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WBB: Reese and Huggins HUGE in Pac 12 win
Jan 25th
January 24, 2014
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.
Lauren Huggins regained her long range shooting tuch with 5-for9 3-pointers
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.”
Jen Reese’s short jumpers gave her a career high 22 points
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
Buffs lose to #1 Arizona
Jan 24th
TUCSON – The Colorado Buffaloes left Arizona’s McKale Center last season doubting they’d lost. The top-ranked Wildcats allowed no room for doubt on Thursday night.
Leading by as many as 20 points midway through the second half, Arizona disposed of CU 69-57, sending the Buffs to their third defeat in their last four Pac-12 Conference games. It was also CU’s fourth loss in six games against ranked opponents this season and its 16th all-time loss (no wins) against a top-ranked foe.
CU will try and salvage this season’s trip to the desert with a 5 p.m. game on Saturday at Arizona State.
The Wildcats (19-0, 6-0) led 39-24 at halftime and posted their first 20-point lead (51-31) on a reverse dunk by freshman Aaron Gordon with 15:02 to play. But the Buffs (15-5, 4-3) kept battling and came as close as 11 (66-55) on an Askia Booker layup with 1:15 remaining.
“We did a good job of battling back, even in the first half we cut it to six, but we couldn’t get over the hump. They are an explosive team,” CU coach Tad Boyle told KOA Radio. “There are some positive things we can take from this, but we have to be a better offensive executing team on the road . . . but when you leave a game like this, you have to focus on the positives. We won the second half (33-30) and that’s a sign of progress.”
The talented Gordon, who scored 12 points, was one of three Wildcats in double figures. Nick Johnson led Arizona with 18 and Brandon Ashley added 15, including seven of the Wildcats’ first 11 points as they raced to an 11-2 lead.
Xavier Johnson led CU with 21 points – one off his career high – and got assistance from Josh Scott (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Booker (11 points). Scott’s double-double was his ninth of the season and fourth in Pac-12 play.
Johnson made four of his five 3-point attempts and all three of his free throw tries. “X. Johnson plays well against these guys,” Boyle said. “There’s something about it; he’s amped for these guys, but we need that every time.”
The X-Man scored 21 points against Arizona
CU committed 16 turnovers, leading to 23 Arizona points, while the Buffs got only 11 points from seven Wildcats turnovers – and Boyle called the Buffs’ 16 miscues “the tale of the game . . . they got 24 layups, we want that number to be seven or less. And they had 24.”
Arizona, allowing a conference-best 56.7 points a game, held CU to 60 or fewer points for only the second time this season. Baylor defeated the Buffs 72-60 in the season opener. The Wildcats, who shot 49.2 percent from the field, limited the Buffs to 38.5 percent shooting.
CU managed only six assists to Arizona’s 16, but held its own on the boards (32-32). The Buffs limited the Wildcats to two offensive boards in the second half after allowing nine in the first half. Still, Arizona ended the night with a 44-26 scoring edge in the paint.
The Wildcats have athletes, speed, skill and the advantage of a raucous, sold-out (14,545) building where they have now won 16 consecutive games and are 33-7 in Pac-12 games under coach Sean Miller. “When the crowd gets into it we have to be able to handle it,” Boyle said. “We have to learn to win in environments like this.”
With Thursday night’s 19th win of the season, Miller’s fifth UA team tied for the longest streak in program history. The Buffs now are 3-4 against the Wildcats since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
CU last won in the McKale Center 54 years ago (Dec. 3, 1960), although much of the college hoops world believed the Buffs’ visit last season produced a “W.” But after Sabatino Chen’s 3-pointer at the final horn was waived off, Arizona won 92-83 in overtime.
Thursday night’s outcome never hinged on a buzzer beater.
CU never led, as Arizona jumped to a 9-0 lead and built its advantage to 13-2 before Askia Booker managed the Buffs’ first field goal with 14:35 left before intermission. The Wildcats surged ahead by as many as 14 (18-4) before the Buffs launched a 10-2 run, with Scott scoring seven of the 10 points, and pulled to within six (20-14) at the half’s 9:33 mark.
Instrumental in that CU rally was strategic shift on the defensive end: Boyle dusted off the 2-3 zone last employed in the Buffs 75-72 upset of Kansas in early December. Stunned initially, the Wildcats adjusted offensively and did a defensive clamp down of their own, not allowing a Buffs field goal for the next 6:33.
By then, Arizona had taken its largest lead of the half – 32-16. CU would go to its locker room trailing 39-24 and hoping to find some answers for the final 20 minutes.
The 15-point halftime deficit marked the third time in the past four games the Buffs have trailed by at least 13 points at the break. CU’s 29.6 percent from the field was second only to the 21.2 percent in the first half of the season-opening loss to Baylor.
CU still leads the overall series 11-9, but fell to 2-5 in games played at Arizona. The Wildcats’ win was their first against the Buffs in successive years since 1973 and 1974.
Buffs demonic on defense, rebound from UCLA home loss
Jan 19th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Any lingering memories of the Colorado Buffaloes’ painful loss on Thursday night to UCLA – their first home defeat of the 2013-14 season – were quickly blocked out on Saturday.
Literally, forcefully, fervently.
Swatting away seven first-half shots and setting a pedal-to-the-metal pace that produced an early 20-2 lead, No. 21 CU slapped Southern California 83-62 at the Coors Events Center.
“This was just what the doctor ordered for this team . . . this was the kind of game we needed,” CU coach Tad Boyle said, noting the timing of the win couldn’t have been better after the 69-56 loss to UCLA and knee injuries last weekend that ended point guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s junior season and shelved freshman wing Tre’Shaun Fletcher for 6-8 weeks. Both players will undergo surgery.
Gordon had a game-high eight rebounds and accounting for five of the Buffs’ blocked shots. He also scored five points, made two assists, got one steal and hit two of his three shots from the field – including his first career 3-pointer.
Continued Boyle: “I’m really proud of our guys, from the end of the bench to the guys on the floor, for the way they responded. We talked about it at halftime; the frustrating thing about the UCLA game was second-chance points (20) and points off turnovers (20 off of 17 CU errors). We had four turnovers at halftime (12 total) and they had two offensive rebounds.
“Our team took what they had not done against UCLA and did a much better job. Obviously it’s one game, we have to move on. I said this after the UCLA game and I’ll say it again, ‘Don’t count this team out.’ These guys have toughness, they have grit, and we can win some games in this league. All you can ask for in life is an opportunity and we have a great one in front of us.”
That would be a Thursday night game at No. 1 Arizona, followed by a Saturday visit to Arizona State – a pair of desert spots where the Buffs went 0-2 last season to begin Pac-12 play. But needing a win Saturday to break a current two-game losing streak and maybe reestablish some of their swagger, the Buffs did both against the Trojans – obviously a right-place, right-time opponent.
Still, junior guard Askia Booker, one of four Buffs in double figures Saturday, kept the 21-point blowout in perspective. “We can’t get drunk off of this win,” he said. “USC is pretty low in the (Pac-12) standings and we’re about to go play the No. 1 team in the country. We have to stay locked in as a team.”
The Buffs (15-4 overall, 4-2 Pac-12) finished Saturday with a season-high 10 blocked shots – six shy of the school record – and held the Trojans (9-9, 0-5) to 36 percent shooting from the field while hitting 50.9 percent of their own shots.
CU outrebounded the visitors by 20 (43-23), with redshirt freshman Wesley Gordon collecting a game-high eight rebounds and accounting for five of the Buffs’ blocked shots. He also scored five points, made two assists, got one steal and hit two of his three shots from the field – including his first career 3-pointer.
“I loved the pace of the game,” said Boyle. “Our interior defense was good, blocking shots was good (and) getting off to a 20-2 lead was a confidence builder for our guys.”
Booker called the Buffs’ shot blocking “very important . . . blocked shots lead to transition baskets and that’s where we’re at our best. We’ve got big guys who run and finish.”
USC, said Booker, was noticeably frustrated with having its early shots contested and rejected: “Without a doubt . . . their No. 10 (Pe’Shon Howard) was looking around like, ‘I can’t get a layup up without it being knocked away.’ It’s really good when we’re all locked in and getting that kind of help from the weak side.”
That’s what Booker supplied on one of the more creative and crowd-pleasing first half blocks. Booker, pushing 6-2 in his sneakers, flew in and batted away a layup attempt by Trojans 7-footer D.J. Haley. It was only Booker’s second rejection of the season – and don’t bet on him forgetting it.
“I guess it was a pretty nice block and I’ll probably go watch that again,” Booker said. “It’s not that high; it’s just a good defensive play and we need stops like that whether it’s from me or Jaron (Hopkins) or Josh (Scott).”
CU also was nearly perfect from the free throw line, hitting 19 of 22 (86 percent) with Booker hitting all six of his attempts. He finished with 13 points on three-of-five shooting and had six of CU’s 15 assists.
“He has never had a game like this,” Boyle said. “He played within himself and was efficient. When he’s efficient we’re pretty darn good; I thought he was terrific.”
Booker was one of four Buffs in double figures, topped by Josh Scott’s 20. Xavier Johnson and Jaron Hopkins added 10 points each. J.T. Terrell and 7-2 center Omar Oraby led USC with 16 points apiece.
The Buffs led by as many 18 points in the first half and were up 17 (40-23) at intermission courtesy of a Booker buzzer beater. It came on a sweet step back shot by “Ski,” but it wasn’t indicative of the first-half storyline.
CU was demonic on defense with its shot-blocking spree and holding UCLA to two points for the game’s first 8:18. At the 11:48 mark, the Bruins were one of 12 from the field (8 percent) and the Buffs led 20-2, with the final five points of that bulge coming on two free throws by Booker after a technical foul on USC coach Andy Enfield and a 3-pointer by George King.
None of the Trojans escaped the Buffs’ first-half intensity – not even Enfield. The CU student section harassed him – good naturedly, of course – with a blown up mug shot of his wife, former model Amanda Marcum. But that probably wasn’t what incited the “T;” blame the Buffs for that. There was no discrepancy of personal fouls: USC was whistled for 16, CU for 15.
