Regardless of the sting of a surprising loss within the dwelling finale on Saturday, Colorado level guard Jaylyn Sherrod tried to have a look at the massive image.
Washington State’s beautiful 72-63 victory on the CU Occasions Heart actually ruined the environment on senior day. Particularly because the Thirteenth-ranked Buffs led by 5 with 2 minutes, 57 seconds to play and gave up a 14-0 run to shut the sport.
And, particularly as a result of the loss left the Buffs (21-8, 11-7 Pac-12) with a 1-5 document within the final three weeks of the common season.
The Buffs, nevertheless, now flip their consideration to the Pac-12 match. Fifth-seeded CU will face Twelfth-seeded Oregon on the MGM Backyard Enviornment in Las Vegas on Wednesday at 1 p.m. MT (Pac-12 Community).
“Yeah. I imply, everyone knows what’s on the road,” Sherrod stated. “Like (head coach JR Payne) stated, none of our objectives will not be attainable at this level. No one’s taking a look at it as if we will’t do it. So I don’t assume that’s the case.”
WSU simply acquired scorching late, Sherrod stated, including, “That’s simply how basketball goes, so I’m probably not hanging hats on this sport.”
CU has to get well from extra than simply Saturday’s loss, nevertheless.
The Buffs, ranked as excessive as No. 3 this season, have been within the high eight for 14 consecutive weeks earlier than this current slide.
The tough stretch started once they have been dominated at dwelling by No. 17 Oregon State on Feb. 11. That was adopted by a three-game street journey in opposition to top-25 groups. CU had an opportunity to win all three, however by no means performed a whole sport in any of them.
The Buffs practically overcame a horrible begin at No. 22 Utah on Feb. 16, however misplaced on a buzzer beater. They performed phenomenal on offense at No. 7 USC on Feb. 23, however horrible on protection in a six-point loss. Three days later at No. 8 UCLA, they performed distinctive protection and horrible offense in an eight-point loss.
That loss to UCLA was the primary in what’s now a three-game streak of abysmal fourth quarters.
CU trailed 46-43 with 5:22 to play at UCLA, however then had a scoreless stretch of 4:16 and missed its final 10 area purpose makes an attempt of the sport.
On Thursday, CU beat Washington 68-62, however struggled to shut it out. The Buffs led by 12 with 5:57 to play and went scoreless over the subsequent 5:23 because the Huskies pulled with 5 within the final minute.
Then got here Saturday, when the Buffs went 0-for-6 down the stretch. They have been 5-for-16 with three turnovers within the remaining quarter, whereas WSU went 8-for-12.
Within the final three video games, CU is a mixed 9-for-40 (.225) from the ground within the fourth quarter, whereas its opponents are 18-for-40 (.450). These struggles are uncharacteristic for this Buffs staff.
For many of this season, CU has owned the fourth quarter in shut video games.
The Buffs rallied from fourth-quarter deficits to beat Oklahoma State and Utah at dwelling and Arizona and Washington State on the street. Additionally they had sturdy finishes to shut out a number of different wins and dominated the fourth quarters in opposition to Oregon State on Feb. 11 and Utah on Feb. 16, practically getting back from massive deficits earlier than shedding.
Heading to Las Vegas, the Buffs will intention to regain the profitable edge, particularly within the fourth quarter.
“I simply assume we’ll need to be actually intentional about ensuring that we’re taking part in to win a sport, not taking part in to not lose, as individuals say,” Payne stated.
Via the ache of Saturday’s defeat, Sherrod expressed confidence the Buffs can regroup.
“Vegas, I do know all of us really feel the, I assume, crunch time of it and everyone knows that this staff might be actually particular,” she stated. “In order that’s nonetheless on the desk. No one right here is writing us off. We’ve simply acquired to go on the market and deal with enterprise.”
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