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Colorado Drops Heartbreaker To Washington, 52-50

Buffs drop fourth-straight, fall to .500 on the season

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Andrews knocked down a free-throw line pull-up jumper over Wesley Gordon with 0.3 seconds to play, as Washington dealt Colorado their fourth-consecutive loss, 52-50.

"Well, that was a heartbreaker, to say the least," said head coach Tad Boyle. "Disappointed in the loss, but I'm really, really pleased with our effort and our fight."

Already without Josh Scott (back) and Xavier Johnson (serving suspension), it looked like Colorado would have to play much of the first half without Askia Booker.

At the 17:55 mark of the first half, Booker was whistled for his second foul after digging down on Robert Upshaw in the post. With Booker on the bench, Colorado's offense became largely ineffective. But the Buffs' defense kept them afloat.

It took nearly seven minutes for the Huskies to record their first field goal of the game, a Nigel Williams-Goss layup. At the second media timeout, with both teams struggling to score, Boyle put Booker back in the game. But it wasn't Booker who sparked a CU run, it was Eli Stalzer.

With UW leading 12-11, Stalzer knocked down a three pointer in the left corner to reclaim the lead. Stalzer and Booker forced a Williams-Goss turnover, which led to a Dominique Collier layup in transition.

Booker played much of the rest of the first half, but he only notched three points in the first 20 minutes. Colorado held the Huskies to just 30.4 percent from the field in the first half, taking a 24-19 lead into the locker room.

By the 15:16 mark, Washington had tied the game. It took less than ten minutes for the Huskies to match their scoring total for the second half. With just over 12 minutes gone by in the second stanza, Andrews stuck a three-pointer to put UW up 46-42. A layup by Shawn Kemp Jr. gave Washington their largest lead of six points, 48-42.

CU stormed back with an 8-0 run, culminating in a monstrous Gordon put-back with 3:07 to play. Mike Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws with just over two minutes left to tie the game.

Colorado called timeout with 46 seconds left, but Andrews stole the inbounds away from Hopkins to give Lorenzo Romar the chance to set up the game's deciding possession.

Gordon finished with a career-high in rebounds (17). He also added 10 points. Jaron Hopkins led the Buffs in scoring with 11 points.

The Buffs fall to 9-9 (2-4) on the season. CU will close out the two-game homestand against Washington State Saturday evening.