Colorado wins 11th straight game, to play SMU in final of Las Vegas Classic
It started its basketball season a tad rocky, but Colorado is rolling right now.
The Buffaloes have won 11 straight after Tuesday's 71-70 win over Penn State in the semifinals of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena.
A season-opening 68-62 loss to then-seventh-ranked Iowa State long has been put in the rear-view mirror. Colorado (11-1) has cranked up its offense and had been averaging 88 points during the streak before Tuesday. But despite an off night shooting, the Buffaloes got it done with rebounding and defense against the Nittany Lions (8-4).
If Colorado can defeat Southern Methodist in today's 7:30 p.m. championship game, it'll be the 12th straight win for the program, something it hasn't done in 54 years. The Mustangs (10-0) earned their spot in the title game with a 90-74 win over Kent State in Larry Brown's first game back as coach. Brown missed the first nine games after the NCAA suspended him for rules violations in the SMU program.
"You have to find a way to win when you're not playing your best, and we did that," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We did that tonight. We made just enough shots."
After the season-opening loss to Iowa State, Boyle said of his team: "I know this group is going to be a resilient bunch. But in the end, we're not interested in just being in the game late. We want to win these."
His players got the message. They went on the road and beat Auburn, won five straight at home, including a win over Air Force, then beat Colorado State at Fort Collins and Brigham Young in Boulder before scoring double-digit wins over Nicholls State and Hampton in the first two rounds of the Las Vegas Classic.
Colorado has been winning with its rebounding and defense. The Buffaloes are a plus-12 in rebounding margin and are holding opponents to 40 percent shooting from the floor, 20 percent from 3-point range.
On Tuesday, they had a 40-27 rebounding edge and seven blocked shots. It was critical because Colorado struggled with its shooting, as the Nittany Lions kept the Buffaloes off-balance by switching from their man-to-man to zone and back to man. Colorado began the game 3 of 14 from the floor and 1 of 7 on 3-pointers.
A technical foul on Penn State's Brandon Taylor with 16:27 to go proved to be critical. It was Taylor's fourth foul, and he would not be a factor late.
"That was the key," Boyle said. "Taylor was killing us, and that technical changed the momentum."
But the shots eventually began to fall, and Colorado ultimately gained control. A 17-9 spurt had the Buffaloes ahead 64-53 with 4:19 to play.
Penn State, which was led by Shep Garner's 26 points, made a late push, pulling within 69-67 with 14.5 seconds remaining. But George King made two free throws with 7.7 seconds left, and Colorado held on as Garner's made 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds was quickly inbounded before Penn State could foul.
Josh Scott led Colorado with 18 points, and Josh Fortune scored 13.
"They mixed it up on us, and we didn't play well offensively," said Scott, who scored 15 of Colorado's 25 first-half points before finishing with 18 and four blocks. "We were a little tentative, and we can't do that in our next game."
At 11-1, Colorado has already bounced back from last year's 16-18 record, and as the Buffaloes prepare for Pacific-12 Conference play on Jan. 1 at California, Boyle wants his team to have momentum. Keeping the streak going against SMU won't be easy. Ironically, Boyle played two years for Brown when both were at Kansas.
"The guy's been so instrumental in my life," Boyle said. "They're rock-solid. They don't beat themselves. We're going to have to play a lot better than we did (Tuesday) because he'll have his team ready. There's a reason why he's in the Hall of Fame. His teams are always well-prepared."
Canisus 108, Louisiana-Monroe 96 (3 OT) — The Golden Griffins (7-6) came back from 12 points down with about a minute to play in regulation, then won it as they outscored the Warhawks 12-0 in the third overtime after still being tied 96-96 after the second OT. Major Deng led six Canisus scorers in double figures with 21 points, and Kassius Robertson scored 28 points to lead Louisiana-Monroe (5-6).
Nicholls State 84, Hampton 81 — Ja'Dante' Frye scored 21 points and T.J., Carpenter 19 as the Colonels improved to 4-7. Hampton (4-6) was led by Quentin Chievous with 28 points and Brian Darden with 21.
Contact reporter Steve carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.
