The shorthanded Huskies erased a 17-point halftime deficit but failed to complete their comeback against the undefeated Buffaloes
The Washington Huskies' Acrisure Holiday Classic crown will head to the Big 12 after an 81-68 loss against the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday in Palm Desert, Calif.
The shorthanded Huskies, who had freshman forward Hannes Steinbach and sophomore forward Bryson Tucker out with respective ankle sprains, were unable to keep the Buffaloes offense in check in the first half.
Colorado went 16-for-29 from the floor (55.2%) in the first half, which included a 5-for-10 mark from 3-point range and a 10-for-16 clip from the free-throw line.
For comparison, Washington went 9-for-32 from the floor in the first half (28.1%) and connected for just one 3-pointer on six attempts. The Dawgs went a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, but still went into halftime trailing Colorado 47-30.
Senior guard Quimari Peterson, who was responsible for the Huskies' only triple in the first 20 minutes of regulation, placed his team with seven points in the first half. The Buffaloes had three players with seven-or-more points going into the break.
A much more game Washington came out in the second half and made Colorado work for the victory.
The Huskies outscored the Buffaloes 22-5 in the first eight minutes, 19 seconds of the second half to tie the game 52-52 with 11:41 left in regulation. Freshman forward Jasir Rencher hit a 3-pointer to knot the game up.
Colorado then went on a 5-0 run before Peterson hit another 3-pointer to pull Washington back within two of the Buffs, 57-55 with 9:18 left in the game.
The Buffaloes outscored the Huskies 24-13 the rest of the way for the eventual final of 81-68.
Washington fell to 5-2 on the season and Colorado improved to 7-0 on the year.
Peterson led the Huskies with 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including a 4-for-10 clip from beyond the arc. He added three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Senior guard Desmond Claude was Washington's only other double-digit scorer. He put up 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting from the floor (2-for-5 from 3-point range) and added four rebounds and two assists.
Washington will return home with an opportunity to earn its first ranked win of the season in its first Big Ten game of the year.
The Huskies will play No. 18 UCLA at 8 p.m. PT on Dec. 3 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
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