Hurt Wright leads Buffs to comeback
PULLMAN, WASH . » For two days, the Colorado Buffaloes focused on correcting the defensive woes that led to a loss Wednesday night at Washington.
Against Washington State on Saturday night, the Buffs came out and promptly played even shoddier defense than they did in Seattle.
Things soon went from bad to worse, as the Buffs fell into an 18-point hole moments after senior point guard McKinley Wright IV suffered what appeared to be a significant knee injury. Eventually, though, CU’s defense returned to form and Wright returned to the floor, as the Buffs shackled the Cougars throughout the second half to post a 70-59 win on Saturday night that salvaged a split of the twogame run through Washington.
The Cougars made nine of their first 10 shots in the game’s first 9 minutes but went just 13-for-42 (.310) the rest of the way. The effort tied for the fifth-largest deficit in a comeback win in CU Buffs history.
“This was a character win for our team and our program,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “It was definitely gut-check time there in the first half, especially when McKinley went out. I thought he was out of the game, quite frankly .”
COLORADO 70, WASH. ST. 59
Washington State’s hot start felt like it might be insurmountable after Wright dove for a loose ball and remained on the floor in obvious pain.
After the game, Wright said he suffered a bruised left knee on a similar play last week against Stanford, and on Saturday one of the Cougars rolled over Wright’s leg and aggravated the injury. Wright limped off and did not return for the rest of the first half.
A 3-pointer by D’Shawn Schwartz capped a 14-2 run that pulled CU within six points, and WSU’s lead was just seven at halftime.
Wright returned in the second half and finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
CU opened the second half with an 8-2 run to pull within a point, and the Buffs finally took their first lead on a Schwartz basket in the lane with 11:27 remaining.