Colorado came into its contest Saturday in Pullman looking to complete its first road sweep of the Washington schools in program history, but the Buffs fell just a few buckets short in losing to Washington State, 78-69, in a physical battle.
The story in the first half was the Washington State defense, which came into the day as one of the top units in the Pac-12. Entering Saturday’s contest, The Cougars (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12) led the Pac-12 in both field goal percentage defense and 3-point percentage defense and were second in scoring defense.
The Buffs (15-6, 6-4) felt the wrath of the Wazzu defense early and often in this one, as they struggled to move the ball or get anything easy on the interior. Their offense sputtered, and while the Buffs took care of the ball, they made just six of their first 21 shots as they fell into an early hole.
Colorado’s defense, however, was up to the task early on. The Buffs stayed in the game by “bowing their backs,” as coach Tad Boyle likes to say, and making things difficult on the Cougars on the other end. Toward the end of the half, both offenses perked up, and a Jaylen Wells 3 followed by trading layups between KJ Simpson and Myles Rice sent Wazzu into the locker room with a 36-30 lead.
The start of the second half was more of the same for the Colorado offense. It came out of the locker room and went just 1 for 8 from the floor to start the half, giving the ball away three times in that span. After letting the Buffs keep it close for most of the first half, Washington State took advantage this time, finally building some separation. The Cougars started getting into the paint at will, finishing plays on the interior and stretching their lead to 13 with just over 9 minutes to play.
The Buffs, despite seeming dead in the water, mustered up a strong response. KJ Simpson caught fire, giving the Buffs a lifeline with nine straight points to cut Washington State’s lead to 65-62.
However, just as it had kept them in the game for so long, the Colorado defense let down in the final few minutes. Rice easily knifed into the lane on three consecutive possessions in the last 2 minutes, finishing twice at the rim and once with a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach and give Washington State a big conference win.
Simpson was excellent for the Buffs all day, finishing with 25 points and eight rebounds. He constantly hit big shots and got to the free throw line when the Buffs needed a bucket to hang around and carried the Colorado offense for stretches. Tristan da Silva had a solid day as well, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Buffs turned the ball over just nine times, but only forced six Cougar giveaways and shot just 39% from the field.
For Washington State, Wells and Rice led the way with 17 points each. Wells also added 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Isaac Jones was a monster on the boards once again for the Cougars, collecting double-double number seven on his season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. They turned 12 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
The Buffs have a week off before yet another road contest, this time in Salt Lake City against Utah on Saturday, Feb. 3. Tip-off of that one will be at 3 p.m. MST.
