Colorado will look to win its fifth straight game — with nearly three weeks in between the third and fourth wins — on Sunday afternoon in Boulder, Colo., when the Buffaloes face Washington in a Pac-12 Conference game.
The Buffaloes (10-3, 2-1) used a 13-2 run in the second half against Washington State on Thursday to earn an 83-78 win at home.
Evan Battey led Colorado with 20 points, and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 17. Jabari Walker scored 16 points, all in the second half.
“I was really proud of our guys,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle told the Buffaloes’ athletics website. “They just find a way. We played poorly in the first half, but we were still only down by one. Washington State is a good defensive team, and we figured out a way.”
Walker leads Colorado in scoring (13.5 points per game) and rebounding (8.1). Battey is at 13.2 points per game.
Colorado is 9-5 at home all-time against Washington but is 13-18 overall against the Huskies.
Some confusing and surprising losses to less-heralded non-conference opponents have resulted in Washington being 6-6 overall, but the Huskies are 1-1 in the Pac-12 after their first conference win Thursday at Utah, 74-68.
In that game, Washington trailed by 14 points with just over 14 minutes to play, but the Huskies got hot from 3-point range and roared past the Utes, holding on for the win.
The Huskies are getting outrebounded by almost eight boards a game this season, but they have been good at forcing turnovers (18.3 per game). Terrell Brown is the Pac-12’s leading scorer at 21.4 points per game.
Brown surpassed 1,500 points for his college career in his 100th college game.
Washington has had three games postponed or canceled this season.
“We’re an older team, so when we got down big in the second half, more than anything, we stuck with it,” Huskies guard Daejon Davis told The Seattle Times. “Guys may have gotten a little selfish offensively or taken lazy shots, and we’re not afraid to hold each other accountable.”
–Field Level Media