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As the cliche goes, it’s getting late early out in Boulder.
A spirited second half comeback fell just short in Los Angeles on Thursday night, as the Buffs couldn’t pull off a road win against UCLA, losing 64-60.
Turnovers plagued Colorado all night, and the Bruins capitalized: in the first half alone, the Buffs committed nine, leading to 15 UCLA points. Five turnovers over a four-minute stretch in the first half saw a three-point Buffs lead – their last of the entire night – disappear, and UCLA finished the first half on a 15-9 run to head into the locker room up nine points.
The second half didn’t start any better, as UCLA opened on a 7-3 run – in part due to a couple more CU turnovers – that extended their lead to a game-high 14 points. The Buffs managed to chip away over the next 10 minutes or so, however, keeping the Bruins within two or three positions for most of that time. The Buffs managed to keep UCLA without a field goal over a five-minute stretch, and with about six minutes left in the game, tied the game on back-to-back buckets from Cody Williams and Tristan Da Silva.
Then, after getting a defensive stop with 17 seconds left, the Buffs had a chance to tie the game at 63. But a sloppy, confused possession led to a missed layup from Da Silva with six seconds left, and CU was forced to foul; UCLA iced it by hitting one of their two free throws.
Williams had a strong night offensively, scoring a team-high 18 points while going 8-9 (his only miss was a last-second heave) from the field, including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Whether it was spot-up shooting, off-ball cutting, or driving to the basket, his entire skillset – one that has most analysts predicting he goes in the Top 5 of next year’s NBA Draft – was on full display in the loss.
The only other Buffs who got into double-digits were da Silva and Eddie Lampkin, who had 16 and 12 points, respectively.
It was the 4th loss in five games for the Buffs (16-9), who now enter the weekend 5th in the Pac-12 (7-7) and currently projected to be one of the “Next Four Out” according to ESPN basketball analyst Joe Lunardi. They’ll get a chance to right the ship this Saturday, when they finish their LA run with a game against the Pac-12’s second-worst team, USC. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 8PM local.
by camellis
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