Small leads No. 21 West Virginia to win at Colorado
Associated Press
By MONICA COSTELLO
Associated Press
BOULDER, Colo. — Javon Small scored 26 points and Joseph Yesufu added 18 as No. 21 West Virginia held off Colorado 78-70 on Sunday in the teams’ first meeting as members of the Big 12 Conference.
The Mountaineers (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) overcame foul trouble and used a late 13-4 run to thwart Colorado, which had cut the deficit to two points with 5:28 left. Yesufu had eight points in that spurt.
Julian Hammond III had 23 points and Assane Diop added 13 for Colorado (9-6, 0-4), which lost its fourth straight game.
Colorado trailed by three and West Virginia had just lost two starters to fouls when the Mountaineers beat the press and started a fast break that ended on Yesufu’s layup and free throw for a 71-65 lead with 1:23 left.
Takeaways
West Virginia: Three straight 3-pointers by Small, the Big 12’s leading scorer and reigning player of the week, gave West Virginia its biggest lead, 49-35, with 17:28 remaining.
Colorado: The Buffaloes, who entered the game with the worst turnover margin in the Big 12, had 14 turnovers in the game.
Key moment
Before the contest, Colorado held a moment of silence to honor longtime Buffaloes head football coach Bill McCartney, who died Friday at age 84.
Key Stat
Colorado is now 2-2 against ranked teams this season. West Virginia rebounded from its unexpected home loss to Arizona that snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Up next
Both teams play Wednesday. Colorado hosts Cincinnati and West Virginia is at Houston.