By Morris Phillips

On a night where Cal and Colorado both struggled to possess the ball while simultaneously executing a strategy to score a basket, the visiting Bears dealt with an additional layer of adversity on the scoreboard where they trailed for the game’s final 18 minutes.

It was a barrier they couldn’t overcome in a frustrating 68-64 loss to the Buffaloes that dropped them to 2-10 in Pac-12 play with six regular season games remaining.

Coach Wyking Jones synopsis of the game’s events was spot on even with one, significant omission.

“Two teams trying to score, defense prevailing over offense,” Jones recounted. “Neither of us could get into a flow. Our guys battled. Our star player goes one for 15, moving forward I don’t ever expect that again. But our guys battled they didn’t give up, they fought to the end. I’m happy with how hard we played.”

Colorado coach Tad Boyle’s take on the game was even more succinct than Jones’ version. Boyle, so frustrated with his teams 19 turnovers and 18 offensive rebounds allowed, too missed one critical factor.

“I can’t remember a time in my coaching career when I’ve been this disappointed after a win,” Boyle said. “We dodged a bullet.”

And that key factor that both coaches somehow glossed over? Colorado freshman guard McKinley Wright took over the game in the final minutes, scoring 8 of his game-high 17 points to will the Buffs to victory.

Maybe Boyle, and even Jones, temporarily forgot about Wright because he’s been such a consistent presence since he stepped on the Boulder campus last fall. With both teams stumbling to execute offensively throughout, Wright stood out with his calm, but purposeful play in the last two minutes that hand delivered the win for Colorado. But Wright has done this numerous times, even as his college career is just 24 games old.

“We knew that Cal was at the bottom of our league and to be honest we took them light. We came out flat and they had nothing to lose,” Wright said. “That’s just something we got to do better, I got to do better, and we all got to do better. Just making sure we’re all prepared and having high energy during shoot around right before tipoff.”

After Kingsley Okoroh tipped in a basket with 2:12 remaining–part of Cal’s tireless effort on the glass throughout–Wright answered back with a jumper that re-established the Buffs’ five-point lead, 58-53. In the final 50 seconds, Wright would make six, consecutive free throws to help Colorado close it out.

Apart from Cal’s fast start and gritty effort, the Bears accomplished little else. The Bears were done in by 36 percent shooting and leading scorer Justice Sueing’s off night. The Bears went the game’s first 24 minutes without a made three pointer, and Sueing didn’t make a basket until 39 seconds remained in the game. Sueing started 0 for 14 and had just one of Cal’s first 45 points. He finished with six points, well off his 14 points per game average.

But Sueing wasn’t alone in the frustrating night department.

Darius McNeill missed 8 of his 11 shot attempts. Two of McNeill’s three makes came in the game’s final minute as Colorado closed it out. Juhwan Harris-Dyson finished with nine points on 4 of 6 shooting but fouled out with three minutes remaining. Don Coleman came off the bench, but missed six of his nine attempts, and committed a head-scratching technical when he grabbed Tyler Bey’s leg on the baseline causing Bey to tumble.

The Bears were tied at the half, and led for the last time, 29-28 with 18 minutes remaining. Okoroh’s jump shot with 4:52 remaining got Cal within 52-51, but that was as close as the Bears would come to regaining the lead. Colorado (14-10, 6-6) converted eight consecutive free throws in the final minute to close it out.

The Bears conclude their road swing at Utah on Saturday at 6:30pm.