Field Level Media
Dec 5, 2019
McKinley Wright IV and D'Shawn Schwartz scored 16 points apiece, Tyler Bey had 13 points and eight rebounds, and No. 20 Colorado beat Loyola Marymount 76-64 in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday night.
Daylen Kountz scored 11 for Colorado (7-0), which pulled away late to avoid the upset.
Eli Scott led the Lions (3-5) with a career-high 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Loyola Marymount led most of the second half until Lucas Siewert hit a 3-pointer to give Colorado a 51-50 lead with 9:31 to go.
Wright later hit a layup and short jumper to give the Buffaloes a 61-59 lead, but Scott hit a layup to tie it again with 4:17 left.
It stayed that way until Schwartz sank a 3-pointer with 2:41 left to give Colorado a 64-61 lead. Keli Leaupepe missed the front end of a one-and-one on the other end, and Wright hit two free throws with 1:54 left.
Bey blocked Scott on the other end, leading to two more free throws, this time by Schwartz, to put Colorado ahead 68-61 with 1:23 to play.
The Lions missed nine straight shots after tying it at 61, a streak broken by Scott's dunk with eight seconds left.
The Lions opened up a nine-point lead early in the second half, capitalizing on three Colorado turnovers. Ivan Alipiev, who played only 7:43 in the first half after picking up three fouls, hit a 3-pointer with 17:10 left to give the Lions a 43-34 lead.
Shane Gatling made a corner 3-pointer and a jumper from the key to get Colorado back within four, and Schwartz hit another from behind the arc to cut the deficit to 45-42 with 15:01 left.
The lead was seven after two buckets by Lazar Zivanovic, but Bey hit a jumper and Schwartz another from long range to make it 49-47 with 12:42 left.
The Lions led 34-30 at halftime despite 12 turnovers and 13 team fouls. Colorado had 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and went cold from the field for a long stretch.
After leading 20-19, the Buffaloes went scoreless for 9:37 and saw Loyola Marymount go on a 10-1 run to take the lead.
--Field Level Media