Posts tagged ranked
CU men get sweet revenge on No. 16 Baylor to advance into tourney championship
Nov 16th
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Revenge is sweet. Is payback sweeter? Doesn’t matter. The Colorado Buffaloes got both Friday afternoon in the Charleston Classic, holding off No. 16 Baylor 60-58 to advance to the tournament’s championship game.
The tournament takes a day off Saturday, with play resuming Sunday. The opponent is to be determined, but the Buffs will play for the championship at 6:30 p.m. MST (ESPN2) in the TD Arena.
CU reeled in a rare signature win in November, with its last defeat of a ranked team in non-conference play dating to 1973. Buffs coach Tad Boyle understood the magnitude of that as well as what it meant to defeat Baylor.
“In our first year (at CU), we’re up 10 at the half down there; we let one slip away,” a joyous Boyle said. “Last year in the NCAA Tournament we had another chance . . . it was a tie game with four or five minutes to go and we didn’t finish it off.
“That’s why I was so excited after the game – and that we had fans down here to support this team and program. I want them to know how much we appreciate it and all the people back home who couldn’t make the trip.”
CU’s last win against a ranked opponent came last March in the NCAA Tournament, when the Buffs defeated No. 23 UNLV. In the next game in Albuquerque, N.M, Baylor ousted the Buffs 80-63.
After Thursday’s 67-57 win against Dayton here, CU players were pointing at Baylor. They got their wish Friday – but making it come true wasn’t easy. On the game’s final play, Baylor’s 7-1 freshman, Isaiah Austin, caught a three-quarter length of the court rainbow pass, but missed at the buzzer.
“I held my breath,” said CU junior Andre Roberson. “I thought he was going to hit the shot. But he missed it luckily and we came out with the win.”
Added Buffs sophomore Askia Booker: “All kinds of things are running through your brain, but you try to stay positive with your teammates,” We’ve been here before, we’ve been in close games. We just had to fight through it and stay together and be positive.”
Booker led the Buffs with a career-high 19 points – 16 in the first half. Spencer Dinwiddie (11) was the only other CU player in double figures. Baylor (3-1) was led by Cory Jefferson’s 17, with Pierre Jackson adding 12.
CU made only four of 18 free throw attempts, including missing five of six in the final 1:01. The four makes were the fewest in a Buffs win since the 1980 team sank only two against Oklahoma in a 60-59 win. Fortunately on Friday, Booker hit one of two with 11.6 seconds to play, giving CU its narrow margin.
The Buffs (3-0) led four times in the first half, three of the advantages coming in the first 5 minutes and the first coming on a Dinwiddie trey (5-2). From there, CU’s challenge seemed to be staying close – and it was a challenge.
But Booker and the Buffs were up for it.
The long and athletic Bears twice led by five points in the first 20 minutes, with their second advantage coming on the heels of a controversial blocking call against Josh Scott. One official – the trio was from the Big 12 – whistled a charging foul on Pierre Jackson, but an outside official overruled it.
The officials huddled, the Buffs bench objected, but the call stood. Jackson hit one of two free throws, then added a three-pointer on the next Baylor possession, sending the Bears up 22-17.
CU – especially Booker – had loads of fight left. He tied the score at 22-22 with a trey at the about the 5 minute mark. After Baylor had crept ahead by three, Andre Roberson stepped back and drained a three-pointer to tie it again at 30-30.
Then it was “Ski Season” in South Carolina – at least for the first half’s final minute. With the shot clock ticking toward zero on CU’s next-to-last possession, Booker drained his second trey of the half to send the Buffs up 33-30.
When Baylor gave up the ball on the ensuing possession, the Buffs left the final 17 seconds wind down – with the ball in Booker’s hands. With two seconds showing, he pulled up just inside the three-point arc at the top of the key. His soft jumper nestled into the net and CU left the court with a 35-30 halftime lead.
Booker finished the half with a game-best 16 points on a career-high seven field goals and was the only player on either team in double figures. He called it “absolutely” the best half of his college career: “At this level, with this intensity, yeah it was.”
The Buffs outrebounded the Bears 22-17 – a Tad Boyle mandate – in the first and 41-40 for the game. Boyle called that “no easy task because they have some length and good athletes out there who are a little bit longer than ours and little more athletic at some positions. But our guys found a way and we overcame.”
CU gave up only three three-pointers to Baylor – a huge upgrade from their last meeting in March in the NCAA Tournament when the Bears’ Brady Heslip gunned down nine of 12 from beyond the arc for 27 points. In Friday’s first half, Heslip had two points and 0-for-3 from three-point range. He finished with seven points – and one trey.
Boyle’s biggest concern might have been his team’s first-half free throw shooting. After going only 14-of-24 from the line against Dayton, CU ended Friday’s first half one-for-six and finished the afternoon with 14 misses.
But the Buffs had other issues to open the second half, turning the ball over on two of their first four possessions and leaving Heslip open in transition. His first trey of the afternoon – and his only one of the game — brought the Bears to 37-35 in the first 3 minutes.
Baylor tied the score at 37-37 on a baby hook by Cory Jefferson, but Boyle and his bench believed Jefferson’s toss didn’t beat the shot clock. Whatever, the game was tied with 151/2 minutes to play and CU couldn’t allow Baylor to muster any more momentum.
At the 10-minute mark, the Bears took a 45-44 lead – their first since 30-27 – on a twisting drive and layup by Deuce Bello. The Buffs answered with a key trey from the left wing by Eli Stalzer and a goal tending call on a steal/layup by Sabatino Chen.
That four-point CU advantage (49-45) wilted fast. Baylor went inside and got immediate results from the 7-1 Austin and 6-8 Rico Gathers, who pulled the Bears within 50-49 with 7:30 remaining. But the Buffs stayed focused.
After Josh Scott scored on a goal tending call on Austin, Dinwiddie buried a three-pointer, sending the Buffs up 55-51. They hawked the ball on the Bears’ next possession, forcing a tie up that went to CU. Dinwiddie hit again, this time a two-pointer to give the Buffs their biggest lead at 57-51 with 3:40 to play.
But could they hold it? Yes, but with difficulty.
At the 3:00 mark, Baylor – trailing 57-52 – began pressing and extended its halfcourt defense. With 1:55 left, Jefferson hit a follow shot (57-54), Dinwiddie answered with a floating layup (59-54), Jackson countered with a jumper (59-56) and then added two free throws (59-58) with 19.8 seconds to play.
Dinwiddie missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Shane Harris-Tunks controlled the rebound. Booker was fouled with 11.6 seconds showing, hit the front end of his one-and-one (60-58) then missed the second.
Baylor rebounded, A.J. Walton drove the length of the court but couldn’t hit a difficult running shot from the right side. Roberson got the last of his 12 rebounds, was fouled and went to the free throw line. With 3.1 seconds left, he missed both attempts but in the scramble for the second miss, time nearly expired.
Baylor got possession with 0.2 remaining. Austin caught a lob pass just above the free throw line, turned, shot . . . and missed.
The Buffs had one sweet ‘W.’
“It’s revenge, it means a lot,” Booker said. “It burned last year in our hearts. Just knowing we could have this chance and we finally got it. We took full advantage of it. I loved it.”
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Boulder CU B-BALLER ROBERSON NAMED TO JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD TOP-50 WATCH LIST
Nov 8th
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – University of Colorado junior forward André Roberson was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 watch list by The Los Angeles Athletic Club, Thursday afternoon.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball media members, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year’s individual performance and team records, are the early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
Roberson is one of two CU basketball players in the last three years named to the prestigious Wooden Top-50 watch list. Former Buff standout Alec Burks was named to the Top-50 watch list in 2010-11 and later made the final top-20.
Roberson is one of three Pac-12 players named to the watch list joining Solomon Hill of Arizona and Allen Crabbe California.
Last season, Roberson was a Pac-12 All-Conference first team selection, in addition being named to the conference all-defensive team. He was a key contributor in CU’s successful run winning the Pac-12 Conference Tournament championship in Los Angeles and the NCAA Tournament third round in Albuquerque last March.
Roberson enters his junior year 357 rebounds from breaking the CU career rebounding record held by Stephane Pelle (1,054, 1999-2003). Roberson shattered the single-season last season with 401 rebounds. He also ranked third nationally in rebounds per game at 11.1, and was fifth nationally with 20 double-doubles.
CU opens the 2012-13 season against Wofford, Friday, Nov. 9, 5 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. There are a limited number of tickets available for the season opener, in addition to season tickets for the 15 home games.
Creighton junior forward Doug McDermott was a Wooden Award All American a year ago after an outstanding sophomore campaign in which he ranked first nationally in field goals made, third in scoring, and seventh in field goal percentage. On the season, he averaged 22.9 points and 8.5 rebounds, taking the Blue Jays to a Missouri Valley Conference title and an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are not eligible for the Preseason Top 50. The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the midseason list and the official voting ballot, both of which are open to freshman and transfer students. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA. The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 37th annual Wooden Award ceremony will honor the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, and will include the presentation of the Wooden Award All American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, which in 2013 will go to Kansas Head Coach Bill Self. The event will take place the weekend of April 12-13, 2013.
Nine upperclassmen return to the Preseason Top 50 list from a year ago: Allen Crabbe of California; Aaron Craft of Ohio State; Tim Hardaway, Jr. of Michigan; Elias Harris of Gonzaga; Solomon Hill of Arizona; Ray McCallum of Detroit; McDermott; Peyton Siva of Louisville; and Patric Young of Florida.
Louisville, a Final Four team a year ago, was the only school with three players on the Preseason Top 50 (Siva, Gorgui Dieng and Chane Behanan). Seven schools had two players named to the list: Duke (Seth Curry and Mason Plumlee), Florida (Young and Kenny Boynton), Indiana (Christian Watford and Cody Zeller), Kansas (Elijah Johnson and Jeff Withey), Michigan (Hardaway, Jr. and Trey Burke), North Carolina State (Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie) and Ohio State (Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas).
Two 2012-13 preseason honorees are younger brothers of previous John R. Wooden All Americans. Duke’s Seth Curry is the younger brother of 2009 Wooden Award All American Stephen Curry of Davidson. Cody Zeller of Indiana is the younger brother of 2012 Wooden Award All American Tyler Zeller of North Carolina.
The Big 10 leads all conferences with nine selections to the Preseason Top 50, followed by the Big East with seven and the ACC and SEC each with six. The Big 12 has five selections, the Pac-12 boasts four, the West Coast Conference has three, and the Mountain West has two picks. Conference USA, Horizon, Missouri Valley, Mid-American, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Summit and Sun Belt each have one honoree.
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include such notables as Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Candace Parker (’07 and ’08), Kevin Durant (’09) and Maya Moore of Connecticut (’09 and ‘11). Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis won the men’s Award in 2012.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the All American recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All Americans, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award Ceremony.
Follow the candidates and get the latest news throughout the season by logging on to www.WoodenAward.com or going to the Wooden Award facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/WoodenAward. For more information on the John R. Wooden Award, please contact the Wooden Award staff at 213-630-5206 or via email atwoodenaward@laac.net.
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CU beat down by USC 50 to 6
Oct 21st
LOS ANGELES – When Matt Barkley makes his first million in the NFL, a small donation to the University of Colorado might be a nice gesture. It’s the least he could do after all the Buffaloes have done for him during their brief stay in the Pac-12 Conference.
On Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Barkley, Southern California’s gifted senior quarterback, virtually repeated his 2011 passing performance against CU in guiding the No. 11 Trojans to a 50-6 beat-down of the Buffs.
Barkley returned for his senior year for afternoons like Saturday. Before being pulled with 7:43 remaining in the third quarter, he completed 19 of 20 passes for 298 yards and six touchdowns – tying the school record he set in Boulder last season in USC’s 42-17 rout.
In two games against the Buffs, Barkley has thrown for 12 TDs and 616 yards. His six TD passes Saturday gave him the Pac-12 and USC career records (103) and Saturday’s 95 percent completion ratio also set single-game school and conference marks, as did his passing efficiency rating of 319.16.
“There’s a reason why he’s going to go high in the draft,” CU coach Jon Embree said. “Great player, glad he’s done, glad I don’t have to see him in person anymore.”
“He’s a great quarterback,” CU defensive end Will Pericak said. “He’s got the whole package around him – the line protects, he’s got the great receivers to throw to. It’s just what he does. He picks up his receivers when they’re open and he’s a playmaker.”
Robert Woods, a 6-1 junior, also entered the USC record books for career receptions and TDs in a single game. He caught eight passes Saturday for 132 yards and four scores. Teammate Marqise Lee made six receptions for 103 yards and one TD.
By comparison with Barkley, CU quarterback Jordan Webb finished 18-for-35 for 210 yards with three interceptions. He was replaced by Connor Wood in the final quarter.
Suffering its third consecutive blowout loss, CU fell to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12 while USC went to 6-1, 4-1 with its seventh consecutive win (7-0) against CU. In losses over the past three weeks, CU has allowed 1,498 yards and 143 points.
The Buffs, who travel to No. 2 Oregon next Saturday, now have lost nine straight meetings with ranked teams and 19 consecutive road games against ranked opponents. CU had won its past two Pac-12 road games – at Utah to close out 2011 and at Washington State to open 2012 conference play.
But Saturday, entering the Coliseum as a 41-point underdog, would be vastly different. After one half of The Barkley Show, the Buffs trailed 33-6 after spotting the Trojans a 19-0 lead less than 6 minutes into the first quarter.
USC got its first touchdown only two plays into the game on a 55-yard Barkley-to-Lee pass, then capitalized on back-to-back CU turnovers – a Webb interception and a lost Christian Powell fumble – for another quick pair of scores. The Buffs lost six turnovers – three picks, three fumbles – that the Trojans converted into 29 points.
The first two USC scores after CU miscues, of course, came on Barkley passes. The first was a 39-yarder to Woods, the second nine yards to tight end Xavier Grimble. CU appeared to have answered that score on a 15-yard Webb-to-Gerald Thomas pass, but Thomas was ruled to have been out of bounds at the back of the end zone and the TD was negated.
On fourth down, Will Oliver kicked a 27-yard field and CU crept to within 19-3.
On the ensuing series, Pericak forced a Barkley fumble and linebacker Jon Major recovered, giving CU possession at the USC 42. Five plays got the Buffs as far as the Trojans’ 19, where on fourth down Oliver booted a 37-yard field goal.
CU had pulled to 19-6, but from there USC steadily pulled away. And the Buffs’ scoring was done.
On the next series, Barkley threw his fourth TD pass of the half, this one caught again by Woods and covering 29 yards. It was the 100th TD pass of Barkley’s career, giving him the school and Pac-12 record and sending the Trojans up 26-6.
But the Barkley-Woods tandem wasn’t finished. They teamed again on USC’s next series for a 17-yard scoring play, with Woods again outrunning CU freshman corner Kenneth Crawley to push the Trojans ahead 33-6 with 6:52 left before intermission.
Woods’ reception was the 217th of his career, giving him the USC career record and touching off another round of celebrity congratulations on the Coliseum’s massive video board. USC obviously was expecting a record day Saturday or at some point very soon; luminaries congratulating Barkley and Woods on their records included NBA stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, former USC coach Pete Carroll and a host of other former Trojans.
Barkley ended the first half 16-of-17 for 269 yards and five TDs, while Woods caught six of those throws for 106 yards and three TDs – tying the school record. USC’s shortest scoring drive of the opening half was 29 seconds, its longest was 2:58. The Trojans punched up 316 yards of total offense in the first half to the Buffs’ 162.
The only question for the second half was how many more points USC might score and how many more records Barkley, Wood & Co. might set.
CU turned the ball over on its first second-half possession when linebacker Tony Burnett appeared to take the ball out of receiver Nelson Spruce’s hands. The play was ruled an interception, but whatever, Burnett returned it 54 yards to set up another Barkley-to-Woods TD.
Another catch, another couple of records . . . the pitch-and-catch covered three yards and gave Woods the USC school mark for TD receptions in a game. It also gave Barkley his sixth TD pass, tying the single-game record he set last season.
Redshirt freshman Max Wittek replaced Barkley not quite midway through the third quarter and threw his first career TD pass – a 24-yarder to sophomore tailback D.J. Morgan. That scoring pass, coupled with Barkley’s half a dozen, set a USC single-game record (seven) and a record for TD passes thrown against CU.
It pushed the score to 47-6, and Andre Heidari’s 37-yard field goal with 5:34 to play gave the Trojans their highest point total of the season (50) and the Buffs their second-worst loss of the season, behind only the 69-14 flogging at Fresno State.
BUFF BITS: CU’s injury toll continued to mount. Starting right tackle Jack Harris was left at home with concussion symptoms. Linebacker Brady Daigh, who has not fully recovered from a neck injury suffered in the loss to Arizona State, did not make the trip. Also, punter Darragh O’Neill’s status was not determined until warm-ups; he was nursing a foot injury but punted once in the first half . . . . But a couple of players returned to the world of the healthy. Safety Ray Polk played for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain in the opening quarter of the season opener and Powell was back at tailback after missing last week’s game with a deep thigh bruise . . . . Former CU coach Bill McCartney traveled with the Buffs to LA, marking his first road trip with the team in more than a decade . . . . A special guest on the CU sidelines was Philip Bailey, lead singer of Earth, Wind and Fire.
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