in the last two minutes and also grabbed a huge rebound. One of Johnson’s threes even gave CU a one-point lead with less than a minute left.

It was USC’s Chimezie Metu who caused the most problems for the Buffaloes. He had 22 points in the first half but he wasn’t able to score in the second half until the most important basket of the game, a hookshot with 29 seconds left on the clock that would give the Trojans a one-point lead.

“There are some good things we did out there on the floor,” George King said after the game. “But we are not getting enough of those things that eventually gets us wins right now. That is why consistency is important. But if we can be consistent in doing those good things, getting wins will be a little bit easier.”

George King missed two shots down the stretch on his birthday, no less, in which would end up costing the Buffs the basketball game. One was a double-clutch layup with 15 seconds left and then a contested three-pointer at the buzzer.

King did have himself quite the birthday, leading the team with 16 points in the ballgame and also adding nine rebounds. Johnson was right behind him with 15 points and seven rebounds.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Chimezie Metu
24 points (11-for-14), 6 rebounds

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME:

Chimezie Metu’s hookshot with 29 seconds left in the game.

BY THE NUMBERS:

HIGHLIGHTS:

Highlights from the close game tonight against USC. Buffs get chance to bounce on road trip to Washington this week #GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/SL0DITqqOq

— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) January 16, 2017

WHAT’S NEXT:

The Buffaloes will head on the road to Washington to take on the Huskies on Wednesday and then the Washington State Cougars on Saturday.