NCAAB Game Recap - USC at Colorado
Sat Mar 9, 2019 5:00 PM EST

W IL
79
SDSt
76
F
VMI
72
Woff
99
F
LIU
64
StFPA
72
F
Brad
53
LoyIL
51
F
Maine
57
Vermt
73
F
Murr
77
Belm
65
F
RobM
62
FaDi
66
F
Lou
68
UVA
73
F
Samf
70
UNCG
77
F
NrthIA
60
Drake
58
F
Bingha
78
Stony
72
F
UND
76
NebOm
81
F
Albany
54
UMBC
62
F
Duke
70
UNC
79
F
Monm
98
Quin
92
F
Mercer
74
Furm
85
F
USD
80
BYU
57
F
Chat
64
ETSU
68
F
UMassL
70
Hartfo
78
F
Rider
81
Sien
87
F
Pepp
89
USF
72
F
Tenn
80
Aub
84
F
Fla
57
KY
66
F
UNCW
93
Elon
86
F
Mich
63
MSU
75
F
TxTch
80
IaSt
73
F
Tows
73
JMU
74
F
Vand
59
LSU
80
F
Purd
70
NW
57
F
Baylor
70
Kansas
78
F
FSU
65
Wake
57
F
GTown
86
Marq
84
F
SDSU
53
Nev
81
F
Okla
53
KSU
68
F
Vill
75
Seton
79
F
UCF
62
Temp
67
F
FAU
61
Marsh
76
F
TCU
69
Tex
56
F
Butl
70
Prov
83
F
ND
53
Pitt
56
F
Syr
55
Clem
67
F
StLou
57
StBon
66
F
UGA
46
SouthCar
66
F
Troy
74
CoCar
67
F
GMas
81
GrgWas
65
F
NCSU
73
BC
47
F
TAMU
81
MissSt
92
F
USA
78
App
71
F
UTSA
48
USM
81
F
ODU
50
UAB
64
F
OrSt
85
WaSt
77
F
TxSt
73
TexAr
81
F
UMKC
76
ChiSt
61
F
Miss
73
Mizzu
68
F
AzSt
72
Ariz
64
F
GrCan
76
Seatt
83
F(OT)
WVU
77
OkSt
85
F
UNLV
65
ColSt
60
F
ULM
79
ArkLR
62
F
UMass
75
URI
94
F
Ford
57
LaSal
72
F
CenAR
70
NWSt
63
F
SeLA
63
Nich
69
F
InWor
52
AbCh
81
F
USC
67
Colora
78
F
UL
90
ArkSt
87
F(OT)
GASt
90
GaSo
85
F
StJon
68
Xav
81
F
ArkPB
91
MsVl
57
F
McNee
58
Lamar
83
F
SHSU
68
SFA
57
F
Alc
64
PVAM
98
F
HCU
69
TXAMC
76
F
NM
81
Wyo
88
F
AlaAM
58
Gram
66
F
Bama
70
Ark
82
F
David
73
Rich
69
F
Yale
81
Princ
59
F
Brown
51
Penn
58
F
ASU
70
JackSt
82
F
N TX
58
FIU
73
F
UCLA
81
Utah
92
F
NoAZ
89
N CO
78
F(OT)
Dayt
78
Duques
67
F
Dart
51
Corn
66
F
SJSU
81
Fres
121
F
AF
52
Bois
80
F
Harv
83
Colum
81
F(OT)
UNCC
78
Rice
70
F
UCRiv
71
UCDav
70
F
DeP
78
Crei
91
F
UTEP
47
MTSU
48
F
WichSt
82
Tul
79
F
South
87
TXSo
77
F
CSBak
61
UtVal
76
F
CBU
63
NMSt
75
F
E WA
80
Web
77
F
Ida
68
IdaSt
70
F
Tuls
63
Mem
66
F
Oreg
55
Wash
47
F
HI
71
CS-Ful
59
F
UCSB
92
CAPoly
82
F
MTSt
80
PorSt
84
F
Mont
86
Sac
68
F
CSNor
74
UCIrv
86
F

Colorado 78, USC 67

Mar 9, 2019, 5:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

T

USC

37

30

67

Colorado

30

48

78

Colorado comeback gives Buffs 78-67 win over USC
Sat Mar 9, 2019 8:26 PM

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) The Colorado Buffaloes will take both momentum and the mantle as the Pac-12's hottest team into the league's tournament next week in Las Vegas.

Freshman Evan Battey and sophomore Tyler Bey saw to that.

Battey scored a season-best 21 points and Bey posted his fifth straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and he stifled USC's leading scorer Bennie Boatwright in a 78-67 win over the USC Trojans on Saturday.

McKinley Wright IV chipped in 17 points for Colorado (19-11, 10-8), which has won eight of its last 10.

That's the best in the Pac-12 and the best for a Buffaloes team since 1961-62, when they won nine of their last 10 regular season games.

That kind of late-season run used to mean something to the NCAA tournament selection committee; now it means more in terms of the momentum a team can take into its conference tournament.

"Now, people used to look at, `Hey, how's the team playing now? How good are they today?"' Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "Nobody talks about that anymore. It used to be, your last 10, how'd you do? That's not even in the conversation. Who'd you beat? Who'd you beat in November? That's the world we live in. I'm not going to change it.

"All I know is we're playing good basketball as we head to Vegas," Boyle added. "We have a conference tournament, which 12 teams have an opportunity to go and win. Somebody's going to come out of there with an automatic bid, and it could be anybody this year."

The Trojans (15-16, 8-10) limp into the Pac-12 tournament on a four-game skid after Bey throttled Boatwright, who was held to 9 points - half of his average - before fouling out with three minutes remaining and USC trailing by six points. Boatwright's streak of scoring in double digits ended at 20 games.

Three of his teammates finished with four fouls as did two Colorado players.

Nick Rakocevic led USC with 17 points and Jonah Mathews scored 13, but the Trojans' hopes of an upset were dashed when they went cold down the stretch and were outscored 14-7 in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

Despite inferior size inside, the Buffs outscored the Trojans 46-28 in the paint.

"Both our big men were in foul trouble the whole night," USC coach Andy Enfield said. "We got dominated in the paint. Tyler Bey had 17 and 11 and Battey had 21 points in the lane, all in the paint. When you can't guard the rim it's going to be a long night. We have to get tougher and prevent them from catching the ball so deep. Until we do that it's going to be a tough go."

FOULS OR FLOPS?

Enfield complained that two of Boatwright's five fouls were offensive.

"There's some flopping going on," charged Enfield. "It's tough when they allow all that contact with their bigs to post our guys up, they had their bodies on our bigs all night and then they call some cheap flops. It's hard on our guys, because it put our guys on the bench. Bennie played less than half the game tonight. It was difficult for us in our rotation tonight."

BIG PICTURE

USC: The Trojans had a solid first half despite a drought from leading scorer Boatwright, who made just 1 of 6 shots while playing just 8 1/2 first-half minutes. They led by as many as 12 when Elijah Weaver and Kevin Porter Jr. sank back-to-back 3s that gave the Trojans their biggest lead of the first half at 33-21. The Trojans led 37-30 at the half.

Colorado: The Buffs won their third straight and swept the Trojans, whom they beat 69-65 in Los Angeles on Feb. 9. ... The Buffs began conference play 2-6 yet finished above .500 for the sixth time in nine seasons. ... With the win, Tad Boyle moves past Ricardo Patton for No. 2 on CU's all-time victories list with 185.

GIVE ME SOME LOVIN'

The Buffaloes had four players with at least three assists just twice all season, against UCLA on Thursday night and USC on Saturday.

"I think that's a testament to our love of one another," Battey said. "We love each other so much. When we pass the ball to one another, we want to see each other succeed. So, just sharing a ball out of love."

"I love guys sharing the ball," Boyle said.

UP NEXT

USC and Colorado: Play in the Pac-12 tournament that begins Wednesday in Las Vegas.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

Leaders

USC PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
N. Rakocevic 17 0 1 10 0 2
J. Mathews 13 0 2 2 2 1
Colorado PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
E. Battey 21 0 3 7 0 0
T. Bey 17 0 1 11 1 1

Team Comparison

USC Colora
Points For 67 78
Field Goals 26/64-41% 28/57-49%
Three Pointers 7/20-35% 3/12-25%
Free Throws 8/14-57% 19/24-79%
Offensive Rebounds 12 11
Defensive Rebounds 19 29
Rebounds 31 44
Blocks 5 3
Steals 2 4
Turnovers 11 8
Personal Fouls 26 16
Technical Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2018-19 Reg Season - Colora Leads Series 2-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Sat Feb 9 Colora 69 @ USC 65 M. Wright 20 B. Boatwright 24
Sat Mar 9 USC 67 @ Colora 78 N. Rakocevic 17 E. Battey 21

Game Information

Stadium: Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colorado
Attendance: 9,379
Game Time: