Pac-12 Recap: Washington St. Cougars obliterate Colorado Buffaloes

Everything that could have gone wrong did Sunday night in Pullman, Washington. The Washington State Cougars dominated the Colorado Buffaloes from start to finish with a 70-43 win, pushing the Cougars to 5-3 in conference play.

After an upsetting loss to the Washington Huskies last Thursday, the Buffaloes picked up right where they left off. Turnovers and sloppy play from an inexperienced team continues to be the trend for Tad Boyle‘s team.

Colorado shot an abysmal 16-of-56 (28.6%) from the field. Heck, they shot better from deep than they did overall. The Buffs went 6-of-18 (33.3%) from three with Dominique Clifford hitting two of those.

The Cougars on the other hand were the complete opposite. As a team, they shot 26-53 (49.1%) from the field and 12-of-28 (42.9%) from downtown. Four Cougars scored in double-figures, led by Michael Flowers scoring a game-high 16 points and Andrej Jakimovski with 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Tyrell Roberts and Noah Williams each scored 10 apiece.

Jabari Walker was the lone Buff in double figures for points, scoring 11 on 5-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds. Colorado’s bench was a weak spot in tonight’s game to say the least. The bench, consisting of Will Loughlin, Luke O’Brien, and Julian Hammond III shot just 3-of-16 (18.7%) from the field and committed five turnovers.

We mentioned in the game preview we would find out what kind of Buffs team would respond to adversity. I’m not going to jump the gun on this team by any means, but this is an extremely young team with just two upperclassman in Evan Battey and Eli Parquet. We know it’s going to be a bumpy ride but the rest of the season is getting these guys experience and overcoming their mistakes.

Colorado now owns a record of 13-8, 5-6 in Pac-12 play as they finish off their road trip with a record of 1-2. The Buffs return home on February 3rd to face the Oregon Ducks at the Coors Event Center.