Boulder – One of the truisms of college basketball is that freshmen will make mistakes. Unfortunately, in a tightly contested game, those mistakes are magnified.
Colorado’s Xavier Silas vowed to learn from his. The most highly touted of CU’s eight freshmen, Silas had his dribble stolen and then committed an intentional foul in the final 15 seconds of the Buffaloes’ 76-73 loss to Wyoming on Sunday at the Coors Events Center.
Colorado (2-3) trailed by one point when Silas took a pass along the left wing. With his eyes focused on the basket, Silas didn’t notice that Wyoming guard Brad Jones was trailing him.
Jones snatched the ball.
“That’s a mistake I made as a freshman,” Silas said. “I’m not going to make that mistake my whole career. Now I know.”
A crowd of 2,288 screamed as Jones attempted to dribble away the remaining seconds. Silas finally chased him down in the open court but apparently fouled Jones too emphatically and was whistled for an intentional foul with 10.7 seconds left. Jones made one of two foul shots. But because the foul was intentional, the Cowboys retained possession.
To stop the clock, CU fouled Wyoming freshman Eric Platt with 8.6 seconds left. When Platt missed his second free throw, the Buffs had one last chance. Senior guard Dominique Coleman got off an uncontested 3-pointer, but it bounced off the rim, leaving no time for a rebound.
Wyoming (4-1) got 29 points from sophomore guard Brandon Ewing and deserved to win. But for a young Colorado squad trying to carry some momentum off a sweet road win Tuesday against Utah, this was a bitter loss to take.
Colorado junior guard Richard Roby said he wasn’t surprised that the foul by Silas was called intentional. Most freshmen aren’t savvy enough to make it look good.
“You can’t just grab a guy’s jersey,” Roby said. “You have to disguise it better than that.”
CU lost for the third time in four games against Mountain West Conference teams. The Buffs got 18 points from Coleman and 16 apiece from Roby and sophomore forward Jermyl Jackson-Wilson but didn’t have nearly enough answers for Wyoming’s dazzling backcourt of Ewing and Jones.
Ewing, a preseason all-MWC pick, hit 6-of-11 from 3-point range and bettered his season average of 21.8 points per game. He shot over CU’s defense when it played zone and beat his defender with dribble-drive penetration when the Buffs went to man-to-man.
Jones, the reigning MWC player of the week, scored 17 points and handed out eight assists. His steady play and timely scoring enabled Wyoming to maintain a two-point lead during a four-minute stretch with Ewing on the bench after Ewing committed his fourth foul with 12:10 remaining.
Ewing returned and made a key 3-pointer with 1:30 to go. Daaron Brown’s three-point play made it 74-73 with 23.8 seconds left.
WYOMING (4-1)
Spencer 4-8 0-1 9, Taylor 1-5 0-0 2, Anderson 3-6 3-5 9, Jones 6-16 4-6 17, Ewing 11-19 1-2 29, Okoye 2-2 0-0 4, Henson 0-0 0-0 0, Platt 0-1 1-3 1, Brown 2-3 1-2 5, Songondo 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 29-61 10-21 76.
COLORADO (2-3)
Jackson-Wilson 7-11 2-2 16, King-Stockton 3-5 0-1 6, Coleman 8-11 0-1 18, Roby 5-16 5-7 16, Bay 0-3 4-6 4, Williams 1-2 0-1 2, Thorne 0-1 0-0 0, Silas 3-12 4-7 11, Kowal 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 15-25 73.
Halftime – Wyoming 33-32. 3-point goals – Wyoming 8-17 (Ewing 6-11, Jones 1-2, Spencer 1-3, Platt 0-1), Colorado 4-19 (Coleman 2-3, Roby 1-6, Silas 1-6, Thorne 0-1, Bay 0-3). Fouled out – Anderson, Okoye. Rebounds – Wyoming 42 (Brown 10), Colorado 40 (Jackson-Wilson 14). Assists – Wyoming 17 (Jones 8), Colorado 17 (Bay 7). Total fouls – Wyoming 25, Colorado 20. A – 2,288.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
