Scott leads Colorado to 56-55 win over Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) Colorado looks to its senior leader during crunch time and Josh Scott produced another clutch play when it was needed.
Scott had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Colorado beat Stanford 56-55 Sunday night, ending a two-game losing streak.
Scott's driving layup with 41 seconds remaining proved to be the difference for the Buffaloes, who saw all but a point of a 16-point advantage evaporate.
''They pressured us in the second half and we didn't handle it,'' Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. ''It's not taking care of the ball and missing free throws late. We escaped.''
Scott's play came on the heels of a slam dunk on a putback from Michael Humphrey that energized the Cardinal and made it a one-point game.
Colorado successfully fended off several Stanford chances to take the lead in the final minute. Marcus Sheffield hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to make it 56-55.
The Buffaloes (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12) turned the ball over with six seconds left but the Cardinal had to settle for a desperation shot at the buzzer.
''Everything happened so fast, it was pandemonium on the floor,'' Colorado's Thomas Akyazili said of the final seconds. ''We were surprised they got a shot off. We were a little lucky to win.''
George King added 12 points for the Buffaloes, who extended their winning streak over Stanford to five games. Josh Fortune had 10.
Humphrey scored 19 points to lead the Cardinal (8-5, 1-1), who had a three-game winning streak end. Stanford had won six of its previous seven.
''We can't start off the way we did,'' Humphrey said. ''We have to play better.''
Scott, one of two players to rank among the top 10 in the Pac-12 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and free throw percentage, recorded his 30th career double-double, and his sixth in the past 11 games.
Stanford held the advantage in points off turnovers, 22-5 but Colorado, which outrebounded the Cardinal by a 43-29 margin, had the edge in second-chance points at 17-6.
''They crashed the boards extra hard and we didn't do a good job boxing out,'' Humphrey said. ''And they had a lot of late clock plays they made.''
The Buffaloes opened the second half on a 7-1 run to take a 44-28 edge but the Cardinal chipped away and made a game of it.
Rosco Allen and Marcus Sheffield, who had a combined two points in the first half, scored 10 points during a run that helped Stanford draw within three points on a Humphrey jumper with 6:26 remaining.
Both teams had trouble scoring down the stretch. During a three-minute span with under 4:30 to play, they combined for eight missed shots and three missed free throws.
The Buffaloes opened with a 12-3 run, with Fortune and Tre'shaun Fletcher each contributing four points, and never looked back. The Cardinal missed 10 of their first 11 shots and was 9-of-32 (.281) for the half.
Stanford got within five on a pair of free throws from Christian Sanders with just under three minutes left in the half but Colorado eventually grabbed a 12-point lead before Humphrey hit a basket to help the Cardinal draw within 37-27 by halftime.
TIP INS:
Colorado: Senior forward Josh Scott, on the 20-player watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for the second time, entered play with an 18.2 scoring average and 9.2.rebounding average, both team highs. He's rapidly working his way up the school's all-time list in several categories. He made his 104th start, putting him in sole possession of sixth in that category. He's among the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, free throws made and double-doubles.
Stanford: Marcus Sheffield is the lone freshman, out of three, to appear in every game this season. He entered play with back-to-back double-digit scoring games, the first two of his career. ... Sophomore forward Reid Travis missed his fifth straight with a stress reaction in his left leg. He's averaging 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds a game.
UP NEXT:
Colorado returns to Boulder to host Utah on Friday night.
Stanford plays at Oregon State on Wednesday night.
