Posts tagged California
CU Lax Against ODU Concluded
Apr 18th
The University of Colorado lacrosse team, following back-to-back overtime thrillers, concludes its inaugural home season at Kittredge Field this weekend. CU (8-6, 5-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hosts Old Dominion at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 18. Be one of the first 200 fans in attendance and receive free CU lacrosse socks! Be a part of the EPIC Book Drive and bring a new or used book for kids ages eight and under to the game. Watch the Buffs take on conference opponent California on Sunday, April 20 at 11:30 a.m.
SCOUTING THE OLD DOMINION LADY MONARCHS: ODU holds a 3-9 record, grabbing wins over Stetson, Liberty and Saint Joseph’s. The Lady Monarchs are winless in their last four games, though all but their 19-8 loss to then-No. 16 Virginia have been by two or fewer goals. ODU averages 11.34 goals per game, while allowing an average of 13.59. The Lady Monarchs rank 20th in the nation in caused turnovers, with an average of 9.5 per game. Ashmore Standing and Kallie McCormick each individually rank in the top 38 in caused turnovers. Eleven Lady Monarchs have score goals, with six netting 10 or more. Emily Austerberry leads the team with 28 goals, 10 assists and 27 draw controls. Jessica Liberty (21 goals and 11 assists) and Connor Carson (10 goals and 11 assists) each also have double-doubles on the season.
Source: CU
Pac-12: Buffs Survive, Advance By Their Magic Number – 59
Mar 14th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
LAS VEGAS – If you’re thinking the Colorado Buffaloes are stuck on 59, you might be onto something. But here in Sin City, where gambling is the big engine that could, that’s a long way from crapping out.
It’s a magnificent number, a winning number, for Tad Boyle and his revitalized crew.
The Buffs’ last three wins – against Stanford in the next-to-last regular-season game, against USC in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, against California in the quarterfinals – have been by the same score: 59-56.
The Buffs’ two wins here have ended in identical, nail-biting, fist-gnawing fashion: CU is up by three in the closing seconds and survives a 3-pointer to tie at the buzzer.
In racehorse college basketball, 59 points are not a lot. Boyle’s guys love to run and score, but that’s not how this team – this season – has evolved after Spencer Dinwiddie’s knee injury in mid-January. In their last seven games, the Buffs haven’t hit 70 points, with 65 in a one-point overtime loss at Cal the high mark.
That’s the longest low-scoring stretch in Boyle’s about-to-be-completed four seasons in Boulder. But here’s the more telling bottom line number: Boyle’s fourth CU team has won 23 games (10 losses), making this season the second-most productive in terms of wins in school history. (His first two Buffs teams finished with 24 wins.)
And turning to something more topical since it’s the month of madness, those 23 wins should remove any mystery – if there was any – that might have shrouded CU’s inclusion in the NCAA Tournament field. Selection Sunday looms for the official word, but the word will be good. Book it.
But Friday finds the Buffs with things other than the NCAA Tournament on their minds. They have a semifinal date at 7:06 p.m. MDT with top-seeded and fourth-ranked Arizona in the MGM Garden Arena. Upsetting the Wildcats, then winning the Pac-12 championship on Saturday would remove all Selection Sunday mystery about the Buffs’ NCAA future; the tournament champ is in automatically.
Accomplishing that begins with beating powerful Arizona, whose players defend like they were guarding loved ones from a home invasion.
“They took a lot of pride in guarding us . . . we got punched in the mouth by a really good basketball team and we saw Arizona, I think, at their finest,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said Thursday after Arizona had clamped down on his team in a 71-39 quarterfinal win. The halftime score: 34-13. Utah’s Big Three – Jordan Loveridge, Brandon Taylor and Delon Wright – were a combined 1-of-16 from the field.
The Buffs know something about the Wildcats’ defense from their regular-season meetings. Arizona won 69-57 in Tucson, 88-61 in Boulder. The Wildcats give up points as willingly as the IRS gives away cash; they lead the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing 58.7 points a game.
That’s very close to CU’s magic number of late – 59 . . . Hmmmmm.
“They’re the best defensive team in our league,” Boyle said. “It’s not even close. They’re the best rebounding team in our league. It is close there.”
That’s because CU is at 37.9 boards a game, while Arizona is at 38.9.
In their two wins over the Buffs this season, the Wildcats leaped to large early leads – as they did against the Utes Thursday. CU fell behind 18-4 in Tucson and 22-5 in Boulder in what would end in the Buffs’ worst home loss of the Boyle era.
Whether it makes a difference or not Friday, this is a different CU team, a more focused team. Eli Stalzer, who stepped to the foul line Thursday in the final 6 six seconds and hit one of two critical free throws, said the Buffs have learned something about themselves and the high energy Boyle wants from them since a March 1 loss (75-64) at Utah.
“Now it seems like guys don’t think they can take plays off; every possession is important,” Stalzer said. “We’re all working hard to do our best.”
That’s partially attributable to the transformation of junior guard Askia Booker, who has averaged 16.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3 assists. He’s shooting 46.7 percent from the field (21-of-45). In the two Pac-12 Tournament games, he has averaged 19 points a game, 5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He’s hit 50 percent from the field (16-of-32).
Maybe more important than the numbers, Booker’s composure has stood out. He’s become CU’s glue, if you will, which at one point in his career might have seemed improbable if not impossible.
Boyle said, as a coach, “you hope” a player develops like Booker has: “He’s had an interesting career; he’s grown up exponentially – especially since Spencer went down. He was thrown in the fire of a leadership role . . . he’s done a great job. And that’s what’s so gratifying about doing this job. You see young men come in, where they are as freshman not just physically and skill-wise but emotionally, spiritually and maturity-wise. He’s come a long way.”
So have the Buffs. Boyle’s second CU team (2011-12) won the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament in Los Angeles with a four-day, four-game run as a No. 6 seed. His fourth team, as a No. 5 seed, is within two wins of a repeat. Boyle doesn’t have near the veteran leadership on this team that was apparent in L.A., but he’s seen a similar trait develop over the last several weeks. That would ownership.
“You look at that team with Nate (Tomlinson), Carlin (Brown) and Austin (Dufault) – they took ownership down the stretch and made it happen,” he said. “Now, we had to win some close games there . . . but now we have to play one of the best teams in the country in the semis and we didn’t have to do that two years ago.”
I asked Boyle if his players would have any difficulty in blotting out those two regular-season losses to the Wildcats, particularly the one in Boulder that concluded ESPN’s College GameDay visit.
“I don’t know, we’ll see,” Boyle answered. “That’s a distant memory. It’s a new day, a new opportunity. The way our guys are playing right now and feeling about themselves, they want that opportunity, they relish it. We’re not going to play with a lack of confidence (Friday).”
Buffs Withstand Cardinal Rally, Hold On For 59-56 Win
Mar 6th
STANFORD, Calif. – After back-to-back losses, the Colorado men’s basketball team got the win it desperately needed, holding on to defeat Stanford 59-56 Wednesday night in a game that likely will prove to be critical as March Madness looms.
Colorado (21-9, 10-7 Pac-12) withstood a Stanford comeback at Maples Pavilion and made free throws down the stretch to pick up its 21st regular season victory, matching the 1996-97 team for the best in school history.
“Getting a victory like this on the road is huge for our team,” CU coach Tad Boyle said on KOA Radio 850. “This team has an opportunity to set itself apart from any other team in the University of Colorado basketball history.”
Securing the win, Boyle continued, “wasn’t easy. Our defense played good enough to keep us in the game until our offense got back going.”
Leading 46-38 after a jumper by Askia Booker with 14:15 to play, the Buffaloes watched the Cardinal (18-11, 9-8) come back to tie the game at 46-46. CU didn’t score again until Xavier Johnson’s jump shot with 5:59 remaining produced a 48-46 lead.
A 13-2 run briefly gave Stanford a late lead, but CU refused to wilt. Although still trailing the Cardinal 9-6 in the series, the Buffaloes lead 3-2 in Pac-12 play with three consecutive wins. It is the longest winning streak in the series dating to 1932.
“This was a big win for us,” said Johnson, one of two Buffs in double figures with 14 points. “For us to go nine minutes without scoring and still come out with the victory means that we’ve made great progress as a team.”
Josh Scott led CU with 17 points and 11 rebounds, posting his 12th double-double of the season and the 14th of his career.
Chasson Randle dominated for Stanford, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field, while teammate Josh Huestis added nine points.
Colorado had a comfortable eight point lead in the second half until Randle single-handedly brought the Cardinal back. In its 13-2 run, Randle accounted for 10 points, including a 7-0 run of his own. Thanks in part to his heroics, Stanford managed to recapture its first lead since the 11:29 mark in the first half.
But the Buffs refused to crumble, answering with a 7-0 run capped by a Xavier Talton 3-pointer to take a 55-51 lead. However, Randle answered again with a conventional three-point play to bring Stanford within one (55-54) with 1:17 remaining.
With 45 seconds left, Colorado committed a shot-clock violation, giving Stanford possession. The Cardinal again looked to Randle for the lead but Askia Booker stripped him of the ball and then connected on 1-of-2 free throws after being fouled.
After a Stanford 3-point attempt rimmed out, Scott came away with the rebound, then gave the Buffs a four-point lead by hitting two free throws.
Talton was the last Buff to go to the free throw line, making one of two and putting CU up 59-56. Randle had one last chance to be Stanford’s hero, but his final trey attempt was off the mark.
CU, which led 33-28 at halftime, got some first-half production from Ben Mills and Eli Stalzer (seven points combined) to help the offense find its groove. The Buffs shot close to 50 percent from the field (11-of-24) while holding Stanford to merely 30 percent shooting (10-of-32) in the first 20 minutes.
Colorado benefited as forward Dwight Powell, Stanford’s second- leading scorer (14.6 ppg) and rebounder (7.5 rpg), limited himself by picking up three personal fouls in the first half and then committing his fourth personal with 11:54 remaining in the game.
Powell would foul out with 2 minutes remaining in the contest, finishing with just eight points and two rebounds in 28 minutes.
Under Boyle, Colorado is now 39-2 when out-rebounding and holding its opponent to under 40 percent from the field. The Buffaloes edged Stanford 39-31 on the boards and held the Cardinal to 36 percent (21-of-57) on its field goal attempts.
Colorado concludes the regular season and its Bay-Area road trip with a game at California on Saturday (4:30 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Network). The Pac-12 Tournament begins on March 12 in Las Vegas.