Pac-12 Tournament: Colorado defeats Washington State, 73-63

March 9, 2017



Derrick White scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half and Xavier Johnson added 19, as Colorado rallied from a shaky first half to beat Washington State, 73-63, Wednesday night in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Colorado entered the Pac-12 Tournament with NCAA Tournament aspirations and could not afford an early exit in the Pac-12 Tournament after closing the regular season with eight wins in 10 games.

The Buffs (19-13) got off to a miserable start at both ends, as Washington State had a 16-2 run to go up 25-9 midway through the first half.  The Cougars hit 17 of 30 shots in the half, including five of eight from 3-point range.

Colorado picked things up to start the second half, hitting five of its first eight shots to pull within 45-42 in the opening five minutes. White had 13 points in that stretch.

The seventh-seeded Buffaloes eventually overtook the Cougars, hitting 15 of 28 shots in the second half to complete the comeback.  The Buffaloes tied it at 49 and kept pushing, going up 59-52 on Johnson's three-point play on a tomahawk dunk in transition and pulled away over the final 90 seconds.

Washington State (13-18), the tournament's No. 10 seed, lost all its momentum after a stellar first half. The Cougars' Charles Callison and Ike Iroegbu scored 16 points each, and Josh Hawkinson had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Colorado advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals against No. 7 Arizona.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services

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