Field Level Media
Jan 23, 2021
Evan Battey had 16 points, McKinley Wright IV shook off an injury in the first half to score 12, and the visiting Colorado Buffaloes beat the Washington State Cougars 70-59 in Pullman, Wash., on Saturday night.
D'Shawn Schwartz scored 11 for Colorado (12-4, 6-3 Pac-12 Conference).
Wright left the game after Efe Abogidi landed on his left leg early in the first half. Wright was noticeably favoring the leg, but he was able to return in the second half.
Isaac Bonton scored 21 points, Noah Williams had 16 and Dishon Jackson added 10 for Washington State. The Cougars (9-6, 2-6) have lost five straight.
Washington State scored just four points in the first seven minutes of the second half, allowing the Buffaloes to make a run. Wright's layup cut the Cougars' lead to 43-42, and Schwartz hit a jumper that put Colorado ahead 44-43, its first lead since it was 2-0.
The Buffaloes added to the lead after Washington State coach Kyle Smith was slapped with a technical foul. Jeriah Horne hit both free throws and Maddox Daniels drained a 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 run and put Colorado up 49-43.
Daniels hit another 3-pointer, Jabari Walker and Wright scored on layups and then Wright fed Walker for a 3-pointer that made it 59-48 with 5:32 left. The Cougars called a timeout but it didn't stop the Buffaloes from increasing the lead to 66-48 with 3:18 left.
Washington State had just one field goal -- a 3-pointer by Williams -- in nearly 10 minutes to go from leading by three to trailing by 18. The drought was broken by Ryan Rapp's 3-pointer with 2:50 left.
That started a quick 7-0 run that got the Cougars within 66-55, but Colorado was able to close it out.
Washington State raced out to a 23-5 lead on Andrej Jakimovski's jumper with 11:42 left in the first half. The Buffaloes responded with a 14-4 run to get within eight, and Battey's layup with 3:51 left made it a 30-26 game.
The Cougars scored the next seven points and led 37-30 at the break.
--Field Level Media