No. 20 Colorado overcomes slow start, beats Arizona St 68-61

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Bey has his way on game-sealing slam for Colorado

Tyler Bey rocks the rim for Colorado to increase its double-digit lead over Arizona State.

Jan 17, 2020, 04:16 am

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Tyler Bey scored 19 points, Lucas Siewert added 14 and No. 20 Colorado overcame a slow start to beat Arizona State 68-61 on Thursday night.

Colorado (14-3, 3-1 Pac-12) won its first road game in conference play and has won seven of eight overall. Siewert hit 4 of 6 3-pointers and Bey made his only attempt from long range to give the Buffaloes some much-needed offense.

It was a disjointed, physical game that was equal parts good defense and bad shooting. Colorado finally made a few shots in a row midway though the second half and an 11-0 run pushed its lead to 44-32 with 10:35 left.

Arizona State (10-7, 1-3) has dropped five of its last seven. The Sun Devils pulled within 49-44 with about 7 minutes left but Siewert responded with his fourth 3-point to stop the rally.

Remy Martin scored 25 points and Romello White had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Sun Devils, who shot just 30% from the field in the second half, including 4 of 19 (21%) from 3-point range.

Colorado's McKinley Wright made a layup with 33 seconds left before halftime to tie the game 28-all going into the break. The Buffaloes struggled on offense for much of the half, shooting just 9 of 27 (33%) from the field.

Siewert helped early by scoring 11 points off the bench in the first half, making 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range. Arizona State was led by Martin's 12 points.

The two teams already played once this year, Nov. 8 in China. The Buffaloes won 81-71 but it didn't count as a conference game.

BIG PICTURE

Colorado: It wasn't the prettiest win, but the Buffaloes will take it. Colorado starts three juniors and a senior and the veteran presence was obvious when the team didn't panic after a poor offensive start.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils had a chance to win this game thanks to their defense, but the bad offensive day was too much to overcome.

UP NEXT

Colorado: The Buffaloes travel to face Arizona on Saturday.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils host Utah on Saturday.

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