Salukis 3-point shooters hand Buffs their first loss
ST. THOMAS, US VIRGIN ISLANDS» Shaky starts were a trait of the Colorado men’s basketball team over the first week of the season.
The Buffaloes finally put together the kind of start they wanted on Friday in the opening round of the Paradise Jam. It was the rest of the contest that doomed the Buffs.
After dominating the first seven minutes, CU was unable to slow a long-range onslaught from Southern Illinois, as the Salukis handed the Buffs a 67-63 defeat in the first round of the Paradise Jam at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center.
CU will play Duquesne on Saturday in the consolation bracket.
“This game was not a win because we did not defend the 3point line, which was a key to the game defensively for us, and we didn’t do a good enough job on (Lance) Jones and (Marcus) Domask, which was a big part of the game plan,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “It needed to be a team effort against those guys. And, individually, we had to take a challenge.”
CU jumped to a 12-1 lead and held Southern Illinois without a field goal for nearly the first seven minutes of the game. But the Salukis hardly missed after that early cold snap, finishing 12-for29 on 3-pointers with a .449 overall shooting percentage.the Salukis didn’t hit their first field goal until the 13 minute, 13 second mark of the first half, but from there they outscored the Buffs 26-7 for a 27-19 halftime lead.
Despite a dry spell during the first half — the Buffs hit their first five shots but went 3-for-19 the remainder of the period — CU went 17-for-26 in the second half and finished with a solid overall shooting percentage of .500. But the Buffs couldn’t get key stops at critical junctures.
SIU never trailed throughout the second half, and every time CU cut its deficit to three or four points, the Salukis responded with clutch 3-pointers.
CU still remained within two points with 1:34 to go, but the Salukis scored the next seven points to pull away.
“We went 25-for-50 from the field and turned it over 11 times. That’s good enough to win a game,” Boyle said. “Now, the pace of the game was to their advantage. But we have to learn to win in a half-court game.”