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As they have done multiple times this season, Washington State played a team close only to go cold at the end of the game and lose. Colorado pulled away from the Cougars late en route to a 58-49 win.
The game was really a tale of two halves as after neither team did much offensively in the first half, both teams going going in the second half. Colorado led 23-19 at halftime with WSU shooting just 29.6 percent during the first 20 minutes. The Cougars didn't waste time getting going in the second half pulling even at 23-23 just two minutes in.
Led by an eight-point run by Royce Woolridge, WSU took a 31-27 lead and appeared to be in position to open a lead. That, however, didn't last long as Colorado wen't on a 7-0 run to take the lead back. While Askia Booker and Colorado stayed hot, the Cougars went cold. A 9-2 run put Colorado up nine with just under two minutes to play.
That lead ultimately proved to be big enough as the Buffaloes held on for the win. It was another disappointing loss for the Cougars in which they were ultimately doomed by long stretches of ineffective play at both ends. While WSU's offense broke down late in the game, the defense also started to crack as Colorado got good looks at the basket.
We knew going into the game that three-point shooting would be a key for the Cougars and as you may have guessed by the final score, WSU wasn't very good from deep. WSU finished 5 of 24 from three-point range, including 2 of 12 in the first half.
The loss drops the Cougars to 10-8 on the season and 1-4 in conference play.