Colorado got to taste of a Bogdan Bliznyuk blizzard of points Thursday (Dec. 22) at the Coors Event Center in Boulder, Colo.
 
The Eastern Washington University junior scored 25 points, including 18 in a game-opening 19-2 run for the Eagles, but Colorado pulled away late for a 76-68 non-conference men's basketball victory. A late 17-3 scoring barrage provided the Buffaloes a 12-point lead that negated a late, furious EWU rally.

Eastern's fast start helped them lead for more than 26 minutes of the game, including a second half that featured five lead changes and five ties. But after holding a 55-53 advantage, Eastern allowed Colorado to go on a 17-3 run to take a 70-58 lead with 4:06 remaining.
 
The Eagles rallied in the final four minutes with a 10-2 run and cut the lead to four with a 3-pointer by Felix Von Hofe with 1:17 left, but Colorado scored the final four points of the game to go on to its 10th victory in 13 games this season. Eastern fell to 8-5 with its third loss during a three-game road trip to end the non-conference portion of EWU's schedule.
 
"It was our third game in five days, but we did a pretty good job of giving our players an emotional rest for 48 hours," said Eastern head coach Jim Hayford. "But our players answered the bell great, a lot like we started the last two games. That certainly got Colorado's attention, and they played with a lot of intensity from that point on."
 
With Eastern coming off an 85-56 loss to 17th-ranked Xavier two nights earlier, the exciting EWU-CU game was televised live by the Pac-12 Networks. The Buffaloes handed Xavier one of its two defeats this season (Baylor was the other), and have also defeated a Texas team the Eagles lost to. Eastern's three opponents during this current road stretch of three games in five nights now have a current 29-8 record.
 
Eastern has lost three-straight games – all on the road -- but its eight victories are still the most in the Big Sky entering league play next week.
 
"I'm pleased with our team for coming out of that at 8-5 and with more wins than anybody else in the conference," said Hayford. "We don't like losing three on a road trip, but our Big Sky Championship team two years ago lost three on road trip in December. Last year's team lost three on a trip in December. It's a beast, but it makes you better if you respond in the right way, and I think our team has."
 
 
Won-Lost Records . . .  
 
* The Eagles are now 8-5, still the best record in the Big Sky and one of the school's top three starts in 34 years as a member of NCAA Division I.  Eastern entered the game with a league-best RPI of 61, and is now 7-0 at home and 1-5 on the road.
* The Buffaloes improved to 10-3 with their third-straight victory. Colorado entered ranked 72nd in the RPI, and had defeated Xavier (68-66) and Texas (68-54) earlier this season.
 
 
What It Means . . .
 
* The performance was an impressive end to the non-conference season, and EWU will enter league play with a winning record for the fifth time in 30 years as member of the Big Sky Conference. As a result of their early success, the Eagles are the top team in the Big Sky Conference with an RPI of 61 (EWU was a season high 57th on 12/13 in the official NCAA RPI ratings), with Portland State next at 116th. Eastern knew it was going to be a difficult road trip to end the non-conference portion of its schedule, with the three opponents now combining for a 29-8 record through action on Dec. 22. Xavier is 10-2, Colorado is 10-3 and Northern Kentucky is 9-3.
 
 
What's Next . . .
 
* Eastern will open Big Sky Conference play at Idaho on Dec. 30. The Eagles were picked to finish fifth by the media and seventh by the coaches in the league's preseason basketball polls released Oct. 14, and open against an Idaho team picked second by the coaches and third by the media. Idaho is currently No. 236 in the RPI.
 
 
Keys to Game . . .
 
* Eastern got off to a 19-2 start with a starting lineup consisting of seniors Felix Von Hofe and Jacob Wiley, junior Bogdan Bliznyuk and true freshmen Mason Peatling and Luka Vulikic. But foul trouble plagued the Eagles after that, with Peatling and Wiley playing 24 and 25 minutes, respectively, before fouling out. Vulikic had four fouls and played 28 minutes.
 
 
Top Performers . . .
 
* Junior Bogdan Bliznyuk scored 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the line, giving him eight 20-point performances in 13 games this season. He had 21 in the first half, scoring 18-straight Eastern points at one point. In his two previous games of the road trip, Bliznyuk was held to 20 points and 21 total shots. He entered the game ranked 35th in NCAA Division I with an average of 20.6 points per game.
* True freshman Luka Vulikic equaled his best game as an Eagle, scoring 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 free throws. He also scored 12 points against Seattle on Nov. 22 when he had the school's first double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds.
* Senior graduate transfer Jacob Wiley had 10 points in just 25 minutes, hitting 4-of-6 field goals and both of his free throws. He also had a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Wiley entered the game averaging 3.3 blocked shots to lead the Big Sky by more than double the next player (1.5), and is ranked seventh in NCAA Division I.
* Senior Felix Von Hofe chipped in nine points, but was just 2-of-10 from the 3-point line. He entered the game ranked 23rd in NCAA Division I with an average of 3.25 3-pointers per game, helping EWU rank 70th as a team (8.9).
* True freshman Mason Peatling, making his second career start, had two points, six rebounds and a blocked shot.
 
 
Turning Point . . .
 
* After a second half that featured five ties and five lead changes, Eastern was able to take a 55-53 lead with 9:16 left on a pair of free throws by Jesse Hunt. But Eastern would miss four of its next five shots and have a pair of turnovers during a game-deciding 17-3 run by Colorado. After the Buffaloes took a 70-58 lead, a basket by Mason Peatling, another by Bogdan Bliznyuk, three free throws by Luka Vulikic and a 3-pointer by Felix Von Hofe pulled EWU to within four with the 10-2 run. But a basket and two free throws in the final 46 seconds by Colorado, plus four missed EWU shots, sealed the win.
 
 
Key Stats . . .
 
* Eastern had only four total turnovers in the game, compared to nine for the Buffaloes. That enabled Eastern to attempt 60 shots – nine more than Colorado – and the Eagles responded with a 13-of-29 shooting performance in the first half for 45 percent. But in the second half, Eastern made only 10-of-31 for 32 percent, including just 3-of-11 from the 3-point arc. Bogdan Bliznyuk made just one of his last eight shots after making eight of 12 in the first half. The Buffaloes made only 35 percent in the first half, but sank 54 percent after intermission. The Eagles made just 15-of-24 free throws for 63 percent after entering the game at 79.2 percent to rank seventh in NCAA Division I. Eastern was second nationally before a 9-of-18 performance against Xavier one game earlier.
 
 
Team Highlights . . .
 
* The Eagles opened with a monstrous 19-2 run to open the game, holding Colorado to without a field goal for the first 7:41 of the game while the Eagles made eight of their first 11. Bogdan Bliznyuk scored the last 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the run, including a pair of 3-pointers. His 3-pointer with 12:46 left gave EWU a 19-2 lead. The Eagles led 29-15 on a Ty Gibson 3-pointer later in the half, but Colorado rallied and pulled within 35-32 at halftime.
 
 
Notables . . .
 
* Despite the loss to Colorado, EWU remains 6-0 in games decided by six points or fewer and is 4-0 in overtime games, having already set a school record with six extra periods this season. During its seven-game winning streak, six of the victories came by six points or less. Eastern defeated Seattle 80-76 in double overtime on Nov. 22 and then beat Denver in its next game in overtime by an 85-80 score. Two games later, the Eagles played at Seattle in another double-overtime thriller, winning 93-88. Eastern's seventh win in the streak was an 88-86 overtime victory over Morehead State in which the Eagles missed all 13 of its 3-point shots after intermission. The only other time Eastern has played five overtime periods in a single year came in the 1998-99 season when Eastern had four in a 101-100 loss to Weber State on Jan. 16, 1993. The Eagles had no overtime games last season, two in 2014-15, one in 2013-14 and four in 2012-13
 
* The Eagles have played Colorado twice. Eastern lost both games, with the last meeting coming on Dec. 18, 1999, in a 79-61 loss. The Eagles also lost to the Buffaloes 87-67 on Dec. 2, 1994, in the Mile High Classic in Boulder.
 
* It's been two years since Eastern has played a current member of the Pac-12 Conference when EWU fell at Cal 78-67 on Dec. 19, 2014. Coupled with an 11-55 record versus Washington State, 1-13 mark versus Washington and a 0-14 record against other current members of the Pac-12 (0-3 versus Colorado, including two games when the Buffaloes were not in the league at the time), the Eagles have a 12-82 record all-time against that league. Since Eastern moved to NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season, EWU is 2-40 with a current 20-game losing streak versus the Pac-12. Eastern has never played Utah, Arizona State or Stanford. Eastern's win at Washington in the 2002-03 season snapped a five-game losing streak versus Pac-12 Conference opponents dating back to Eastern's 83-82 overtime win versus Washington State on Dec. 22, 1997, in Kennewick, Wash. That victory over WSU was Eastern's first-ever win over a Pacific 8 or Pacific 10 Conference opponent since the inception of the conference in 1968. It was also Eastern's first win over Washington State since Dec. 1, 1952, when the Eagles pulled out a 72-71 overtime road win, which is EWU's last win in Pullman in the series. The Cougars had led the all-time series 50-10 and had won 17-straight games over the Eagles prior to that EWU victory in 1997.
 
 
More Comments from Head Coach Jim Hayford . . .
 
On Shooting Difficulties: "Credit Colorado's defense -- when that happens, the first thing you have to do is respect the opponent. I don't know if it was fatigue, but we are a better shooting team than we showed in the second half. It's a close game because we executed really well – we only had four turnovers on a Pac-12 court in front of 7,000 people. I'm very proud of where these guys are."
 
On Player Performances: "Bogdan was really special in the first half and Jacob had a really good second half. Pretty soon this is all going to come together. Felix took a pretty big hit to his shoulder against Xavier, but was still able to give us 37 minutes which shows his senior leadership. We've committed to go with two freshmen, and Mason's six rebounds were huge. And Luka had a career-high 12 points, and he can be more efficient. But in these last two games he's played 58 minutes with only two turnovers from the point guard position, which is pretty good. Getting Jesse moving into a positive direction was really important to our team. Obviously he had some really good minutes."
 
On Late Rally: "We were down 12 with 4 1/2 minutes to go, and two minutes later it was a four-point game. That was a great answer against a team like Colorado on their floor. For us to get eight points back at a crucial time is something we've been able to do in a lot of games this year."
 
On Free Throw Shooting: "We're a lot better at the line than our free throw shooting in the last two games. Some of that is who is getting fouled, but for us to win these close games we have to be better at the free throw line."
 
On Holiday Break: "We'll get a 72-hour window for Christmas, then come back and start getting ready for Idaho. They've all been great games with Idaho, win or lose. They have our utmost respect – coach (Don) Verlin and his staff does a great job and they have a lot of players back. That is looming large."
 
On Non-Conference Schedule: "Looking at the big picture, the non-conference season is to get you ready for conference play. We get to go play in these big games and it's economically important for our athletic department. I'm pleased with our team for coming out of that at 8-5 and with more wins than anybody else in the conference.  We've learned a lot about them. We lost Julian, which was a big hit, and then had to adjust another brand-new senior to the program adjusted during non-conference play. We moved Bogdan into the role as team captain, and we are starting two freshmen and have a young bench. You can look at the non-conference schedule as a whole and be really pleased with the work our team did. We don't like losing three on a road trip, but our Big Sky Championship team two years ago lost three on road trip in December. Last year's team lost three on a trip in December. It's a beast, but it makes you better if you respond in the right way, and I think our team has."