Posts tagged Murray State
Askia (Big Shot) Booker named Pac-12 P.of the W.
Dec 10th
BOULDER – University of Colorado junior guard Askia Booker was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
Booker’s second career conference player of the week nomination comes on the heels of the Buffaloes making the Associated Press Top-25 poll for the first time this season as the No. 21 ranked team. The men also received 42 votes in the Coaches’ Poll and are slotted at the No. 27 team overall.
Booker helped CU upset then-No. 6/6 Kansas, 75-72 last Saturday, launching the game-winner with a 30-footer as time expired to keep the Buffaloes unbeaten at home (7-0). The victory also matched their longest winning streak since the 2005-06 season with nine wins in a row.
The junior guard from Los Angeles, tied for team-high honors against KU with 15 points, three rebounds and a steal. In addition to his game-winner, Booker also made pair of three-pointers to keep pace with the sixth ranked team in the country. With 3:39 remaining in the game, Booker gave the home team a six-point lead, then when the first half ended, hit his first trey of the game pushing CU to a 33-30 lead at the break. It’s the third time that Booker has made three treys in a game this season.
Earlier in the week, the Buffs won at Colorado State for the first time since 2007 with a 67-62 victory. Booker iced the game with 3 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws (12 points overall). It is Colorado’s fourth player of the week honor all-time since joining the Pac-12.
As team, it’s the first time the Buffaloes are ranked nationally since last season when they were the No. 19 ranked team in both polls on Nov. 26. They made their initial Top-25 breakthrough as the No. 23 ranked team on Nov. 19 when they started the season 6-0 en route to the Charleston Classic championship last November.
It’s also marks the first time since the end of the 1996-97 season that both CU men’s and women’s basketball programs are ranked at the same time. The men were ranked in the final AP Top-25 at No. 24, while the women ended that season No. 15 in the Coaches’ and No. 18 in the AP.
This season, the CU women are No. 11 in the latest AP poll for the second consecutive week.
“It’s nice for our University, the program and players that we are recognized as one of the elite teams in the country,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “But we aren’t going to get carried away with it. Just like we won’t be disappointed if we’re not in it. College basketball is different than college football in that polls don’t matter at the end of the day. I put more stock in RPI because the RPI doesn’t care who you are, it’s based on who you’ve played, strength of schedule, to me that’s more of a true indication, it’s less arbitrary.”
Ironically, it’s the second time in as many seasons the Buffaloes have entered the Top-25 when Booker was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week. Last season, Booker was named the MVP of the Charleston Classic after averaging 19.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.3 rebounds per game, helping the Buffs knock off Dayton, No. 16 Baylor and Murray State in four days.
Prior to last season, the CU men were last ranked in the Coaches’ Poll during the 2005-2006 campaign as the No. 25 team in back-to-back weeks (Jan. 30-Feb. 5; Feb. 6-12).
It’s only the second time the Buffs have been ranked before the start of conference play in 44 years, since a showing on the Dec. 30, 1969 poll, coming in at No. 20. Overall, it is the 34th time the Buffs have appeared in the AP rankings. CU’s highest ranking came on Dec. 18, 1963, coming in at No. 6.
Colorado (9-1) looks for its 10th straight win this Friday, Dec. 13 against Elon at the Coors Events Center beginning at 6:30 p.m. (MST). The Phoenix won 21 games last season and finished first in the Southern Conference Northern Division. This season, Elon (5-4) returns all five starters from a year ago and have won three-straight games.
Elon tickets start at $10. There’s also a Three-Game Holiday Plan available for Georgia (Dec. 28), Oregon State (Jan. 2) and Oregon (Jan. 5) starting at $30 for youth and seniors, $45 for adults.
CU All-Time in AP Polls
• CU has been ranked in 34 polls all-time.
• A top 10 ranking nine times.
• Highest ranking was No. 6, Dec. 18, 1963, the third poll of that season.
• Consecutive weeks ranked: 10 – last 7 polls of 1969, first three of 1970; in one season – 8; last 8 polls of the 1997 season.
• Most times ranked in one season – 8 in 1997; 7 in 1969; 6 in 1963.
• The AP poll was 20 teams from 1949-60, 10 teams from 1961-68 and back to 20 from 1969-1989, then 25 since 1990.
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CU Buffs Ranked #23, Booker Pac-12 Player of the Week
Nov 19th
By Curtis Snyder, Associate SID |
BOULDER—The Colorado men’s basketball team appeared in the Associated Press poll for the first time in 15 years and sophomore guard Askia Booker was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week Monday on the heels of the Buffs winning the Charleston Classic and Booker being named tournament MVP.
Booker averaged 19.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.3 rebounds per game en route to MVP honors, helping the Buffs knock off Dayton, No. 16 Baylor and Murray State in four days in Charleston, S.C. Booker scored 16 points in the quarterfinal round and added four assists. He then scored a career high 19 points with three assists and three steals in the win over Baylor and bettered that performance with 23 points and four steals in the championship game against the Racers. Booker shot over 50 percent from the field, knocking down 24-of-47 shots, and made seven 3-pointers to help the Buffs to their first in-season tournament championship since 2003 Pepsi Classic, not far from Charleston in Charlotte, N.C. The Buffs came it at No. 23 in the AP poll, the first time the program has been ranked in a major poll since earning back-to-back No. 25 rankings in the Coaches Poll during the 2005-06 season. In the AP poll, it is the first ranking since appearing at No. 24 in the final poll of the 1996-97 season, when Chauncey Billups led the Buffs to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It’s the first time the Buffs have been ranked before the start of conference play in 42 years, since a showing on the Dec. 30, 1969, poll, coming in at No. 20. Overall, it is the 32nd time the Buffs have appeared in the AP rankings. CU’s highest ranking came on Dec. 18, 1963, coming in at No. 6. The Buffs returned to Boulder Monday and have a few days off to recover from three games in four days, next hitting the court on Sunday against Air Force, a 6 p.m. tip off at the Coors Events Center. [includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″] |
Brooks: Young Buffs Bring Home Charleston Championship
Nov 19th
CHARLESTON, S.C. – If some of the Colorado Buffaloes are still wet behind the ears, they are also gritty beyond their years. The young Buffs capped a rugged three-game run with an 81-74 win against Murray State here Sunday night to win the Charleston Classic, giving CU its first in-season tournament title since the 2002-03 team won the Pepsi Classic in Charlotte, N.C.
It was a good week for CU in the dank, drizzly Old South for a number of reasons, starting with:
- Sophomore Askia Booker compiled 58 points in three games – a 19.3 average and a career-high 23 in the championship game – and was named the tournament’s MVP. No other Buffs were chosen to the all-tournament team, more of a testament to the strong and individually talented field than a CU slight.
- After successfully defending three premier point guards – Dayton’s Kevin Dillard, Baylor’s Pierre Jackson, Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan – CU sophomore Spencer Dinwiddie might return to Boulder with a lock-down rep. He was into them like a virus. “He did a great job . . . he took on the responsibility of their guards,” Booker said. “I give all the praise to him. He took all the pressure off of me.” But Dinwiddie also found time to score: He finished the championship game with 13 points.
- Freshmen post Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson and freshmen guards Eli Stalzer and Xavier Talton did what was asked of them in their roles. Scott scored nine of his 13 points in Sunday night’s decisive second half, when CU wanted to take the battle to Murray State in the low block. He also snagged six rebounds. Stalzer and Talton spelled Booker and Dinwiddie. Johnson, said coach Tad Boyle, let a couple of fouls diminish his aggression.
- Junior Andre Roberson scored for the first time in double figures (16) this season and finished one rebound short (nine) of his first double-double this year. Even though it was waved off because of an alleged charge, he had a thunderous dunk in the second half that Boyle called an energy boost for his team.
- The Buffs discovered that, yes, they can shoot free throws when a game is on the line. After clanking and clunking them in the first two games – including missing 14 of 18 against Baylor – they sank 27 of 36 Sunday night. In the game’s final 7:58, CU hit 18 of 20. Dinwiddie stuck 11 of 12.
- And Boyle went to 4-0 for the first time in his three seasons as CU’s head coach and now must find room for the Charleston Classic trophy along the Pac-12 Conference tournament hardware his team claimed last March. Boyle also got a congratulatory handshake Sunday night from Bill Murray – no relation to Murray State – and promised he “didn’t throw any Caddy Shack lines at him. He probably gets that all the time. It was good to meet him and he said he liked our team.”
What wasn’t to like about the Buffs in their three games here, particularly Sunday night? CU advanced to the championship game with a 67-57 win against Dayton, then by edging No. 16 Baylor 60-58. Murray State started four seniors and a junior from a team that went 32-2 last season.
Booker called winning the tournament “a confidence booster for everybody. We played three good teams . . . we can play with anybody. There’s nobody in the country we can’t compete against and win. We play team ball and it comes down to defense and rebounding at the end of the day. Coach tells that to us every day.”
Shooting 45.2 percent from the field, the Racers are the only team this season the Buffs haven’t held below their goal of 40 percent. But CU outrebounded Murray State 35-30 and won the board battle in two of the three games here.
Boyle was particularly proud of his team’s ball screen defense against the high-profile three point guard the Buffs faced. “It was a team victory, offensively and defensively, and I couldn’t be more proud of our team and players,” he said.
But Boyle, of course, believes there can/will be improvement through November. The Buffs don’t play during Thanksgiving week, returning to the Coors Events Center on Sunday, Nov. 25 to face Air Force (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Boyle is looking at this week as quality practice time.
CU led 33-31 at halftime Sunday night, rallying from a pair of six-point deficits. Boyle had cautioned his team about Canaan’s long-range shooting, and it didn’t take long for the CU coach’s words to ring true. The 6-1 senior took six of Murray State’s 14 first-half three-point attempts and hit half of them – the last two appearing a couple of steps beyond NBA range.
Dinwiddie rolled his eyes in disbelief. “People just don’t do that,” he said. “Not that people can’t, but it’s just the coach never says please go and shoot a 35-footer. So I wasn’t expecting it. He’s a great player, very difficult to guard.”
Canaan finished with a team-best 21 points, but didn’t hit a trey in the second half.
The Buffs hurt themselves with a season-worst 11 first-half turnovers, exceeding their first two game totals here by two. But they continued to compensate with defense and rebounding, holding the Racers to 35.7 percent from the field (10-of-28) and outboarding them 19-14. And in the second half, CU cut its turnovers to six.
The Buffs opened the second half with a 6-2 run, getting baskets from Johnson, Sabatino Chen and Roberson to go up 39-33, with that six-point advantage CU’s largest of the game. But Boyle also had warned his players to keep 6-7 Ed Daniel off the glass, and the next two Racers possessions showed why. A put-back stuff cut the Buffs lead to 39-35 and a layup on the next trip made it 39-37.
Then Murray State’s three-point shooters switched on. Stacy Wilson hit one, giving the Racers a 40-39 lead, Dinwiddie banked in a trey to push the Buffs back in front 42-40, then Dexter Fields answered with a triple to give Murray State a 43-42 edge.
A back-and-forth half appeared to be underway until CU unleashed a 6-0 run highlighted by back-to-back stuffs by Scott on a baseline move and Booker on a breakaway. That surge opened a 48-45 Buffs lead with just under 12 minutes remaining.
Seconds later, after Murray State coach Steve Prohm was whistled for a technical, a pair of Dinwiddie free throws sent CU’s advantage to 50-45. Things were heating up. Roberson picked up his third foul when he was called for a charge on his he-man jam over Daniel.
At the 10 minute mark, a sweet baseline move by Scott resulted in a layup and capped a 10-0 run that had opened a 52-45 CU lead. Murray State was far from done, answering with a 7-0 run capped by another trey by Fields to tie the score at 52-52 with 8 minutes left.
The next 3 minutes were all Buffs; they went on an 11-1 run highlighted by free throws from Scott, Adams and Chen; another Scott field goal from the low post and a Booker trey from the left wing.
With 5:02 to play, CU led 63-53. Murray State closed to 63-58 on a conventional three-point play by Daniel – and Roberson also picked up his fourth foul on that play.
At 1:51, another trey by Fields brought the Racers to 68-65 and prompted a timeout by Prohm. CU answered with a free throw line jumper by Booker, two free throws by Chen. Wilson hit a long trey with a minute remaining (72-68), but Scott negated that with a layup and a free throw to restore CU’s seven-point lead (75-68).
Roberson fouled out with 13.4 seconds left, sending Daniel to the free throw line for a potential three-point play. But he missed and the Buffs’ lead was 77-72. Dinwiddie hit another four free throws in the final 10 seconds and this one was done.
Winning the tournament, he said, “means a lot; it gets our players used to winning. We don’t want our team ever to get used to losing. It kind of builds that pride and sense of urgency, that will to say we don’t lose. Period. That’s just what it is.”
Should the Buffs be included in this week’s Top 25? Booker said it “doesn’t matter,” Dinwiddie said, “Yes . . . keep it conservative and go like (No.) 17.”
The Buffs did their parts in Charleston, the polls are best left to others. It’s very early in a long season, but you can’t help but feel a buzz from how it’s started.
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