BOULDER — Finding new words to say to a team that hadn’t won a basketball game in more than a month entering Thursday night has become an increasingly difficult task for Colorado coach Tad Boyle.
So Boyle attempted to send a message without saying anything, trotting out an entirely new starting lineup against Oregon State that consisted of three freshman, a sophomore and junior big man Tory Miller.
The Buffaloes are stacked with seniors, but they sat at the start as their younger teammates went about the business of trying to put the brakes on a seven-game losing streak, the program’s longest skid in eight seasons.
It will take more than one night to see what effect Boyle’s shakeup has on his players, but the Buffs can settle for now with finally tasting victory again.
In a battle of two desperate teams that lost their first seven Pac-12 games, CU did just enough to escape with a 85-78 victory over the Beavers at Coors Events Center.
“It’s not an indictment so much of the guys who have been starting, but the guys who haven’t been deserved a chance,” Boyle said. “A win is a win. We’ll take it and move on.”
George King scored a team-high 24 points and hit a 3-pointer with 2:50 left that helped the Buffs (11-10) pull away.
Freshman Bryce Peters, making his first career start, scored 15 points and hit back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Buffs what was then their largest lead, 70-62, with 6:08 left in the game.
“I was just happy to start,” Peters said. “I wanted to show that I could bring energy, not just off the bench. I wanted to bring the same energy offensively and challenge defensively as well.”
The Beavers (4-17) rallied behind Stephen Thompson Jr., who scored 26 points and hit a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 72-70 with four minutes remaining.
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This time the Buffs closed a close game, finally clamping down defensively and holding the Beavers to only three field goals in the final four minutes.
“We were able to string some stops together,” Boyle said.
Oregon State has been among the worst teams in any major conference this season. The Beavers don’t have a win against a major conference program, with losses against Lamar, Savannah State, Charlotte and Long Beach State.
The Beavers looked anything but inept against CU in the first half. Oregon State hit 10 of its first 12 shots and converted 59.3 percent overall in the first 20 minutes. Oregon State had averaged only 56.6 points in conference play this season, but scored 40 in the first half and trailed by just one point at halftime.
Luckily for the Buffs, King was just as hot. The junior guard, one of the normal starters who came off the bench, responded with 17 points in the first half. He hit three 3-pointers, but his biggest highlight came when he stole an inbounds pass and finished with a thunderous tomahawk dunk over forward Ben Kone.
“I’m an athletic dude,” King said. “It was unfortunate for him.”
Oregon State forward Drew Eubanks led all scorers with 27 points.
The Buffs still have plenty to figure out with No. 10 Oregon visiting Boulder on Saturday. First thing to correct: CU shot only 15-of-31 from the free-throw line.
“It seems like we always have to overcome something,” Boyle said.
For now, CU will enjoy kissing a long losing streak goodbye.
