Posts tagged Contributing Editor
CU Women Roll Past CSU Rams, Remain Unbeaten
Dec 6th
BOULDER – More challenging times are ahead for the Colorado women’s basketball team, but the Buffaloes appear to be steeling themselves for whatever comes their way.
Unbeaten CU (7-0) rolled past Colorado State 72-46 on Wednesday night in the first game of a women’s/men’s doubleheader at the Coors Events Center.
All things considered, it was a night for fun and frolic – but next week promises to bring the degree of difficulty to a higher level. The Buffs are off until Tuesday (7 p.m.) when they travel to the University of Denver (3-3), then host No. 8 Louisville (8-1) on Friday (7 p.m.) in their most significant challenge to date.
CU took command Wednesday night with an 18-4 first half run, led 37-17 at halftime and cruised past CSU (2-5) in the final 20 minutes. Buffs coach Linda Lappe used 12 players and nine of them scored, topped by Brittany Wilson’s 13. Jen Reese and Jamee Swan contributed 11 each and Arielle Roberson added 10. CU’s bench outscored CSU’s 33-5.
Momentum gained from the Buffs’ 69-62 comeback weekend win at Illinois obviously carried into mid-week. CU outrebounded CSU 59-26, outscored the visitors 30-18 in the paint and had 20 second-chance points to CSU’s two.
The Buffs, who won 64-55 last season in Fort Collins, trailed once in the first half (2-0), but thereafter took control and led by 20 (37-17) at intermission. Following that two-point deficit, CU surged past CSU the 18-4 over the next 7 minutes to take a 16-point advantage (22-6) and never slowed down.
During that spurt, Brittany Wilson scored eight of her 10 first-half points, while Reese added five. At the 11:45 mark, the Buffs were shooting 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from the field while holding the Rams to 21.4 percent (3-for-14).
After CU’s opening run to go ahead by 16, CSU never got closer than 11 points for the rest of the half. And the Buffs kept pouring it on, leading by 20 twice before the halftime buzzer.
Roberson, a three-time recipient of the Pac-12 Conference freshman of the week award in the season’s first four weeks, added eight points to the Buffs’ halftime total. She entered the game with an 18.5 average.
CU’s second-half goal likely was to not lose interest and allow a CSU run. Mission accomplished. A “B-Wil” three-pointer and a Rachel Hargis layup on a nice fast break assist from Chucky Jeffery fashioned a 25-point lead (42-17) before the second half was 2 minutes old.
Less than 8 minutes later, after treys on consecutive possessions by freshman Lauren Huggins, senior Meagan Malcom-Peck and another by Huggins, the Buffs had pushed ahead by 30 (61-31).
The second half was only half done, but it was time for the Rams to say goodnight.
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Buffs Fall Hard In First True Road Test
Dec 2nd
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Colorado Buffaloes knew their first true road test of the season would be difficult, but they might have made it harder than it had to be.
Committing 17 turnovers while managing just 11 assists and allowing Wyoming’s inside game – read: Leonard Washington – to dominate, the No. 19 Buffs were overrun by the Cowboys 76-69 on Saturday night in the boisterous Arena-Auditorium.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why we lost this game,” said CU coach Tad Boyle, citing an assist-to-turnover ratio that continues to disappoint, 14 layups allowed (seven in each half) and his team permitting Wyoming to shoot 52 percent in the second half of a game that the Buffs led by two (28-26) at intermission.
Continued Boyle, who watched his team lose for the first time this season (6-1) and only the second time in its last 13 games: “I’m disappointed in our execution in the second half. We have to get better in a lot of different areas.”
The Cowboys’ 6-7 Leonard Washington scored a team-high 22 points – most of them inside as Wyoming outscored CU 30-24 in the paint. The unbeaten Cowboys (8-0) also turned the Buffs’ 17 turnovers, which tied the season high, into 20 points.
Spencer Dinwiddie led the Buffs with 24 points and Andre Roberson added 16 and 12 rebounds – his 28th career double-double. CU’s other pair of top scorers – guard Askia Booker and post Josh Scott – accounted for 11 points between them. Booker (16.8 ppg) was held to a season-low six points – a three-pointer in each half, while Scott (14.5 ppg) scored five before fouling out.
Two of Scott’s teammates – Roberson and Sabatino Chen – also fouled out. The Buffs were whistled for 27 fouls to the Cowboys’ 13, a disparity that Boyle believes worked too much on some of his players’ psyches.
“It’s going to happen,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to overcome that. They can get frustrated and bitch about it all they want – it doesn’t change things. The way you do that is with mental toughness and not let it get in your head, get you out of your game.”
Boyle also pointed to a hustle play made by Washington midway through the second half that he believed epitomized the night for the Buffs. It occurred when the Cowboys began pulling away with an 11-3 run. Washington went to floor for a loose ball, corralled it and called time out. Meanwhile, five CU players bent at their waists and poked at the ball.
“He out-scrapped us and got it,” Boyle said. “He ‘beasted’ us last year (16 points in a 64-54 Wyoming win). What you saw with Leonard Washington was a senior who was playing his last time against a team like Colorado that was in the Top 25. He wanted this game . . . he took four or five charges himself. It was in the scouting report.”
The Buffs, said Boyle, failed to play hard, smart or together: “We’ve got guys who have to change their identities from offensive players to defensive players, defensive players to rebounders, screeners, passers – and then let the offense come to you . . . we’ve got a lot of guys on this team who can put the ball in the basket. Not just Josh, Ski, Spencer, Andre – guys coming off the bench can (score). But our mindset right now is not a collective one, not what it needs to be.”
Booker, who was 2-of-13 from the field (one trey in each half), “does not handle adversity well,” Boyle said. “He has to get better when his jump shot’s not going in and when the officiating isn’t bailing him out. That’s the bottom line. He knows it, I know it, the assistant coaches know it, his teammates know it. Until he does, he’s going to be frustrated on nights like this because people are going to start face-guarding him, bumping him, being physical . . . he’s got to figure it out.”
The Buffs, as a whole, have until Wednesday night to figure out how to solve the deficiencies Boyle has laid out for them. Archrival Colorado State (6-0) visits the Coors Events Center in the second game of men’s/women’s doubleheader, and if CU doesn’t improve over the next three days, CSU “will obliterate us,” Boyle said. “They’ve got a toughness about them. You talk about rebounding and defending, look at Colorado State. They rebound and defend. They’re exactly what we need to be, and that’s why they’re undefeated right now. We’ve might have lost a little bit of our hunger now, I don’t know. We’ll find out Wednesday night.”
The 6-10 Scott wouldn’t concede that the Buffs have encountered complacency. “We’re as hungry as ever,” he said. “I know all of us are really competitive, we all want to be the best we can be.”
If they weren’t at their best in Saturday night’s first half, they were close enough to stay competitive. With Wyoming’s largest crowd (8,240) in eight seasons watching, the first half might have unfolded just as CU envisioned. The Cowboys aren’t interested in getting up and down the court, and they made sure the visitors couldn’t. Neither team had a fast-break basket in the opening 20 minutes.
CU did manage a two-point lead in a first half that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, but the Buffs’ 28 points was their lowest first-half output of the season. It was an omen, for CU finished shooting 41.4 percent from the field (24-of-58) for their lowest percentage of the season.
The Buffs encountered early foul problems, with Roberson, Xavier Johnson and Josh Scott seeing their minutes limited after picking up two fouls each. Roberson played nine minutes but still had seven first-half point, tying Dinwiddie for the team lead. Scott and Johnson played 10 minutes each. The Buffs stayed close, even leading on a couple of occasions, in the first 5 minutes of the second half. It didn’t help CU when Scott was whistled for his third foul at the 12:45 mark and went to the bench for 4 minutes. Wyoming went up by six (45-39) on an inside basket and free throw by Washington and two free throws by Luke Martinez.
A Dinwiddie trey cut the deficit in half (45-42), but the Cowboys reeled off an 11-3 run and suddenly were up 51-42 with 9:16 remaining. And in this game, at Wyoming’s pace, a nine-point lead looked pretty cushy. Boyle called a timeout to settle the Buffs.
CU pulled to within five (55-50), but a Washington desperation three-pointer with the shot clock at one second restored Wyoming’s eight-point lead (58-50) at the 5:12 mark.
If the Buffs were going to remain unbeaten, it would be up to their defense. But allowing a full-court pass to Martinez on an out-of-bounds wasn’t the way to finish strong. His layup pushed the Cowboys back up by nine (61-52) with just under 4 minutes remaining – and it was all Wyoming thereafter.
Said Dinwiddie: “We didn’t play defense, plain and simple. They buckled down and made plays and we didn’t make plays.”
Dinwiddie claimed the loud Cowboys crowd didn’t disrupt the Buffs: “I don’t think so . . . we missed some shots, but I don’t think the crowd had much to do with it. The crowd doesn’t change the way the opposing team plays defense.”
Now comes CSU, which edged CU 65-64 last season in Fort Collins. Dinwiddie said Saturday night’s first loss of this season doesn’t make the Rams’ visit to Boulder any more significant: “It’s a big game either way. They’re probably going to be Top 25 now, we might or might not still. It’s our place, they beat us last year and rushed the court.
“They’re our biggest rival. You really can’t set the stage any higher than it already was . . . it’s still going to be crazy. We want to prove to ourselves more than anything (and) get back to the way we should be playing.”
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CU Buffs Football Team’s Final Shot At Home “W” Slips Away
Nov 24th
Courtesy: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor |
BOULDER – After seven consecutive blowout losses, the Colorado Buffaloes found themselves competing in the fourth quarter Friday at Folsom Field. It was a strange, unfamiliar situation, but the Buffs appeared ready to handle it.
Like their 2012 season, it slipped away. CU and Utah swapped 100-yard kickoff returns in the fourth quarter, but the Utes’ runback came in response and proved to be the difference in their 42-35 Pac-12 Conference win. The gut-wrenching loss ended CU’s season at 1-11 overall, 1-8 in conference, and made this Buffs team 0-6 at Folsom. The last time a CU team didn’t win a home game was 1920, and the school’s most recent one-win season was 1984 (1-10). Utah (5-7, 3-6) won for the first time on the road this season. CU’s only 2012 win came on the road – 35-34 at Washington State on Sept. 22.
“Tough game, tough loss,” said an emotional Jon Embree, whose two-year record at his alma mater is 4-21. “I just want to thank the seniors for what they did for us.” CU said goodbye to eight seniors and three fourth-year juniors who are graduating. “I’d like for it to have been better,” senior tight end Nick Kasa said of his career and final season. “But it was good to be in a game until the last play. I think we all know there are better things coming for this program.” Senior linebacker Jon Major characterized his CU career as “super frustrating . . . life ain’t fair, and that’s just the way it is.” Making his third career start – the second this season – CU sophomore quarterback Nick Hirschman completed 30 of 51 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown. But four interceptions, the last ending the Buffs’ final chance in the final half minute, cast a long shadow. Three of the picks led to 21 Utah points. Embree said Hirschman “gave us everything he had . . . he rallied, he gutted it out. He got banged around a little bit, but he didn’t stop fighting.” Redshirt freshman Nelson Spruce caught 10 passes for 98 yards and an 8-yard touchdown, while freshman tailback Donta Abron rushed 14 times for 84 yards and a TD. The Buffs outgained the Utes 418-336 in total offense, led 25-18 in first downs and held the visitors without a third-down conversion until the middle of the fourth quarter. As the season’s grind intensified, Major said CU’s locker room stayed tight: “We got closer. We knew, the guys in the locker room knew who would fight and have each other’s backs. That was a priority around here.” Utah led 17-14 at halftime, but the way the game opened it appeared the Utes might make this a first-half blowout – something the Buffs had experienced in their previous seven games. Opening series, second CU play: Hirschman’s first pass is picked by defensive end Trevor Reilly and returned 13 yards to the CU 16. First Utah play: Travis Wilson hits Dres Anderson for a 16-yard touchdown and the Utes are up 7-0 less than a minute into the first quarter. Fortunately for the Buffs on the ensuing possession, a roughing-the-kicker penalty salvaged a stalled drive and provided a first down at the Utes’ 23-yard line. Four plays later, Hirschman found Spruce in the end zone for an 8-yard score and Will Oliver’s extra point tied the game at 7-7. CU’s defense provided a rare – in this season anyway – goal line stand, stopping Utah on three plays from the one and forcing a 21-yard Coleman Peterson field goal that put the Utes ahead 10-7 with 13 seconds left in the first quarter. That Utah possession followed CU’s second turnover – a fumble by Abron, who started in place of former high school teammate Christian Powell (concussion). The Buffs botched an opportunity to tie the score after snapper Ryan Iverson recovered returner Charles Henderson’s fumble at the Utes’ 15. After a Hirschman sack and an illegal substitution penalty, CU wound up trying a 43-yard field goal by Oliver. But Utah defensive end Joe Kruger, a 6-7, 280-pounder lined up inside, swatted it down. The Utes capitalized on their second interception of Hirschman – this one by free safety Eric Rowe – and marched 47 yards in six plays to go ahead 17-7. Backup tailback Kelvin York scored the TD on a 4-yard run. The Buffs had 3:35 before intermission to respond, and they used all but 16 seconds of it on an 11-play, 78-yard drive. After Hirschman went four-of-four for 46 yards on the march, he scored on a 1-yard sneak to bring the Buffs to 17-14. Utah padded its lead (20-14) on a 37-yard field goal by Peterson on the second half’s opening possession, but CU offered an immediate response and took its first lead of the afternoon. Tony Jones’ 3-yard run capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive and tied the score, then Oliver’s PAT pushed the Buffs in front 21-20 with 8:46 left in the third quarter. Having an advantage felt so good CU had to expand on it. After again shutting down Utah on third down – the Utes finished the third quarter 0-for-8 – and forcing a punt, Hirschman drove the Buffs 71 yards for another score. Abron got it on a 4-yard run. Of the drive’s eight plays, three were Hirschman passes that covered 60 yards – the big play a third-down screen to fullback Alex Wood that covered 34 yards. After Abron’s TD, Oliver kicked CU ahead 28-20 and the third quarter ended that way. Less than 5 minutes into the final quarter, the game was tied. Those third-down conversions Utah was having problems with? No problem on a 75-yard drive that saw the Utes convert two and ultimately score on an 11-yard run by tailback John White (20 carries, 168 yards, 1 TD). A two-point conversion would tie the score and that’s what Utah opted to do. After lining up in a spread PAT formation, Jake Murphy took a direct shotgun snap, took a couple steps toward the end zone then pulled up and lobbed a pass to David Rolff. Utah 28, CU 28. The tie held until Hirschman’s third interception set up the Utes at the Buffs’ 30. Wilson ran 9 yards around right end for the TD that broke the tie – 35-28. Then came the exchange of 100-yard kickoff returns by CU’s Marques Mosley and Utah’s Reggie Dunn. Mosley’s jaunt – he started left, reversed his field and finally outran the kicker – tied the score at 35-35. Dunn’s answer – he started near the right hash mark, cut up the right sideline and was untouched until his teammates mobbed him in the end zone. The Utes went up 42-35 with 8:12 to play. The Buffs chance to answer stalled when the decision was made to go for a fourth-and-three at the CU 45. A Hirschman pass for Gerald Thomas was batted away, but the Utes were forced to punt on their next series. CU took over on its 7-yard line with 2:55 showing. Last chance for a miracle, but the Buffs couldn’t find one. They moved as far as the Utes 46, where on fourth-and-eight Hirschman’s fourth pick – this one by strong safety Brian Blechen – ended the afternoon and CU’s one-win season. Despite the record and the string of blowout losses, Embree said there are positives although “it may not be crystal clear. We’ve got a lot of young talent that’s grown up. We get some guys back who were hurt, we’ve got some good grayshirts coming in. There’s a lot to be excited about and feel good about.” BUFF BITS: Senior defensive end Will Pericak received the Buffalo Heart Award, presented by a group of long-time fans seated behind the CU bench . . . . Saturday’s actual attendance was 39,400, with 46,052 tickets distributed. [includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
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