BOULDER — Nights like this are why Derrick White opted to roll the dice and transfer to Colorado.
The former Division II All-American at UCCS had his fair share of moments, both good and ill, through the Buffaloes’ first eight games. However against the 13th-ranked Xavier Musketeers on Wednesday night, White proved his worth as the sort of floor general that can put the Buffs on his shoulders late in pivotal games.
White knocked down an array of big shots down the stretch at the Coors Events Center, leading the way to a critical 68-66 victory for the Buffs. After defeating then-No. 22 Texas on Nov. 22, CU has posted consecutive victories over ranked opponents for the first time since late in the 2012-13 season.
“Last year we lost a lot of close ones, so I just wanted to focus on finishing down the stretch,” White said. “We were able to finish here even though we didn’t get as many stops as we needed. We were still able to pull off the win.”
The Musketeers put together a 16-2 run on either side of halftime to build a nine-point lead early in the second half. Xavier still led by eight points when the Buffs ripped off 15 points in a row, a burst highlighted by two 3-pointers by Xavier Johnson as well as 3-pointers from George King and White.
White scored nine of his team-leading 23 points in the final five minutes, with most of them allowing CU to answer comeback attempts from Xavier. After Xavier battled to within three points, a driving layup from White pushed CU’s lead back to five with about four minutes left. Moments later a pull-up 3-pointer from White gave the Buffs a seven-point edge with 3 minutes, 38 seconds remaining.
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