Posts tagged CU
CU women stay cool through big Iowa comeback, win 90-87
Nov 21st
By: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER – The draw was clear, but it didn’t matter. Colorado students turned out by the hundreds for Wednesday night’s women’s basketball game matching No. 16 CU against previously unbeaten Iowa. Never mind that they came mostly for tickets to the men’s game on Dec. 7 against No. 2 Kansas.
All that mattered to CU coach Linda Lappe and her players was that the students showed up. Turns out, the Buffs needed them. They had a difficult time holding leads, but they held off the Hawkeyes nonetheless, winning 90-87 at the Coors Events Center.
At game’s end, students traded wrist bands given to them upon entering the CEC for the coveted KU tickets. The court was nearly stormed – not to celebrate a win – but in time the distribution of just under 2,000 tickets went smoothly. Another 500 will be made available to students.
“Whether they came for tickets or to watch us, it was their choice to come . . . I mean they were there, what more can you say?” said CU senior guard Brittany Wilson.
Wilson topped five Buffs in double figures. She started for the first time this season and scored a career-high 26 points – 17 in the first half. Arielle Roberson scored 17 points, contributed a game-best nine of CU’s 44 rebounds (Iowa had 35) and had a career-high six assists. Lexy Kresl scored 12, while Jasmine Sborov and Jen Reese added 10 points each for the Buffs.
Rounding back into form after a leg injury, Wilson hit seven of 10 free throws in the final 1:46 as the Buffs turned back their Big Ten visitors. For the foul-filled night (59 were called on both teams), CU hit 30-of-40 free throws to Iowa’s 21-of-32. The Hawkeyes lost three players to fouls, the Buffs two. But CU benefitted most at the line, getting 15 of its final 18 points at the free throw line in the last 4:54.
Lappe called the CU students “a huge help in a game like that . . . we enjoy having them and we hope they come back. Having students support you is important in women’s basketball. We knew the student section was going to be awesome.”
With the Twitter world abuzz Tuesday about the KU ticket distribution plan, Lappe had told her players to “keep a narrow focus” on Wednesday night.
The Buffs did, didn’t and finally did. A 20-point first-half lead was cut to two early in the second half. A 15-point second-half lead was cut to three in the final half minute. Yet the Buffs kept their cool, remained unbeaten (3-0) and eventually handed the Hawkeyes their first loss in five games.
“We knew they weren’t going to lay down and die,” Lappe said. “Their players play hard. But in the end I liked how we responded to every one of their runs. We could have folded; instead, we came down and hit shot, got key rebounds and got stops.”
The Buffs led by as many as 20 points (46-26) late in the first half, but a 9-2 run to close the half pulled the Hawkeyes to within 48-35 at intermission. The Buffs’ 48 first-half points were their most since the 2011 WNIT when they hit 50 against Cal, but they ended up allowing more than 70-plus points since the 2011-12 season.
CU forged its double-figure lead with a 17-0 surge that broke an 8-8 tie less than 5 minutes into the game. Wilson scored six points during the Buffs’ spurt but just as instrumental as her scoring in that run was CU’s defense. While the Buffs were going from that 8-8 tie to a 25-8 advantage, the Hawkeyes went without a field goal in six attempts. By the time Iowa found its range again, CU had opened its 20-point margin.
The Buffs shot 45.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, hitting 17 of their 37 attempts, while the Hawkeyes went to the locker room at 40.7 percent (11-of-27). Iowa finished the game at 46.9 percent, thanks to 51.4 percent second half shootinig.
If the Buffs believed they could open the second half in cruise control, the Hawkeyes quickly put an end to the notion. Less than 2 minutes into the final 20, CU’s 20-point first-half lead was a distant memory.
The Hawkeyes one-upped their 9-2 run that closed the first half, outscoring the Buffs 10-2 to pull to within five points (50-45) on a Theairra Taylor three-pointer with just over 17 minutes remaining. Two minutes later, CU saw its lead cut to three (54-51) on a pair of free throws by Iowa freshman guard Ally Disterhoft.
One of two free by freshman Alexa Kastanek shrunk the Hawkeyes’ deficit to 56-54 – and the Buffs were in dire need of a boost. They got it with a 15-2 run.
Field goals by Sborov and Roberson, coupled with two Roberson free throws and another pair by Reese, pushed CU back up by 10 (64-54) with 10:01 left. Kresl added a layup, aided by a sweet look-off of an Iowa defender, then freshman Lauren Huggins drained a three-pointer from the left corner.
Suddenly, the Buffs were back up by 15 points (71-56) and appeared to be out of danger. The Hawkeyes had something else in mind – and rolling over wasn’t it. They used a 12-1 run to get within four points again (72-68) until Huggins’ huge trey from the right wing opened a 79-72 CU lead with 3:28 remaining.
Again, Iowa wasn’t done. Four consecutive free throws by Melissa Dixon brought Iowa to within 79-75 with 2:02 to play, and a layup by Clair Till pulled the Hawkeyes to 84-80 with 41.4 seconds showing. They got to 85-82, then 87-84, then 90-87 at the buzzer on a three-pointer by Samantha Logic, who tied Wilson with a game-high 26 points.
Lappe called the win “huge” for her team “to gain confidence and for our young players to get some minutes and see what that looks like.”
And as for the CU students, added Kresl, “Maybe it opened their eyes to us.”
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It wasn’t pretty but CU men got a good win
Nov 19th
by B.G. Brooks
CUBuffs.com contributing editor
BOULDER – Colorado’s young Buffs are growing up, which means an occasional pain or two. For now, it’s nothing they can’t tolerate but it won’t stay that way much longer.
Ebbing and flowing Monday night at the Coors Events Center, CU alternately buried and revived Arkansas State before finally putting down the talented Red Wolves 93-70.
“Obviously, we’re happy with a 23-point win,” Buffs coach Tad Boyle said. “That was the good news. But I think again, like most games we’ve played this year, there’s a lot of things we can take from this one and learn from and get better from. And I think the thing that stands out for me tonight was defensive intensity.
“I thought we let up a little bit the first part of that second half, and part of that credit goes to Arkansas State. They’ve got good players; we knew that coming in . . . but we’ve got to have that killer instinct defensively. We let up a little bit and let them back in it. But we gained control of it and I was proud of our guys. There’s a lot of good things to build on.”
Let the construction work continue.
The Buffs (4-1) led by 18 points at halftime, by 20 in the opening seconds of the second half, then by only eight points with 13:30 remaining. Such are the mood swings for a team depending on four true freshman and a redshirt freshman for quality minutes.
CU ultimately took control against Arkansas State (2-2), which had lost 85-64 at Wyoming on Sunday, but it took a Spencer Dinwiddie three-pointer with 10:09 to play to restore a double-digit lead (68-56) and allow the Buffs to rediscover how to hit the accelerator. Dinwiddie, one of four CU players in double figures, had another fine floor game, hitting four of five field goal attempts (two-of-two threes) and three of four free throws for 13 points. He also had a game-high five assists and two steals.
But the Buffs’ high-point man was their growing low-post presence, Josh Scott, the 6-10 sophomore. His 20 points were one short of his career high. “They had a 6-7, although he was 250 pounds, and a 6-10 – but they were single-covering me and they weren’t digging hard,” Scott said. “If you’re going to give me that, I’m probably going to score. That’s pretty much all I can say about that.”
Also in double figures for the Buffs were freshmen George King (11) and Jaron Hopkins (10). Eleven of the 14 CU players in uniform scored, but for the second consecutive game the Buffs were without sophomore forward Xavier Johnson, who also missed Saturday’s game against Jackson State after being “dinged” in a late-week practice, according to Boyle.
Once again, Hopkins opened in Johnson’s place – and once again Hopkins was effective early, scoring five points on two free throws and a three-pointer in an 11-0 run that helped the Buffs open a 12-point (22-10) advantage. King also hit a pair of three-pointers during that surge and made good on a prophesy to roommate Tre’Shaun Fletcher.
“I noticed in warm-ups I wasn’t shooting the ball well, but in this one I focused on blocking everything out . . . . I told my roommate, ‘Fletch,’ I was going to hit a three in this game,” said King, who hit both of his three-point attempts as the Buffs hit nine for the second consecutive game.
But Boyle wasn’t necessarily pleased with that number, especially with the Buffs hitting only one of their first eight trey attempts and getting away from their offensive philosophy. They finished the half 6-of-15 from behind the arc and 9-of-23 for the game. Said Boyle: “I thought we got trigger happy in the first half with threes. We can’t live and die with those . . . we’re an inside-out team.”
Boyle previously had expressed a reluctance to have three freshmen on the court at the same time, but with Johnson out now for two games there is little choice at times. “I’d rather have it in a game like this,” Boyle said. “Hopefully in a couple of weeks I won’t look at them as freshmen. But our freshmen are growing up quick . . . tonight was another step in the right direction for them.”
CU trailed only once, allowing a trey by Melvin Johnson III – a 6-6 senior transfer from Texas-San Antonio – to open the scoring. Nothing out of the ordinary for Johnson; he entered the game having connected on 12-of-22 three-point tries in the Red Wolves’ first three games and was the team’s leading scorer (16.7 ppg).
He finished as Monday night’s leading scorer with 25 and teammate Brandon Reed added 21. But they were the only Red Wolves to score in the first half; their teammates went 0-for-13. Kirk Van Slyke, a 6-10 post, added 15 points, but aside from the Red Wolves’ brief second-half spurt they simply couldn’t keep pace with the Buffs’ mostly young guns.
CU pushed ahead 40-22 with 4:05 left before intermission, and at halftime, the Buffs were still up by 18 – 46-28. There was little reason to think the Red Wolves could catch up in the final 20 minutes, but they gave it a shot – a three-point shot. They hit five of their seven treys after intermission, pulling to within eight points twice before the Buffs decided ‘D’ might be necessary.
CU held A-State to 28.6 percent from the field (8-of-28) in the first 20 minutes, but 53.3 percent second-half shooting brought the Red Wolves to 41.4 percent for the game (24-of-58).
“I think we locked them up pretty well in first half . . . we chased them off the three-point line,” Scott said. “Coming out of the half, we didn’t find their shooters. They hit some good shots (but) we finally got locked in and got the win by a large margin.”
After Dinwiddie fed Hopkins for an alley-oop slam to open a 20-point lead (48-28) seconds into the second half, CU appeared to be cruising. But over the next 51/2 minutes, the Red Wolves outscored the Buffs 19-7, taking advantage of a familiar CU deficiency – perimeter defense.
A-State used four three-pointers during that span to pull to within 55-47 with just over 14 minutes remaining. But the visitors from Jonesboro, Ark., could get no closer than eight points the rest of the night.
The Buffs surged to a 25-point lead, 90-65, on a Beau Gamble-assisted Ben Mills stuff with 1:45 to play. Sophomore walk-on Brett Brady got the Buffs to 93 with a three-pointer in the final minute and the CEC crowd of 8,204 roared its approval.
Boyle wants the roaring – as well as the attendance – to increase. The Buffs’ six-game home stand begins to wind down Thursday when UC-Santa Barbara visits the CEC (6 p.m.). On Sunday afternoon (2:30 p.m.), Harvard visits, and Boyle said the Buffs need to “get our minds right” for both games.
“The last two weeks this team has gotten better,” he said. “You can feel it offensively and defensively (but) Santa Barbara is a different caliber team, Harvard is a different caliber team. We’ll find out in the next two games how great those strides have been.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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FINALLY: MacIntyre’s first Pac-12 win
Nov 17th
by B.G. Brooks,
CUBuffs.com contributing editor
BOULDER – It took seven tries before the Colorado Buffaloes could present coach Mike MacIntyre with his first Pac-12 Conference win, but the Buffs accomplished it – plus a lot more – Saturday afternoon at cold and windswept Folsom Field.
CU slapped California 41-24, ending the Buffs’ 14-game Pac-12 losing streak (six this season, eight last) and keeping their postseason hopes flickering for at least another weekend.
Maybe just as important, said MacIntyre, “I think it validates, to the players, their hard work is paying off . . . this validates staying the course, you keep working, keep working, you keep planting the seeds; you keep watering the seeds and eventually they start to sprout. No way we are there yet, by any stretch, but this is a good step in the right direction.”
Improving to 4-6 overall and 1-6 in the Pac-12, CU needs two more wins to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2007. Two games remain – next Saturday on Senior Day vs. Southern California at Folsom Field (kickoff time to be set Monday) and Saturday, Nov. 30 at Utah.
As October neared an end, MacIntyre said he wanted his team to make November a month that mattered in CU football. “Some people thought I was crazy when I said that a while back,” he said. “I thought we could win some games here, and I still do, I still think we can win some more left; they’re going to be real tough, against real good football teams.
“But, now there is a little bit more to play for. Senior Day is awesome for the seniors, but now the seniors actually have a little bit more to play for, and so do the players out there. So, when they come back Sunday, I guarantee they will be a little bit more tuned up and a little bit sharper. I wish they were always that way, but they’ll be a little bit better on their Ps and Qs. They’ll be watching a little bit extra film, and they’ll be excited about what’s going on.”
The Buffs’ 485 yards in total offense against the Bears marked their most productive game since getting 509 in the season-opening win against Colorado State. The bulk of CU’s total Saturday was produced by freshman quarterback Sefo Liufau, who enjoyed his most productive passing day since becoming CU’s starter six games ago. He completed 23 of 36 passes for a career-high 364 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.
MacIntyre said Liufau “played really, really well. He got hit on the arm on the one interception, but came back and made some really good plays. I think maybe ya’ll are starting a little bit of what I see (in Liufau). Hopefully he’ll just keep improving, and I know he will. There is no way he’ll get big-headed.”
Liufau, said junior receiver Paul Richardson, “showed what he is capable of. Each and every week he is getting better . . . Sefo is growing up; he gives us hope.”
Liufau’s explanation of his best night to date was simple: “I think I got into a really good rhythm. I felt like the offense overall was just clicking. Obviously, there was one or two times where our drives sputtered out, but I think overall the offense tonight was really good.”
The fleet Richardson did his part, as did Nelson Spruce. Over half of Liufau’s completions went to “P-Rich” (11 catches, 140 yards) and Spruce (8 catches, career-high 140 yards). Richardson’s 11 catches tied the school single-game record, and his 140 yards put him at 1,201 – a single-season school mark.
Richardson called setting the record “good for the university. I’ve said it before: they bring guys in each year hoping that they can do better than the guys in the past. We have to rewrite history in order to get this program back to being successful.”
Liufau’s three TD tosses were to tailbacks Michael Adkins II (63 yards) and Tony Jones (11) and tight end Kyle Slavin (10). CU tailback Christian Powell ran for a 2-yard score and Spruce returned an on-sides kick attempt 46 yards for CU’s final TD with just over 6 minutes left in the game.
“I was extremely surprised,” Spruce said. “I caught it, and normally you would fall on it. But I kind of froze up and then I saw the sideline and just took off . . . it was a lot fun out there today. With the wind blowing and having all the heaters on the sidelines, it was kind of a different game. We were able to get that win to stay bowl eligible. We talked about how we were going to win these last three games . . . this was a great win for us.”
If CU could celebrate the end of its long conference losing streak, Cal saw its streak extended. The Bears, who now have allowed 40-plus points in eight games this season, have lost 13 consecutive Pac-12 games and 15 straight to FBS competition. They dropped to 1-10 overall and 0-8 in the conference.
The Buffs closed out the first half by scoring twice in just under 2 minutes to take a 24-10 lead at intermission. That pair of swift scores came on an 11-yard pass from Liufau to Jones and a 2-yard run by Powell, who finished with 60 yards on 18 carries. Adkins ran nine times for 39 yards and Jones’ eight attempts netted 22 yards.
Powell’s TD came after Cal fumbled the kickoff following Jones’ score. With the wind swirling through Folsom, Will Oliver kept his kickoff low – a line drive that bounded off the chest of Cal up man Lucas King and was gathered in by CU’s Isaac Archuletta at the Bears 49-yard line.
Eight plays later – not including a costly roughing the passer call on Cal that salvaged CU’s drive on third-and-12 – Powell ran left and untouched into the end zone, giving the Buffs their two-touchdown halftime lead.
CU never trailed, going up 3-0 on Oliver’s 27-yard first-quarter field goal (he had missed from 40 on the Buffs’ opening drive), then increasing the margin to 10-0 on a 10-yard Liufau pass to Slavin. It was Slavin’s second career TD.
Cal pulled to 10-3 on a 42-yard Vincenzo D’Amato field goal with 8:25 left before halftime. Less than 2 minutes later, the Bears tied the score at 10-10 on a 55-yard sprint by Khalfani Muhammad. The Buffs answered with their two quick scores and had their first halftime lead in Pac-12 play this season.
Bears QB Jared Goff, a true freshman, completed only 11 of 21 first-half passing attempts for 79 yards and finished with 23-of-45 for 173 yards – his second-lowest total of the season. MacIntyre said CU’s secondary had learned from getting “toasted,” and also said the Buffs “had a great pass rush. He was under duress and that helps the secondary tremendously.”
Cal pulled a special teams switch with Goff in the first half, using him to pooch punt for the first time in his career. He punted three times for a 40.3 average, with one punt downed inside the 20 and a pair of touchbacks. On fourth down of their first second-half possession, the Bears went back to regular punter Cole Leininger.
CU and Liufau dodged a bullet early in third quarter when Liufau suffered his sixth interception of the season. With his arm hit in mid-release, his fluttering pass was picked off by Cal linebacker Jalen Jefferson at the CU 38-yard line. But the Buffs allowed the Bears only three yards on four downs and escaped any damage from the turnover.
Cal coach Sonny Dykes pulled Goff on the Bears’ fourth series of the third quarter, replacing him with redshirt freshman Zach Kline. Nothing changed; the Bears went three-and-out, giving the Buffs possession at their 23 after a Leininger punt.
Liufau promptly drove CU to the Cal 7-yard line, where the drive stalled and Oliver kicked his second field goal of the game – a 24-yarder that pushed the Buffs up 27-10, with that score holding for the rest of the third quarter.
In the first 3 minutes of the final quarter, CU all but put the ‘W’ away on the 63-yard catch-and-run from Liufau to Adkins. He scrambled out of at least four tackles, sprinting and weaving in front of the Buffs bench on his way to the end zone.
Oliver’s PAT made it 34-10 with 12:22 remaining, and Cal’s challenge went from daunting to nearly impossible. Dykes went back to Goff at QB on the next series, and Goff drove the Bears 52 yards in 10 plays, with running back Brendan Bigelow scoring on a 1-yard run. That pulled Cal to 34-17, but the on-sides kick attempt backfired when Spruce fielded the ball cleanly and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown.
After Oliver kicked CU ahead 41-17, Cal got its final TD on a 26-yard Bigelow run, making the score 41-24 with 1:21 left. And this time, the Bears executed the on-sides kick, but Goff was intercepted in the end zone by corner Kenneth Crawley.
The Buffs had less than half a minute remaining before they could finally sing their fight song following a 2013 Pac-12 game. They did so in front of the student section, then went to the opposite side of Folsom Field and encored before the CU band.
“I was so happy for them,” MacIntyre said. “Our coaching staff has worked tirelessly and really hard keep those young men together and focused. And then, I would like to thank our fans. I thought it was an exciting atmosphere. That’s a stepping block for us going into the future.”
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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