By William Satler | william.satler@colorado.edu
INDIANAPOLIS — “Some coward went in and shot up a King Soopers. And that sucks,” McKinley Wright IV said. “Life is so much bigger than basketball. Basketball is just a game. People lost their lives today.”
All the Buffs star could muster after the biggest game of his life Monday, was sorry. Colorado fell to the Florida State Seminoles in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament, 71-53. But it was clear from tipoff, their heads weren’t in Indianapolis — they were back home with their home community in Boulder.
Early in the afternoon on Monday, ten people were killed at a local area King Soopers for once again is another case of a mass shooting that leaves Coloradans without words, a community that has been hurt by something like this way too many times.
The game, no matter the circumstances, would have been emotional without tragedy with a plethora of legendary Buffs playing in their final games for Colorado. Wright the leader of the charge, was joined by Maddox Daniels; Jeriah Horne; Dallas Walton; and D’Shawn Schwartz as seniors finishing their careers in Boulder.
All were key pieces in Colorado’s historic run in 2020-21, but none bigger than Wright. He managed to put up 10 points despite 4-of-12 shooting from the field, including 0-for-4 from deep. Wright was tagged by Florida State’s Scottie Barnes — a projected lottery pick when he decides to declare for the NBA Draft.
Wright also admitted after the game he had been playing through a sprained AC joint for the past two months and was getting a shot in his arm before and during halftime of every game, a testament to his toughness during his time at Colorado. It was the same shoulder he torn his labrum on a few years ago.
“It hurts,” Wright told Neill Woelk. “Not necessarily the loss we took tonight, just the fact that I’m done. I just played my last game here at CU. I’ll never get to play with this group of guys again, and especially my recruiting class. We created so many memories over my four years … I’m sorry. I gave Colorado everything I had in me. It hurts to go out like this.”
Schwartz continued strong shooting from three as he had done all postseason long scoring a team-leading 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three and Evan Battey grinded out 11 points with half of them coming at the free-throw line.
But almost completely opposite to their opening round game against Georgetown on Saturday, the Buffaloes went cold. Pac-12 Freshman of the Year candidate Jabari Walker struggled, failing to score a point and Horne who entered the game as Colorado’s second-leading scorer shot 1-for-9 for 3 points — a corner three in garbage minutes at the end of the game.
Florida State advanced to the Sweet Sixteen behind 22 points from Anthony Polite but most notable for the Seminoles was their defense. Their constant pressure on the Buffs caught them off guard, forcing 19 turnovers — just one less turnover than Colorado had free throw all game.
“I did a bad job of preparing us for the pressure that was coming tonight,” Buffs coach Tad Boyle said. “We turned it over 19, we needed 11 or fewer to win it. We didn’t finish when we did get shots. FSU had a lot to do with that, they’re a good team.”
In a March Madness year where almost every bracket was busted by the end of opening weekend, CU became just the first of five Pac-12 teams to lose in the tournament. UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Oregon State — the team that crushed the Buffaloes hopes of a Pac-12 tournament championship just a week before — earned Sweet Sixteen bids, leaving the only team to be ranked in the AP top 25 from the conference as the outsiders.
Wright will make his way to the NBA, whether he is drafted or picked up by a team as an undrafted free agent this offseason thanks to his playmaking ability. But most importantly he leaves behind a legacy and a program that finished just one win short of tying the most wins in the history of Colorado.
“The thing I’m most proud of — every win we got, building relationships with my brothers,” Wright said. “I keep saying this: I don’t care about individual stats. I’ve built lifelong relationships with these dudes. Some people, after college, they stop talking to their teammates. We were just talking about it in the locker room, I want to be in all the group chats, Instagram, Twitter. I love every one of these guys, one through 18. We built some lifelong relationships. And that’s what I’m proud of, building relationships. I’ve made some of my best friends here at Colorado.”
On a day where Boulder mourns, the Buffaloes stood tall in ways bigger than basketball.
Will Satler 