Wrights, second-half burst lead Colorado by Drake, 86-81 (Nov 18, 2017)

By AP
Published

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) Colorado showed great composure in erasing a second-half deficit and winning on McKinley Wright IV's buzzer-beating 3-pointer on Friday night.

The composure they showed Saturday came in the form of weathering a second-half comeback and hanging on to beat Drake 86-81 in the Paradise Jam.

''Last night we didn't panic when we were down. Tonight we were up, and they made a run, and we didn't panic. We staved them off, and I'm really proud of this team,'' Buffs coach Tad Boyle said

McKinley Wright IV scored 21 points before fouling out and Namon Wright added 19 for the Buffs (4-0).

''We locked into the scouting report last night,'' Namon Wright said. ''We were really focused. We knew we didn't play the best ball game yesterday. So coach got up in us and made sure that we were locked in and focused for today.''

Colorado led 39-31 at halftime and used a 13-4 run to start the second half to build their margin to 52-35. The Bulldogs (2-1) answered with a 23-7 burst to get within 59-58 on a pair of free throws by Reed Timmer with 7:54 to play. McKinley Wright however, scored 10 of his points the rest of the way and Colorado held on.

''We came out flat,'' Drake coach Niki Medved said. ''You could see the team maybe still had a bit of an emotional hangover from the night before. We expended so much energy in that game. We were just a little bit flat, especially on the defensive end. We weren't as quick to the ball, quick to help each other.

''We were behind the play and we dug ourselves quite a hole, but like this team does, they found a way to battle back.''

Timmer scored 28 points to lead the Bulldogs and Nick McGlynn had 15. Graham Woodward, who scored 20 on Friday night, was limited to six.

McKinley Wright, a freshman whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer beat Quinnipiac on Friday night, didn't hit a 3 until just 3:13 remaining, giving the Buffs a 77-67 lead.

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