By Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor cubuffs.com
AUSTIN, Texas — The Colorado Buffaloes came up one game short of a trip to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, dropping a 68-55 NIT quarterfinal decision to Texas at the Erwin Center.
The Buffs, who played a second-round game at home Monday, traveled Tuesday and played again Wednesday, fell behind early to the hot-shooting Longhorns and could never completely close the gap.
CU wrapped up its season with a 23-13 record, tied for the third-most wins in a season in program history. Texas improved to 19-16 and will advance to next week's NIT Final Four in New York with a Tuesday game against Big 12 rival TCU.
The Buffs appeared to be tired from the outset. While they trailed by just one with a little more than 10 minutes left in the first half, the Longhorns took control with a 15-0 run, part of a 23-2 surge that helped Texas to a 25-point lead at the half, 44-19.
Colorado managed to cut the deficit to 15 early in the second half, but could never get closer until the final minutes.
Tyler Bey led the Buffs with an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double, his 17th of the season, with 16 of those points and nine rebounds coming after halftime. McKinley Wright IV had 11 points, nine in the second half, and six rebounds.
The Longhorns had four players in double figures, led by Dylan Osetkowski's 15 points.
Colorado shot just 29 percent from the field in the first half (7-for-24) while the Longhorns hit 50 percent of their field goal tries (18-for-36), including 7-for-13 from 3-point range.
"We dug (a hole) on defense, we dug it on offense," CU head coach Tad Boyle said. "We couldn't make a shot tonight at the rim. We had a lot of good looks in the first half. Texas was terrific defensively. We watched a lot of film on those guys and we have not seen that Texas team on film. ... Sometimes you have to tip your hat to your opponent."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs struggled to make a shot from the outset, but still managed to stay within striking range of the Longhorns for the first 10 minutes. After falling behind 14-5 early, CU put together an 8-0 run to pull within one, 14-13, with 10:31 to play in the first half on a Shane Gatling free throw.
But just when the Buffs looked as if they had found a little rhythm, the Longhorns went on a 15-0 tear, with the Buffs coming up empty on seven straight possessions. McKinley Wright IV finally ended a five-minute CU scoring drought with a layup, but Texas answered with an 8-0 burst and took a 44-19 lead into the locker room at the half.
Five different Longhorns hit 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes while the Buffs struggled to hit a shot from anywhere.
"When they play like that, they're good," Boyle said of a team that beat NCAA Tournament squads North Carolina, Purdue, Kansas and Kansas State this season. "I don't know how that team lost 16 games this year. This is a high-level team, high-level players. Their seniors didn't want their careers to end, you could tell. They took the fight to us. Our guys fight, we scratched, we clawed, we tried to come back in the second half, but just too little, too late."
The Buffs did threaten to make a game of it after intermission, taking advantage of a five-minute UT scoring drought to put together a 12-2 run and cut the deficit to 15. But that was as close as Colorado could come until the final minute of the game.
"The higher level you go and the deeper you go in tournaments, your margin for error shrinks," Boyle said. "Obviously going on the road your margin for error shrinks. We just did not score enough baskets tonight when we had the opportunity to score baskets."
CU's 19 first-half points tied a season low (also 19 at Utah) and the 25-point deficit was the largest at intermission this season.
TURNING POINT: A 15-0 Texas run, part of a 23-2 surge in the first half, put the Buffs in a hole from which they could never escape.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado finishes tied for the third-most wins in program history. More importantly, every player in a CU uniform who played the last 16 games — a stretch in which the Buffs had a 12-4 record — is expected to be back next season.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot just 29 percent from the field in the first half (7-for-24) while the Longhorns hit 50 percent of their field goal tries (18-for-36), including 7-for-13 from 3-point range.
QUOTEWORTHY: "We've got everybody back. Usually, in a locker room like we were in tonight, after a season where you won 23 games and it's over, there are tears. There were no tears tonight because we have every single one of these guys back." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs wrap up their season with a 23-13 record, tying for the third-most wins in a season in program history.
