Posts tagged AFA
CU MBB: Scott returns home to rousing ovation
Dec 1st
Beats AFA 81-57
COLORADO SPRINGS — After more than a year of waiting, Josh Scott finally returned home on Saturday. An afternoon that began with a rousing ovation from the Clune Arena faithful culminated with one of the finest performances of his young career.
The 6-10 sophomore from nearby Monument had 16 points and a season-high 13 rebounds as the Buffs led the Air Force Falcons from wire-to-wire en route to a convincing 81-57 victory. Scott reached his third double-double of the year half way through the second half and then sat for the game’s final five minutes while the Buffs coasted to their seventh straight victory.
“It feels good, it’s good to show up for the home crowd,” said Scott. “I won’t lie, so it’s nice.”
Josh Scott hit his third double/dounble of the season
After being held to zero points and just three rebounds for the first 12:17 of the game, Scott sprang off the mat to score 16 points and grab 10 boards over the remainder of the afternoon. His tenacious and spirited play in front of the hometown fans helped break a close game wide open in the second half.
Scott’s first bucket came at the 7:43 mark of the first half, as the Buffs were clinging to a tenuous nine-point lead. By the time he scored his final bucket nearly 18 minutes later, the Buffs lead had ballooned to 28 points mostly on the strength of the big man’s domination of an undersized and overwhelmed Falcon front court.
“Once I got the ball in the high-post, I was just looking for Josh down low and we executed well,” said freshman forward Wesley Gordon.
Scott’s play may have been the highlight of the game, but it was an effective Colorado defense that won it. The Buffs out-rebounded the Falcons 42-25 and forced them into a resounding 18 turnovers as AFA was held to a season-low 57 points. The 57 points were the fewest the Buffs have allowed in a road game since they gave up 47 at Oregon last year.
Despite all of the Air Force mistakes, the turnover issues were far from one-sided. The Buffs turned the ball over nine times themselves in the first half and it was the sloppy play that kept Air Force in the game for more than a half. The Falcons, who had more than twice as many turnovers (12) as assists (5), were down only 10 at halftime.
CU coach Tad Boyle later attributed the first-half carelessness to an Air Force zone that took his young team more than a half to decipher. After a few halftime adjustments, the Buffs then turned the ball over just five times in the second half.
“It’s not fun playing against the zone for 40 minutes,” said Boyle. “We tell our guys all the time, the reason they are playing a zone is because they don’t feel like they can guard you (in man-to-man defense). So, we have to be patient, and get the ball moved. Our guys would rather play 40 minutes against the (man-to-man defense), but we’re going to see a lot of the zone. It’s just the way college basketball is being played now, and people trying to stay out of foul trouble.”
Scott wasn’t the only Buff player who triumphantly returned to his hometown on Saturday. Gordon, who also hails from the Colorado Springs area, scored six points, pulled down three rebounds and had two blocks in his own successful return to the city.
“It was a big game for them, in front of their friends and family,” said Boyle. “Colorado Springs, and this community, means a lot to both those young men and their families – their families are obviously both still here and part of this community. So, it was big for them, and I was happy that they both played well. So, it was a good, good feel-good victory for both those young guys.”
The game began under a barrage of Askia Booker jump shots as the trigger-happy junior hit his four shots, two of them from three-point range, and scored eight of the team’s first 10 points. Booker’s success from the field came as the rest of the team combined for just four field goals in the game’s first 12 minutes.
Booker’s hot early shooting helped the team weather the initial struggles of the other go-to players on offense and gave them each time to find their own rhythm in a slow-paced first half. Booker then scored just three points after the game’s first four minutes, but by end of his hot streak the rest of the CU offense had gained their footing and was more than happy to take the weight off Booker’s shoulders.
“It was nice to see (Booker) come out and hit some shots and get us kind of going, and then we kind of took it from there,” said Boyle. “We came out first part of the second half and made some buckets and extended that thing and never let them get back in the game.”
After a season-opening loss to the Baylor Bears, the Buffs have now won seven straight for the first time since January 2011 as they now head into the gauntlet of their non-conference schedule.
The Buffs will travel to Fort Collins to play a solid Colorado State team on Tuesday at Moby Arena, where they haven’t won since 2007. CU will then play two of the following three games against teams currently ranked in the top five in the country – hosting No. 2 Kansas on Saturday, Dec. 7, then taking on No. 5 Oklahoma State in Las Vegas on Dec. 21.
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CU Buffs Women’s Soccer Faces Falcons, Gaels In Second Weekend
Aug 29th
QUICKLY: The University of Colorado soccer team looks to continue its hot start to the season against Air Force and St. Mary’s. The Buffs open the weekend against their third straight in-state opponent, taking on the Falcons at 5 p.m. on Friday. They conclude a three-game home-stand at 1 p.m. on Sunday against the Gaels. In the opening weekend, CU recorded back-to-back shutouts against Northern Colorado and Colorado College in the third annual Colorado Cup.
Falcon soccer player Rhett Chase
COLORADO VS. AIR FORCE: The Buffs hold a 4-1 lead over the Falcons. CU’s lone loss was a 1-0 defeat in the Buffs’ first season (1996). After an eight season series hiatus, the in-state opponents resumed play last season, with the Buffs winning 2-0. Three of the Buffs’ four wins over AFA have been shutouts.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS: The Falcons are off to a 1-0-1 start, tying Montana 1-1 and falling 2-1 to TCU at the Montana Kickoff Invitational. Air Force returns six starters from last year’s squad that scored 12 goals and went 5-9-3 (0-7 Mountain West). The Falcons lost Stephanie Patterson, who scored five goals in her final season, but welcome 12 newcomers. AFA’s two goals this season have come off of just three shots by freshman Noelle Heiser and junior Kylie Williamson.
COLORADO VS. ST. MARY’S: The Buffs and Gaels have met just once, in 2009. The 8-1 CU victory was a record breaker. Nikki Marshall scored four goals (tying her own record for most goals scored in a single game) and Kelly Butler scored two. The eight total goals are the most the Buffs have scored in a single game and the 19 total points ranks second. The 28 shots ties for fifth on the single game list. CU also scored off an own goal for only the second time in program history.
SCOUTING THE GAELS: The Gaels enter the weekend with a 1-1 record after defeating Grand Canyon 3-0 and falling to No. 11 San Diego State 1-0. SMC returns eight starters from last year’s squad, including All-West Coast Conference honorable mentions Melinda Madden and Vicki Shimkus (last year’s leading scorer) and Canada Word Cup U-19 member Caroline Beauline. The Gaels posted a 6-12-2 (1-7 WCC) record in 2012.
PEDAL TO PRENTUP: Make a healthy and environmentally friendly trip to Prentup Field on Friday, Aug. 30 to watch CU take on Air Force at 5 p.m. The first 200 fans who bike to Prentup will receive a free CU T-shirt. Admission is free, though fans can make a $5 donation to the Buff Club to show their support for the team, so grab your family and friends for a bike ride to Prentup Field.
FAMILIAR FACES: Santa Clara transfer Brooke Rice will face former West Coast Conference opponent Saint Mary’s on Sunday. Rice played in 26 games in two seasons at Santa Clara.
LAST WEEK: The Buffs opened the 2013 season with the third annual Colorado Cup. In the opening game against Northern Colorado, the Buffs shut out the Bears 3-0 for the third straight year. In seven meetings between the two teams, the Buffs have never lost, much less given up a goal. It took just over 33 minutes into the game for freshman Brie Hooks to score her first goal as a Buff, and then just another 45 to score again, this time off an assist from Darcy Jerman. The Buffs’ other goal came off an own goal, marking just the fifth own goal in program history. On Sunday, Hooks once again led the Buffs to victory, scoring off an Anne Stuller assist, to defeat Colorado College 1-0.
TIEBREAKER: Colorado and Denver both concluded the Colorado Cup with two wins and an equal goal differential. Though Denver allowed one goal and Colorado allowed zero, Denver took home the title by scoring one more goal than the Buffs. Despite losing the trophy, the Buffs have two titles under their belts and have remained undefeated through six games in three Cups.
HOOKS, LINE AND SINKER: In her first two games as a Buff, freshman Brie Hooks has already scored three goals. Against UNC, Hooks became the first player in program history to have a multi-goal performance in her Colorado debut. Other Buffs to reach similar milestones are Katie Griffin, who scored two goals in her second game at CU in 2003 and Nikki Marshall, who netted four in just her third game in 2006. Hooks followed up her fabulous introduction by hitting the lone goal and game-winner against CC. Her impressive opening weekend helped her to CU’s first Athlete of the Week honors of 2013.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: A record crowd showed their support for the Buffs in the home opener on Sunday. 1,364 fans were in attendance for the final games of the Colorado Cup, breaking into the 10th spot on CU’s all-time crowds at Prentup Field. This is the second Colorado Cup game to rank in the top 10. CU’s battle against Northern Colorado on August 21, 2011 in the inaugural Cup drew 1,911 fans, ranking fourth all time at Prentup.
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Buffs Ice Down Falcons, Remain Unbeaten
Nov 26th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Here’s the way Tad Boyle sees a night against an opponent as hot as Air Force was in Sunday’s first half: “If they’re going to make jump shots, shoot threes, over our hands for 40 minutes, then after the game we’ll shake hands and congratulate them.”
At game’s end at the Coors Events Center, Boyle’s Colorado Buffaloes did indeed wind up shaking hands with the Falcons at mid-court – but it wasn’t because the visitors’ long-range marksmanship continued.
Air Force cooled off and CU rolled on. Impressively. The No. 23 Buffs remained unbeaten by zooming past the previously unbeaten Falcons 89-74 for their first 5-0 start since the 1989-90 season.
Roberson returns to form with a double-double
“I think people understand now about Air Force and why we were nervous after the first half,” Boyle said. “They’re well-disciplined, well-coached . . . we did a great job of taking away their layups, but it’s pick your poison against Air Force.”
AFA (5-1) shot 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from beyond the arc in the first half, but still trailed 41-39. In the second half, with the Buffs putting more defensive emphasis on getting around/through flair screens and ball screens – and believing the visiting shooters couldn’t stay that torrid – the Falcons cooled to a more earthly 25 percent (4-of-16) from three-point range.
The Falcons finished the game at 40.6 percent (13-of-32) from long range, with the Buffs at 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) for the night. But CU had more of everything: the Buffs made the board battle a joke, winning it 46-19; they dominated in the paint, 40-18; they had 18 second-chance points to the Falcons’ four; and they sank 22-of-28 free throws. That last stat came after players shot 100 free throws each for a couple of practices preceding the Falcons’ trip north.
CU freshman Josh Scott got 20 points
Freshman post Josh Scott posted his first 20-point night at CU, junior forward Andre Roberson got back in his double-double groove (18 points, 13 rebounds) and the sophomore backcourt of Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker contributed 15 points each.
“This team, when we’re balanced, we have lot of different weapons,” Boyle said. Of the 6-10 Scott’s performance, he added, “He’s a great post player; he showed signs of why he was so highly regarded . . . his shot is not always the prettiest, but it goes in. Our guys believe in Josh.”
Scott said the Buffs’ standard plan is to work inside out “to me, Dre (Roberson) or ‘X’ (Xavier Johnson) . . . that’s always a constant thing.”
Just a guess, but CU Boyle’s message at halftime probably centered on making life a little more difficult for the Falcons’ marksmen.
They came to Boulder averaging 10.2 treys a game, and by intermission they were just about there, hitting eight of 14 (57 percent).
Still, CU led 41-39, matching AFA’s percentage from behind the arc but just not attempting or hitting as many (four of seven). Instead, the Buffs got their points in a variety of ways from a variety of players. Boyle used 10 players in the first 20 minutes, and nine of them scored.
Before the Falcons’ barrage of threes – they made six in the first half’s final 10 minutes – the Buffs had taken an eight-point lead (19-11) and appeared to have the visitors on their heels. Not so.
Air Force came soaring back behind Todd Fletcher, who scored nine consecutive points to bring his team to within three (23-20). Then, a DeLovell Earls three-pointer tied the score with 10:41 remaining before intermission. From there, CU managed to go up by as many as five (36-31), but AFA stayed hot from behind the arc in the final 4:30, hitting its last two treys to trail by only two at the break.
The second half’s most immediate questions: Would the Air Force cool off, or could CU make that happen? Yes and yes.
Said Scott: “I thought they were definitely going to get tired and were not going to make those shots in the second half. We were contesting them.”
Added Roberson: “They came out hot . . . but they wouldn’t be able to do it for all 40 minutes.”
Halfway through the final 20 minutes, the Falcons had added three more treys to their total – but they weren’t sizzling. And the Buffs had rolled to their largest advantage of the night (67-58) to that point. They used a 9-2 run highlighted by an Eli Stalzer trey against the AFA zone and a Roberson steal/stuff that juiced up the crowd of 10,607.
At the 7:47 mark, CU had gone ahead by 10 (71-61) on a pair of Dinwiddie free throws. Another pair from Scott and a nifty layup by Booker with 5:19 to play opened a 14-point CU advantage (75-61).
To catch up, the Falcons would have to go on another three-point binge, but it didn’t happen. The Buffs steadily pulled away.
CU plays Texas Southern Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
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