Posts tagged schedule
Brooks: Buffs Rely On Tightened ‘D’ In Rout Of Utes
Feb 2nd
Vid intro: The CU women’s basketball team has slumped in the middle of the season, often falling apart at the end of the game with turnovers, missed shots and lack of effort. That all changed Sunday when the Buffs won by 16 points against the Utah Utes, a team they lost to by 2 points four days earlier.
By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Linda Lappe’s scouting report for Sunday’s Pac-12 Conference game against Utah didn’t change much – if at all – from last Wednesday night’s encounter in Salt Lake City. It didn’t need to.Colorado’s coach was more focused on what her team didn’t do than most anything Utah did – and fine-tuning her team was the right approach. Lappe’s Buffs clamped down defensively, made a few offensive tweaks and dispatched the Utes 61-45 at the Coors Events Center.
“It was good to get that win,” Lappe said. “I thought our players stepped up and did some good things on the defensive end and in rebounding.”
Lexy Kresl, a point giard and three-point shooter, had missed several games with a possible injury, hot a three late in the game to stop a Ute run.
Winning for only the second time in their past eight games, the Buffs (13-8, 3-7) scored the afternoon’s first points and never trailed thereafter. CU led 33-16 at halftime, by as many as 20 points early in the second half, and allowed the Utes (10-11, 3-7) no closer than 13 for the rest of the game.
‘D’ was key for the Buffs, who had shot below 40 percent from the field in nine of their previous 11 games. While Sunday’s shooting percentage didn’t climb above 40 (35.8), CU held Utah to a frigid 25.9 percent – well below the 38.8 the Utes shot in Wednesday night’s 58-55 win.
In that game, CU’s Arielle Roberson and Jen Reese combined for only nine points. By halftime Sunday, Roberson-Reese had 16 between them – Roberson with 9, Reese with 7. Reese didn’t score in the second half, but Roberson doubled her first-half productivity and finished as the game’s high scorer (18).
Roberson said Lappe’s characterization of the Buffs now as “underdogs” made them “all come out and be more aggressive . . . we threw the first punch and were more aggressive.”
Defensively, said Roberson, the Buffs “boxed out a lot better, got a lot of defensive rebounds. We were better on our fouls, so I think (Lappe) was very pleased about that. We were scrappy, we were in passing lanes, and that set the tone for our offense.”
Brittany Wilson added 10 points for CU, seven of them in the second half. Freshmen Haley Smith contributed eight points and eight rebounds, matching Roberson’s board total. Lappe said Smith “played tremendous. I liked her demeanor . . . she was aggressive and that gave us a lot of energy and helped our overall intensity.”
Smith, a 6-0 wing from Sammamish, Wash., called Sunday’s win “a good bounce-back game for us . . . I think our mentality is changing.”
Sophomore Jamee Swan, who had scored 15 points and collected eight rebounds in Wednesday night’s loss, was held out of Sunday’s first for violating a team rule. She played 5 minutes, totaling one point and two rebounds.
Utah had one player in double figures – guard Danielle Rodriguez with 11. Forward Michelle Plouffe, the Utes’ high scorer (14) in Wednesday’s game, went 1-for-10 from the field Sunday and finished with 7 points. Cheyenne Wilson, who had 11 points against the Buffs in the earlier meeting, managed nine in the rematch.
Lappe credited Roberson, Reese and Rachel Hargis for their defensive work on Plouffe and for turning Sunday’s game in a guards duel.
“We match up well with her (but) you always have to know where (Plouffe) is,” Lappe said, noting that Hargis did “a great job” in spelling Roberson, which allowed Roberson to stay fresh on the offensive end.
The Buffs raced to a 33-16 halftime lead, finally ending a long 3-point drought and getting an impressive first-half finish from freshman Zoe Beard-Fails.
After missing the last 13 trey attempts – a span of 88:33 or two-plus games – CU got a 3-pointer from Reese to take a 5-2 lead that was never relinquished. Roberson closed the Buffs’ first-half scoring with a straightaway triple from the top of the key.
CU finished the half 2-of-6 from beyond the arc and got one of its top 3-point shooters – junior guard Lexy Kresl – back on the court. Kresl, out for the previous three games with a lower leg injury, played 4 first-half minutes but did not attempt a shot. But with 6:45 to play in the game, she knocked down a critical trey to send CU ahead 50-31. The Buffs finished 3-of-11 from behind the arc.
Lappe said Kresl wasn’t necessarily ahead of schedule in her comeback, noting that she will be brought along slowly and monitored for this week’s games. The Buffs visit the Pacific Northwest this week, playing at Oregon State on Friday (9 p.m. MT) and at Oregon on Sunday (3 p.m. MT).
Beard-Fails, who had scored six points in the previous nine Pac-12 games, matched that total in final 2:38 of Sunday’s first half. The 6-2 Beard-Fails, of Herndon, Va., followed a pair of free throws with two inside baskets as the Buffs stretched their advantage to 30-16.
Half a minute later, Roberson drained her 3-pointer, giving CU its 17-point lead at the break. The Buffs owned a healthy 27-12 rebounding edge after the first 20 minutes (51-35 for the game), but they committed 11 turnovers (17 for the game) which the Utes converted into 11 first-half points – the key number in keeping Utah as close as it was after one half. The plus-15 board advantage was the Buffs’ biggest in a half this season.
CU shot 42.9 percent in the opening half and went into the second half wanting that stat to hold up. It didn’t, but the Buffs compensated on the defensive end. They kept their intensity up to open the final 20 minutes, opened a pair of 20-point leads and kept the Utes playing catch up for the remainder of the game.
Utah coach Anthony Levrets applauded CU for adjusting after Wednesday’s game: “When they played big the first time, we had our two guards guarding Arielle on the perimeter, and then that allowed Plouffe to guard Reese.
“When they went back small today, it was a really good move by them because then our ‘five’ man has to either guard Reese or Roberson –and neither one of them is ever a ‘five.’ Playing on the perimeter was really hard for our big girls. It was a great adjustment by Colorado and I give a lot of credit to them.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
The Buffs were “perfect” entering the Pac-12 season
Dec 29th
Buffs Roll Past the Georgia Bulldogs, Set School Free Throw Mark
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Ready or not, the Pac-12 Conference schedule is fast approaching – and the Colorado Buffaloes appear ready.
No. 21 CU was perfect at the free throw line – the Buffs set a school record by hitting all 26 of their attempts – imperfect at times elsewhere, but all-in-all good enough on Saturday night to march past Georgia 84-70 at the Coors Events Center.
“I told our team in the locker room, this is a good win against a quality SEC opponent,” said Buffs coach Tad Boyle. “These guys are going to win a lot of games in the SEC. They are a talented group, but this is a time for us to exhale for a day.”
Then the heavy breathing will commence and not slow until March. The Buffs open Pac-12 play on Thursday (8 p.m.) against Oregon State at the CEC, then host Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 5 (3 p.m.). Boyle will give his team Sunday off, then call the Buffs back on Monday morning to start preparations for the Beavers.
Rebounding from a 78-73 loss to No. 7 Oklahoma State in Las Vegas that snapped a 10-game winning streak, CU finished its non-conference schedule 11-2 and matched its best start in 34 years.
Booker scored 19 points in the victory
“To be 11-2 with the caliber of schedule that we played says a lot about this group, and we’ve got a lot of basketball ahead of us,” Boyle said. “Season number one is over with, our nonconference portion is done, and now we are going into an 18-game marathon of the Pac-12. Our league is very good, and we’re going to have to be ready mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, the whole nine yards. We’re excited about it, and I’m proud of what our guys did tonight.”
The individual pride of his players, said Boyle, was responsible for the 26 consecutive free throws, which broke the former school mark of 14-for-14 set in 1980 against Nebraska. The Pac-12 record is 28-for-28 by Washington State (vs. Oregon, 2009), the NCAA record is 34-for-34 (three teams).
Boyle was reminded during the game by assistant coach Jean Prioleau that the Buffs had not missed a foul shot. “I asked him not to speak about it again,” Boyle said. “Coach (Rodney) Billups came up a few minutes later and said it on my right. I asked him not to talk about it again. Obviously, I’m proud of what the team did at the line, but I don’t talk about it when we miss them, and I’m not going to talk about it when we make them.”
Boyle called free throw shooting “a personal thing, an individual thing, and I want our guys to take individual pride, and when they do that, nights like this are fun when you don’t miss any. I don’t want to discount it, but I don’t want to be a hypocrite about it, pat the guys on the back when they do and call them out when they don’t. It’s an individual thing, but I was proud of them. It’s such a mental thing, and I want our guys relaxed. I want them confident.”
He called setting the school record “nice,” but added, “In the big picture of things, there might be some games where we’re going to want some of those back. That’s just basketball.”
Post Josh Scott hit all eight of his free throws on the way to 14 points – he also grabbed 13 rebounds – and guard Spencer Dinwiddie was perfect on his seven foul shots in contributing 17 points. They were among five Buffs in double figures, topped by guard Askia Booker’s 19 – 12 of them in the second half. Also in double digits were forwards Wesley Gordon (10) and Xavier Johnson (13).
Johnson scored 11 of his total in the first half when he hit his first three 3-point attempts, enabling the Buffs to go ahead 11-6 and never look back. Leading by as many as 18 points in the first half, the Buffs allowed the Bulldogs (6-5) to close to within eight with 10 minutes to play. But CU clamped down defensively, allowed Georgia to get no closer and left the CEC with its 53rd home win (seven losses) under Boyle.
“It was good just being able to have Spencer give me the ball for open jump shots, and I was able to knock them down,” said Johnson, who managed only three points in last weekend’s loss. “It’s always easier to shoot at a court you’ve been shooting on for two years. So, it was good. I enjoyed it.”
Georgia had four players in double figures, led by Nemana Djurisic and Kenny Gaines with 12 each.
Boyle undoubtedly will want his defense tightened by Thursday. The Bulldogs shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half and finished at 50 percent from the field for the game (28-of-56). But the Buffs shot 51 percent for the game (25-of-49) and outrebounded the Dawgs 34-22.
Boyle credited Georgia for its marksmanship but added, “I just feel like defensively, we have to get better. There’s going to be nights in Pac-12 conference play where we don’t shoot 51 percent, and maybe we don’t outrebound the opponent by double digits. Those are the nights that we are going to have to rely on our defense, and it’s not good enough right now. Bottom line. Our defense is not good enough for Pac-12 level play if we want to compete for a championship. It has to get better . . . we have a short time to get that there.”
The Buffs led 46-35 at intermission, scoring their most points of the season in an opening half. The Bulldogs never led and managed only one early tie (3-3) before falling behind by as many as 18 twice before the break.
Johnson led a 3-point flurry, connecting on his first three attempts from behind the arc before his fourth attempt from downtown rimmed out. But he wasn’t the only Buff who was dialed in from long distance; after Dinwiddie and Jaron Hopkins added treys of their own CU, had hit five of six 3-point attempts and led 21-15. The Buffs finished 8-of-20 from behind the arc.
With Georgia moving in and out of a zone defense, CU’s early barrage of treys no doubt was welcome. But the Buffs relied on getting to the rim and the foul line in a 15-3 run that opened a 36-20 lead with 5:25 left in the half. Booker scored all seven of his first-half points during that stretch.
Booker hit seven of his 12 field goal attempts (two of four from 3-point range), with his 19 points tying a season high. He also had a game-best four assists.
Boyle said Booker “was feeling it tonight. He was very efficient and he took good shots. I thought he was terrific . . . we’ll take seven-for-twelve from Askia every night. I thought his floor game was good. You could tell he was dialed in.”
With their 11-point halftime lead, if the Buffs could stay interested and maintain their intensity the second half offered little hope of a comeback for the SEC visitors. For the most part, CU did both – until Georgia finally cut its deficit to single digits (57-49) on a 3-pointer by Brandon Morris at the 10-minute mark.
But the Buffs quickly righted themselves with a 7-0 run and shot back ahead by 15 (66-49) on a conventional three-point play by Booker with 8:33 remaining. CU regained its 18-point advantage in the final 2 minutes and sent the CEC crowd of 10,848 home happy – and anxiously awaiting Pac-12 play.
The Buffs believe they are ready. “I mean, we’re 11-2,” Scott said. “We’ve played really good teams, and had a really good out of conference schedule. We’re feeling pretty confident going into Pac-12 play. We’re going in trying to win it. So, it’s good.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
GAME NOTES
• An 11-2 record to start the season, matches the 1979-80 season (34 years ago) after 13 games.
• CU improves to 19-5 record in December games overall under the Boyle coaching staff, 16-1 in December home games.
• Under the Boyle coaching staff, the Buffs are now 30-1 (.968) at the Coors Events Center in November and December (only home loss, Wyoming, Dec. 9, 2011, 65-54 stopping CU’s 22-game non-conference home winning streak).
• During the opening two months of the season (Nov. & Dec.) CU is now 39-12 overall (.765) in home, road, neutral games.
• 9-0 home record this season at the Events Center and the 53rd win at home out of 60 games (.883) over the last four years.
• Second straight win against Georgia; third win versus the Bulldogs – all at home, and trails UGA in the all-time series, 6-3.
• CU closed out the 2013-14 regular season non-conference slate with an 11-2 record. Including 2013-14, the Buffs have won double-digit non-conference games in three of Boyle’s four seasons at the helm, amassing a 44-15 non-conference mark during that span.
• The Buffs tied a season high with 6 first-half three-pointers (Jackson State, Nov. 16; Arkansas State, Nov. 18). With 46 points in the opening frame, they also matched their highest first-half scoring output of the season (Jackson State, Nov. 16; Arkansas State, Nov. 18).
• CU has made at least one three-pointer in 379 straight games (dating back to Jan. 19, 2002). Tonight, the Buffs were 8-of-20 (.400) from beyond the arc.
•The Buffs were 26-for-26 from the charity stripe, marking their first perfect outing from the line since Feb. 27, 2010 (12-of-12 vs. Iowa State). Tonight marked the first time in program history that a CU squad shot 1.000 from the line while attempting at least 15 free throws.
•This was just the 10th known time in CU history that CU was perfect from the free throw line and just the sixth time with 10 or more FTAs.
10-of-10 at Kansas State, 2/12/75; 2-of-2 at Oklahoma, 2/9/80; 14-of-14 at Nebraska, 2/16/80; 12-of-12 at Nebraska, 1/21/81; 2-of-2 at Iowa State, 2/28/81; 2-of-2 vs. Oklahoma, 2/26/83; 4-of-4 vs. Oklahoma, 1/6/90; 11-of-11 at Kansas State, 2/18/06; 12-of-12 vs. Iowa State, 2/27/10; 26-of-26 vs. Georgia, 12/18/13.
•The previous mark for FT percentage with at least 20 attempts was 25-of-26 (vs. Oklahoma, Feb. 17, 1996).
• CU tied a school record 28 consecutive FTs made (all 26 tonight and the final 2 vs. Oklahoma State). The previous mark was previously set vs. CSU (last 23) and UC Irvine (first 5) on Dec. 7 and Dec. 10, 1983.
• CU outrebounded Georgia 34-22, marking the ninth time this season the Buffs have won the battle on the glass. They are 8-1 in those tilts.
• Five players scored in double figures: Booker-19, Dinwiddie-17, Scott-14, Johnson-13, Gordon-10.
Askia Booker
• Tied his season-high with 19 points (Oklahoma State, Dec. 21) to lead the Buffs in scoring for the fifth time in 13 games this season. He also chipped in a game-high 4 assists.
Spencer Dinwiddie
• Started his 82nd career game, tying for No. 12 all-time (Mike Reid, 1982-86).
• Finished with 17 points, the 12th time this season he has scored in double figures.
Josh Scott
• Grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and scored 14 points to post his 6th double-double of the season (8th career).
Wesley Gordon
• Scored 10 points (his third double-figure scoring effort of the season), while collecting six rebounds, a block, an assist and a steal.
Xavier Johnson
• Connected on a season-tying three treys, all in the first half, en route to a 13-point scoring output (one point shy of his season high, 14 vs. Kansas on Dec. 7). His double figure scoring effort was his 7th this season (19th career).
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City holiday schedule/free parking: Read it now!
Nov 27th
City of Boulder Thanksgiving schedule – Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29
Closed on Thursday, Nov. 28:
- All city administrative offices
- All library branches
- All senior centers (no Meals on Wheels deliveries, either)
- Municipal Court
- All city recreation centers
- Boulder Reservoir
- Flatirons Golf Course (closed after 2 p.m.)
- Pottery Lab
- Animal Control, Code Enforcement, Police Records and Information Services and Property and Evidence
Closed on Friday, Nov. 29:
- Park Central Building, including the Planning & Development Center
Open on Friday, Nov. 29, but with changes in hours:
- North Boulder Recreation Center – open 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- South Boulder Recreation Center – open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Pottery Lab, open lab only – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Boulder Reservoir – open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Parking:
All city lots, meters and garages are free on Thursday, Nov. 28.
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