LAS VEGAS — Faced with a game it could not afford to lose, Colorado came out flat at both ends. The Buffaloes were disjointed on offense, unable to stop Washington State on defense.
Once the second half started, senior Derrick White took over, helping Colorado avoid what could have been an NCAA Tournament-killing loss.
Derrick White scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half, Xavier Johnson added 19 and Colorado rallied from a shaky first half to beat Washington State 73-63 Wednesday night in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
“Derrick White is one of the best players in this league,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “Anybody that hasn’t seen him play is missing something because he’s special, and he showed why he’s special tonight in the second half. Just made big plays for us.”
Colorado (19-13) got off to a miserable start at both ends as Washington State raced out to a 19-point lead. The seventh-seeded Buffaloes whittled into the lead by halftime and overtook the Cougars in the second behind White.
With White shooting and dishing, Colorado hit 15 of 28 shots in the second half to complete the comeback, earning a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 7 Arizona.
“I was really proud of our guys for their second-half effort,” Boyle said. “I thought there were some really critical plays there down the stretch.”
Washington State (13-18), the tournament’s No. 10 seed, lost all its mojo after a stellar first half, leaving coach Ernie Kent frustrated and ending the team’s four senior starters disappointed in their final game.
Charles Callison and Ike Iroegbu scored 16 points each, and Josh Hawkinson had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
“They hunted us down well in the second half,” Kent said. “We had a very difficult time with White again. We’ve had a hard time with him in all three games. To Colorado’s credit, their experienced just stepped up and showed.”
Colorado entered the Pac-12 Tournament with NCAA Tournament aspirations and could not afford an early exit in the Pac-12 Tournament after closing the regular season with eight wins in 10 games.
Other Pac-12 games
CALIFORNIA 67, OREGON STATE 62 — Jabari Bird scored 20 points and converted a key 3-point play with 54 seconds left, helping California grind out a victory in the first round.
Cal (20-11) labored for most of the game offensively and had a hard time containing Oregon State’s Stephen Thompson Jr. The fifth-seeded Bears pulled it out behind Bird and a strong second half by Ivan Rabb, earning a spot in Thursday’s quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Utah.
Thompson had 25 points and hit 5 of 6 from 3-point range to keep Oregon State (5-27) in the game until late. The Beavers pulled within 59-57, but Bird was fouled on a layup and hit the free throw to put Cal up five.
USC 78, WASHINGTON 73 — David Crisp scored 22 points to lead UW, which ends a disappointing year at 9-22 with a first-round loss.
Chimezie Metu scored 24 points to lead the Trojans, which face UCLA in the quarterfinals Thursday.
ARIZONA STATE 98, STANFORD 88, OT — Obinna Oleka had 27 points and 13 rebounds, and Arizona State dominated in overtime.
Arizona State (15-17) shot 56 percent and made 10 of 22 from 3-point range, yet couldn’t shake the Cardinal (14-17) in regulation.
Stanford’s Michael Humphrey hit a jumper with 3.3 seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 81-all.
Arizona State moves on to play No. 5 Oregon in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
