An upset win over No. 4 Arizona State would have been a nice early birthday present for Colorado Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle. His team did more. Led by McKinley Wright IV, Colorado delivered both a win against the Sun Devils on Thursday and one over No. 14 Arizona on Saturday — Boyle’s 55th birthday.
The Buffs held off a furious rally from the Wildcats Saturday in Boulder, 80-77, to collect their 10th win of the season and second in Pac-12 play.
Wright, a freshman guard, had a team-high 16 points and 10 assists. The Buffaloes also received a strong game on the boards from George King, who grabbed 11 rebounds. Dominique Collier scored 14 off the bench for Colorado.
https://twitter.com/CUBuffsMBB/status/949755782198784000
Colorado jumped out to a 45-29 lead at halftime only to see a strong rally from DeAndre Ayton and the Arizona Wildcats in the second half, cutting the Buffalo lead to seven late. Ayton had a game-high 26 points for Arizona. A big basket underneath from CU freshman Dallas Walton proved to be the final push the Buffs needed to improve to 2-2 in the Pac 12. Walton had 15 points on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field.
The Buffs complete an Arizona weekend sweep with the win over 14th-ranked Arizona after beating No. 4 Arizona State on Thursday, 90-81.
Colorado will get a couple days off to enjoy the victories before they’re back at it Wednesday when they travel to USC.
Boyle spoke postgame about the grit with which the Buffaloes played and what switch flipped for the team prior to the back-to-back wins against ranked opponents.
Video courtesy of Colorado Buffaloes Men’s Basketball Facebook.
