Colorado Does Enough To Win, Beats Washington State 58-49

The Colorado Buffaloes beat the Washington St. Cougars 58-49 tonight, but it wasn't a pretty victory. They got their much needed road win in the Pac-12, but it didn't show that the Buffs have solved their issues in conference play. It's pretty simple; they beat a team that just isn't that good. The offense and defense still has its problems, but Colorado did get the win and are at least 2-4 in the Pac-12 now heading home to the Coors Event Center. For the game, Spencer Dinwiddie led the Buffaloes with 16 points and Xavier Johnson added 14.

Things the Buffaloes did well:

They won. It really doesn't matter how it happened, the bottom line is that Colorado needed to win this game and they did. Spencer Dinwiddie had a good game, shooting 5-8 from the field and picking his spots scoring when necessary. Despite not starting, Xavier Johnson played well adding 14 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and was successful when he drove to the rim. The Buffs played good defense throughout holding Washington St. to 34 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent shooting from three. Washington St. isn't a team loaded with offensive skill, however, Colorado's defense did cause issues for the Cougars. The Buffaloes did what they had to down the stretch closing out the game with defensive stops and made free throws. The free throw shooting continues to improve as Colorado went 19-25 from the line.

Things the Buffaloes struggled with:

The offense still remains a problem. It just doesn't seem like Colorado knows what to do in their half court sets. Individually, Andre Roberson struggled only scoring 4 points and Askia Booker had 7 points going 3-11 from the field and still cannot seem to find his touch. Colorado still isn't shooting well from three as they went 1-11 from beyond the arc. Josh Scott had a subpar game. He had 11 points, but he had problems scoring down low and will need to get back to his usual play in the post going forward. Overall, it was just sloppy play from the Buffaloes. This wasn't a game that showed a huge change in play and they still need to improve in both facets of the game if they want to contend in the Pac-12.

Up Next:

Colorado will return to the Coors Event Center to take on Cal and Stanford. The Buffaloes will take on the Cardinal first on Thursday and will need a better effort than what they put forth tonight to pick up a victory. Maybe this win against Washington St. will get them back on track; maybe they will return to their normal effective play. Ultimately, if Colorado wants to contend in the Pac-12 this year, they'll need a sweep of the Bay Area teams this upcoming weekend and will have to play better offensively to make sure that happens.