BOULDER, Colo. – Tyler Bey scored a career-high 26 points, Shane Gatling had 17 and the Colorado Buffaloes routed short-handed Washington State 92-60 Thursday night for its first conference win of the season.
Bey added 10 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. D’Shawn Schwartz added 16 points and McKinley Wright IV had 10 for Colorado (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12), which had opened conference play last week with losses at Arizona and Arizona State.
It was the fifth consecutive loss for Washington State, which was held to a season low in points and remained winless away from home this season, dropping to 0-7. Washington State (7-8, 0-2) also was without its leading scorer, Robert Franks Jr., who missed a fourth game due to a hip contusion.
Marvin Cannon had 14 points to lead the Cougars, who have yet to win in eight trips to Boulder. Jeff Pollard and Isaiah Wade added 12 points apiece.
Trailing by 16 at the half, the Cougars put together a 7-0 burst, including a 3-pointer by Ahmed Ali to narrow the deficit to 43-34. But the Buffaloes regrouped after a timeout, scoring nine of the next 11 points, with Schwartz chipping in a couple of baskets as Colorado rebuilt its lead to 14 points.
By the time Bey converted a 3-point play with 7:16 left, the Buffaloes were in front by 26 points and Washington State was without Wade and CJ Elleby after they fouled out within a minute of each other.
Washington State scored the first five points before the Buffaloes responded with a 16-0 run capped by Wright’ fast-break layup off a steal. By halftime, the Buffaloes had stretched their lead to 41-25, helped by the hot-shooting Bey, who scored 15 before the break.
Washington State: The Cougars came in as the highest scoring team in the Pac-12 but were overcome by their struggles on the road and continued to miss their top scorer, Robert Franks, who remains sidelined by injury.
Colorado: The Buffaloes returned from a six-game road swing – their longest in the regular season since 1986 – with a big effort at home to regain their footing on the season. Their defense figured prominently in the win, limiting the Cougars to 2-of-18 from the 3-point line after Washington State had come in averaging 9.9 made 3s per game.
Washington State: Wraps up a road swing at Utah on Saturday night.
Colorado: Hosts Washington on Saturday night.
