Ron Baird, news editor
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Posts by Ron Baird, news editor
Missing Dinwiddie, the Buffs fall apart against Sun Devils
Jan 26th
By Anthony Lepine, CU Sports Information Student Assistant
TEMPE, Ariz. – After struggling early in a Thursday night loss at No. 1 Arizona, Colorado’s difficulties in the desert continued here Saturday night as Arizona State rolled to a 72-51 Pac-12 Conference win.
Minus point guard Spender Dinwiddie and wing Tre’Shaun Fletcher now for four complete games, the Buffaloes were held to season-low point totals in Tucson and Tempe. Their 57 points against Arizona – the Wildcats had 69 – had been their lowest output of the season until Saturday night.
“This was just a bad game overall,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “There was nothing we can point to that we can even look at as a positive. The message to the team after the game was that it’s never as good as it seems when things are going well, and it’s never as bad as it seems after days like this.”
The loss was the Buffs’ (15-6, 4-4) fourth in their past five games, dropping them to 15-6 overall and 4-4 in the conference. The Sun Devils (15-5, 4-3) led 34-23 at halftime and put the game away with a 17-6 run to open the second half.
ASU beat CU for the third consecutive time and now lead the overall series 5-4. The Sun Devils were the only Pac-12 team to sweep the Buffs last season – winning 65-56 in Tempe and 63-62 in overtime in Boulder.
Xavier Johnson, who led the Buffs with 21 points at Arizona, paced CU with 12 points Saturday. Josh Scott added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Askia Booker contributed 10 and went over 1,000 points for his career.
ASU guard Jahii Carson joined Booker in the 1,000 point club – surpassing the milestone in only his second season – after leading the Sun Devils with 18 points on Saturday night. Jonathan Gilling added 12 points, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
7-foot-2 center Jordan Bachinski finished with three blocks (15 in three games vs. CU) and is now only 10 blocks away from breaking the Pac-12 record held by Anthony Cook (Arizona 1985-89).
CU endured a rough first half in the Wells Fargo Arena and trailed by 11 points at the break. The Buffs allowed the Sun Devils to shoot 52 percent from the field and committed a season-high 12 turnovers. CU’s last lead was 8-7 following a three-point play by Booker with 14:38 before intermission.
An 8-0 Sun Devils run produced a 15-8 lead, but the Buffs pulled to within two – 15-13 – on a 3-pointer by Johnson and two free throws by “XJ” on the next trip down court.
But from there, it was all ASU for the remainder of the half and the game. The Sun Devils led by as many as 13 points (32-19) as the Buffs’ turnovers continued to mount, pulling their total closer to the 16 they committed in Tucson.
They finished with 19, and the Sun Devils capitalized with 28 points off turnovers. In addition to their errors, the Buffs managed to hit only six of its 12 first-half free throw attempts and finished nine of 24.
The Buffs needed to regroup, rediscover an offensive rhythm and start the second half more efficiently. It didn’t happen. The Sun Devils outscored them 17-6 in the half’s first 8 minutes and rolled to a 19-point lead (51-29).
“We let our frustrations (on offense) leak over to the other end of the floor and we’re not good enough to do that,” Boyle said. “You put that together with our turnovers, with our lack of defense, and with getting out-rebounded and you have a recipe for disaster.”
ASU increased its lead to 25 points in the final 5 minutes.
The Buffs now have a week to correct their mistakes from the winless trip to the desert. With no mid-week game, they are off until they play host to Utah on Saturday, Feb. 1 (1 p.m.) at the Coors Events Center.
“We have some work to do,” Boyle said. “It’s never as bad as it seems, and right now it’s not good, but we have a bunch of competitive guys and talented guys and we’re going to get better.”
Scammers failing in Xcel ruse, so far
Jan 25th
Boulder police have received three complaints from local business owners who say scammers pretending to be Xcel Energy employees have targeted their businesses.
The complainants have shared similar stories with investigators that begin with a phone call claiming that the customer’s utility account is past due and is about to be disconnected within the next few hours. The victims are then told to pay the bill immediately via a wire service like Western Union or a prepaid debit card like MoneyPak. In one case, the phone scammer wanted to meet the potential victim to get the money in person.
The three businesses which were targeted received calls on Jan. 15, Jan. 17, and Jan. 20. In each case, the victims contacted police and Xcel to check that their accounts were in good standing.
So far, no one has fallen for the scheme and Boulder police would like to make sure that area residents and business owners are aware of the scam.
People should be wary of giving personal information like bank account numbers or social security numbers over the phone. It’s also a red flag if telemarketers use high-pressure tactics such as saying “you must pay now or lose your service.”
Anyone who has questions about their Xcel account may contact Xcel’s customer service center at 800-895-4999, or customerservice@xcelenergy.com.
Anyone who believes they may have been the victim of a phone scam may report it to the Boulder Police Department at 303-441-3333.
WBB: Reese and Huggins HUGE in Pac 12 win
Jan 25th
By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Desperately needing a win and an accompanying dose of confidence, the Colorado Buffaloes grabbed both Friday night at the Coors Events Center.
Powered by the solid mid-range shooting of Jen Reese and reserve Lauren Huggins’ rediscovered long-ball accuracy, CU disposed of Arizona 68-47 to snap a four-game Pac-12 Conference losing streak.
“It’s great to be back on the winning track,” CU coach Linda Lappe said. “You take the game or be taken . . . tonight we took the game and we have to continue to do that.”
Sunday would be an opportune time to continue. The Buffs are back at the Events Center at 1 p.m. to play No. 14 Arizona State on State Farm Day. Also, CU will recognize the 40th season of the women’s basketball program with a reunion featuring former staff and players.
With Friday night’s win, the Buffs (12-6, 2-5) improved to 11-3 all-time against the Wildcats (4-14, 0-7) and remained unbeaten against them in five meetings since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. CU’s record against Arizona in Boulder is now 7-1.
Reese, a junior from Clackamas, Ore., tied her career high with 22 points, hitting a career-best eight field goals in 13 attempts. Huggins, a redshirt freshman from Littleton, tied her career high by hitting five of her nine 3-point attempts for 15 points – one below her season and career highs. Huggins had been 2-of-16 from beyond the arc in the previous six Pac-12 games.
For Huggins, regaining focus and her long-distance shooting touch started with early week meetings involving her teammates and Lappe. Huggins said her teammates expressing their belief in her got her back on track: “My teammates said, ‘Shoot the ball, kid, that’s what you need to do.’ Just hearing that from my teammates gave me confidence . . .”
Lappe said players – maybe more so with shooters – often “forget their roles” during the course of a season. Lappe told Huggins “to keep it simple . . . don’t put the ball on the floor, be ready to catch it, slow down your mind and be a shooter.”
Huggins, who scored a career-high 16 points in November against Alcorn State, obviously did what her coach wanted. But Lappe saw another facet of Huggins’ game that was equally locked in – her defense, which Lappe said usually ignites Huggins at the other end. “I thought her defense was solid – the best it’s been,” Lappe said.
“Solid” also has been Reese’s calling card. “She’s a really special player,” Lappe said, comparing her to former NBA star Larry Bird in that while both might be missing the “wow” factor in their jumping ability and overall athleticism, both can be quietly spectacular in their results.
Lappe liked Reese’s offensive aggression against Arizona: “Even when she missed a couple, she took the next (shot) without thinking . . . it was good to see her settle in and not stop when she hit four or five.”
Reese credited her teammates for finding her “with great passes . . . and my shot felt good.”
Reese and Huggins got scoring assistance from Brittany Wilson, who added 12 points and was the only other CU player to reach double figures. Arizona’s Candace Warthen led her team with 14 points.
CU’s guard position suffered another hit with the loss of junior Lexy Kresl. Joining junior Jasmine Sborov (fractured foot) on the injury list, Kresl has a stress fracture in her lower right leg and could be out for a month or more, as could Sborov.
That duo comprised CU’s starting backcourt for the season’s first 15 games. Now, said Lappe, the Buffs must get “creative” with backcourt personnel and have reserves rise to the occasion. “Any time you have a player go down who’s played significant minutes, it hurts,” Lappe said, specifying that the Wilson twins – Brittany and Ashley – will share more minutes at point guard.
After a 14-2 run, the Buffs led by as many as 12 points (20-8) in Friday night’s first half and were up 29-22 at intermission. The Wildcats’ last first-half lead was 6-4 – and it would be their last of the night.
Reese supplied most of CU’s early offense, scoring eight of the first 11 points on two field goals and four free throws. She finished the half with 12 points and was the only Buffs player in double figures. During its 14-2 run, CU got a pair of 3-pointers from Huggins – and more were coming.
The Buffs were outrebounded 23-17 in the first half, but capitalized on a dozen Wildcats turnovers while committing only four. CU ended the night with a 33-32 board edge and pressured Arizona into 20 turnovers. Both teams shot 33.3 percent from the field in the opening half, but the Buffs finished the night at 50 percent (24-of-48) while keeping the Wildcats at 34.6 percent.
“I liked how we responded in the second half,” Lappe said. “We came in and were the aggressors. We got everybody involved (and) it was nice to hit shots and get stops. We finished well; we’ve been working on that.”
A fast second-half start would greatly benefit the Buffs – and they came close enough. After Arizona got the first four points of the half, CU scored the next seven and restored a double-digit lead (36-26) with just over 16 minutes remaining.
Reese factored in that run, too, hitting a pair of free throws. Then it was Huggins’ turn to supply the offense. After Arizona’s Kama Griffits hit a 3-pointer, Huggins answered with a pair to push the Buffs ahead 42-31 with 14:12 to play.
When CU pushed ahead by 23 (60-37) on back-to-back treys by Huggins and Brittany Wilson with 7:20 left, all that was undecided was the winning margin.
“It was very important to get the win so we could get back on track,” Reese said. She attributed the much-needed redirection to the Buffs’ rediscovering their “mental toughness” and making “hustle plays . . . us focusing and getting back to our toughness as a team. I felt like we did that tonight.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU