McKinley Wright III soon will be receiving a once-in-a-lifetime gift from his son.
McKinley Wright IV, the star point guard for the Colorado Buffaloes, hit all sorts of rare territory during his team’s Thursday afternoon Pac-12 Conference date against Cal. First and foremost, after entering the game in a tie with Jay Humphries’ 37-year old all-time assists record, Wright needed less than 3 minutes to claim the mark all to himself.
As it turned out, Wright was just getting warmed up. By the time the Buffs were done burying the Golden Bears for an 89-60 victory, Wright had set a personal-best with 12 assists, tied Humphries for another prestigious assists record, and posted the 13th double-double of his career.
Afterward Wright said he was awarded the game ball, and that soon his next assist will be a delivery to the post office to send the ball back to his father in Minnesota.
“I say this all the time and you’re probably tired of hearing me say this, but when you have teammates like my teammates over the last four years, and the coaching staff, when they believe in you and trust in you and put you out there to play, it makes my job so much easier,” Wright said. “My teammates believe in me every day. They’ve been helping me and I’ve been helping them throughout my four years here. Itap a blessing.
“And also, a big shout-out to Jay Humphries. He set the tone early and had the record that was here for 37 years, which is way before I was thought about. Itap a big-time blessing to be in this position today.”
Wrightap career-high 12 assists tied for the sixth-most in a single game in CU history, a total that was reached by Humphries three times and most recently recorded by Askia Booker on Feb. 13, 2014. It was the eighth double-digit assist game of Wrightap career, which tied Humphries for the most 10-assist games in program history.
Humphries compiled his former record of 562 assists in 112 career games. Thursday’s win was the 112th game of Wrightap CU career, and he finished the day with 574 career assists. Wrightap 13 points also moved him past Randy Downs for 10th-place on CU’s all-time scoring list.
Wright took sole possession of the record on an inside feed that Evan Battey converted into a layup 2 minutes, 35 seconds into the game. His gaudy assist total was due in part to a hot shooting performance by the Buffs’ 3-point shooters, as CU finished 12-for-21 from the arc.
After burying their previous two opponents with dominant runs immediately after halftime, the Buffs got the job done before halftime against Cal, ambushing the Bears with a 21-2 late in the first half to pave the way for a 34-23 halftime lead.
Freshman forward Jabari Walker turned in another dominant performance in what is turning into a breakout week, as he went 9-for-13 overall and 3-for-3 on 3-pointers while posting his second consecutive double-double with team-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Walker has shot 5-for-5 on 3-pointers over the past two games. Senior D’Shawn Schwartz knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 18 points as the Buffs defeated Cal for the fifth straight time at CU.
“Didn’t come out of the chute playing extremely well but started stringing together some stops there at the end of the first half,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “We expanded our lead and the same thing in the second half. Overall I’m pleased. Obviously itap a great day for McKinley Wright breaking 37-year old career assist record. Itap a long time to hold a record.
“McKinley I think has gotten a chance to realize over the last week or two as he’s approached this milestone how good Jay was. Jay is a terrific person, was a terrific player here. I can attest the guy that broke his record is deserving and is equally a great human being. A special, special milestone for him and our program.”
Fast break
What went right: The Buffs enjoyed season-high shooting percentages of .550 overall and .571 (12-for-21) from 3-point range. CU also matched a season-low with seven turnovers.
What went wrong: Very little, though Cal’s 7-for-19 mark on 3-pointers (.368) topped CU’s defensive 3-point percentage entering the game (.306).
Star of the game: With apologies to freshman Jabari Walker, this was McKinley Wright’s day. The senior point guard posted his 13th career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 assists, breaking Jay Humphries’ career assists record will moving into the top-10 of CU’s all-time scoring list.
What’s next: The Buffs host Stanford in another Pac-12 battle on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).
Colorado 89, California 60
CALIFORNIA (6-8 1-6 Pac-12)
Anticevich 1-4 2-2 4, Kelly 6-7 4-5 16, Betley 4-11 2-4 12, Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Foreman 5-8 0-0 13, Hyder 3-7 1-1 8, Celestine 1-4 1-2 3, Thiemann 0-0 0-0 0, Bowser 0-1 0-0 0, Klonaras 1-2 0-1 3, Thorpe 0-1 0-0 0, Alters 0-1 0-0 0, Welle 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 21-49 11-17 60.
COLORADO (10-3, 4-2)
Battey 4-6 0-1 8, Horne 3-6 0-0 8, Parquet 0-2 0-0 0, Wright 4-8 4-5 13, Schwartz 7-12 1-1 18, da Silva 1-2 0-1 2, Walker 9-13 2-2 23, Daniels 4-5 2-2 12, O’Brien 1-4 0-0 3, Clifford 0-1 0-0 0, Strating 0-0 0-0 0, Ersek 0-0 0-0 0, Jessup 0-0 2-2 2, Koonce 0-1 0-0 0, Loughlin 0-0 0-0 0, McQuade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-60 11-14 89.
Halftime – Colorado 34-23. 3-Point Goals – California 7-19 (Foreman 3-3, Betley 2-6, Klonaras 1-2, Hyder 1-3, Anticevich 0-1, Brown 0-1, Celestine 0-3), Colorado 12-21 (Walker 3-3, Schwartz 3-5, Daniels 2-3, Horne 2-4, O’Brien 1-2, Wright 1-2, Parquet 0-1, da Silva 0-1). Fouled Out – Hyder. Rebounds – California 28 (Kelly, Betley, Foreman 4), Colorado 31 (Walker 11). Assists – California 11 (Kelly, Brown, Hyder, Celestine 2), Colorado 18 (Wright 12). Total Fouls – California 14, Colorado 18.
