Wednesday’s contest against the Cal Bears was one Tad Boyle’s Colorado Buffaloes needed to win, and freshman guard McKinley Wright IV made sure the Buffs didn’t disappoint.
Wright starred for the second consecutive game, scoring a game-high 17 points and adding six rebounds and five assists. Wright was the leading scorer in a Friday night victory over Utah last week that snapped a three-game Pac-12 losing skid.
Colorado led by as much as seven points with under nine minutes to play, but the Bears would not relent. Cal closed the gap to just two points with 11 seconds remaining on a Darius McNeill three-pointer, his second in a 13-second span. Wright hit all four of his free throws with under 30 seconds remaining, then assisted Lazar Nikolic on the game-sealing basket in the closing seconds.
At 14-10 overall and 6-6 in the Pac-12 after Wednesday’s 68-64 victory, the Buffs are in the dead middle of the pack in conference play with six games remaining for the conference tournament. The Bears entered the game 8-16 overall and 2-9 in the Pac-12.
The Buffs host Stanford, who has a 1.5-game lead on Colorado in the standings, on Sunday. After that, the Buffs head to Washington for a pair of games with the last-place Cougars and the 17-6 (7-3) Huskies.
