BOULDER – On a night Andrew Andrews missed most of his shots, he came back to hit the one that made all the difference.
Andrews connected on a straightaway jumper with one second remaining, lifting the Washington Huskies past short-handed Colorado 52-50 on Thursday night for their third win in a row.
“I’m a perfectionist so I was still worried about all the ones I missed,” Andrews said. “I just really haven’t gotten into that I made the shot, because I feel like I shot terrible today.”
Nigel Williams-Goss had 16 points to lead Washington (14-4, 3-3 Pac-12), which won at Colorado for the first time in its last five games here. Andrews finished with 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the floor, connecting on his last and most important attempt.
“Y’all can pick which ever one you want: gutsy, gritty, resilient, that’s what our team was tonight,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Andrew Andrews hit a huge shot to win the game. He made two big plays for us at the end.”
Colorado (9-9, 2-4) was without two of its best players. Josh Scott remained sidelined with a back injury and Xavier Johnson sat out to serve a one-game suspension for violating a team rule.
Jaron Hopkins had 11 points to lead the Buffaloes but lost the ball driving toward the basket in the late going in a costly turnover that was forced by Andrews.
“It was a big moment in the game, and that pretty much lost it for us,” Hopkins said. “We work on situations like that every day in practice and I just can’t turn the ball over right there.”
Wesley Gordon added 10 points for Colorado, which lost its fourth in a row.
“We have to have a short-term memory,” Gordon said. “We play Washington State in two days so we have to get ready.”
Trailing by five at the half, the Huskies put together a 10-2 run that Kemp finished with a layup to go in front 48-42 with 7:24 remaining.
Colorado was not finished, running off eight consecutive points, including a put-back by Gordon that gave the Buffaloes a 50-48 lead with 3:07 to play.
The Huskies re-tied the game on a pair of free throws by Mike Anderson and with under a minute, Williams-Goss missed a long jumper for the lead.
A Colorado turnover with 34 seconds left to play gave Washington another crack in the late going. The Huskies worked the clock until Andrews got a decent look from just beyond the foul line and knocked down the decisive jumper.
Colorado inbounded the ball but could not get a shot off before the buzzer.
After a tip-in by Dustin Thomas gave Colorado a nine-point edge, Washington closed the first period with a 3-pointer by Donaven Dorsey and a layup by Williams-Goss to pull to 24-19 at the half.
