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Buffs, Booker end #6 KU’s 19-game win streak
Dec 8th
BOULDER – No way for Colorado to beat towering, talented Kansas without 6-9 forward Wes Gordon?
Way.
No way (except maybe at gunpoint) that CU coach Tad Boyle strays from man-to-man defense and utilizes a 2-3 zone?
Way.
No way Coors Events Center matinee idol Ben Mills contributes meaningful first-half minutes against a team like the Jayhawks?
Way.
No way CU shoots nearly as frigid as the Boulder weather – 41.1 percent from the field and 59.5 percent from the foul line – and survives?
Way.
And no way the up, down, often kicked-around Askia Booker delivers the biggest shot of his life?
Way – and way, way past that.
It was CU 75, No. 6 KU 72 at the sold-out, geeked-out CEC on Saturday afternoon. The Buffs (9-1) won their ninth consecutive game for the first time since the 2005-06 season and slapped down a top 10 team for the first time since last Valentine’s Day when they beat No. 9 Arizona 71-58.
But that win won’t hold a holiday candle to this one. Christmas morning in the Rocky Mountains might not be able to match this – at least not for Boyle, his Buffs basketball program and an adoring CU fan base.
Booker hit three-pointers to close out each half, but it was his 30-footer at the final buzzer that he, his teammates and the crowd of 11,113 will remember for . . . maybe forever.
It had been a decade – or since the 2002-03 season – and 19 games, most of them in another conference, since CU defeated KU, and it was Boyle’s first win as a head coach in five tries against his alma mater. The Jayhawks still lead the series 123-40, but as for that 40th Buffs win . . .
“I’m not quite sure what to say after that one . . . it’s hard to put in historical perspective,” Boyle said about half an hour after CU students had cleared the CEC court and the building had stopped shuddering. “It was a hump game for our basketball program, considering what they did to us last year at Allen Field House and the amount of talent they have on their team.”
“Last year” was a 90-54 beat down in Lawrence, and if Booker and the Buffs said it didn’t motivate them, there will switches and ashes in their stockings in about three weeks.
CU’s list of Saturday heroes starts with the 6-1 junior guard from Los Angeles but goes upward to the 7-0 Mills, who means every bit as much to his teammates as the Buffs logo. Then add Spencer Dinwiddie (15 points, seven assists), Xavier Johnson (14 points, six rebounds, three steals), Josh Scott (14 points, four boards, two assists) and nearly every other CU player who suited up.
But it was Booker’s final trey that shot down the Jayhawks and shut down their fans. With 3 seconds to play and the score tied at 72-72 after KU had erased a nine-point CU lead, Booker got a pressurized inbounds pass from Johnson at the right sidecourt, went three dribbles past halfcourt and pulled up for more of a one-handed push shot than a jumper.
The ball found the net as time expired and Booker, who tied Dinwiddie with a team-best 15 points, found his place in CU hoops history. Was it the biggest shot of his career?
“Without a doubt . . . unless I win an NBA championship, that’s it,” he said. “I’m not sure I ever thought that would happen. At the same time, I think it’s a testament to Coach Boyle and how we go through our late clock plays in practice. The reason he does that is for nights like this.
“Thankfully, I came out and hit that shot. It felt great when it left my hand. I told the media after the game, I was actually in a straight line, which is great for a shooter. You don’t want to be fading away to the left or the right or backwards. I was going straight for the basket. My momentum held my form up and it went right in.”
Said Boyle: “When he let it go I knew it was in . . . it was money.”
Kansas (6-2) might have believed it would cash in inside with the absence of Gordon, who had missed practice since CU’s Tuesday night win at Colorado State due to illness/injury. The Jayhawks usually thrive inside with 7-0 Joel Embiid, 6-9 Tarik Black and 6-8 Perry Ellis, and they did outrebound the Buffs 33-32 and got 10 points each from Embiid and Ellis.
KU didn’t lose much of its power inside, outscoring CU 42-26 in the paint. The Jayhawks also got 22 bench points to the Buffs’ 14, but CU converted 14 KU turnovers into 24 points. The Buffs committed eight turnovers – a monstrous improvement from last season in Lawrence when CU had 12 by halftime and 18 by game’s end.
In the rematch, with Gordon watching from the bench in street clothes, Boyle knew a step up was needed from his frontcourt players such as the 6-7 Johnson, 6-10 Josh Scott and reserves such as Mills, who contributed eight of his 10 minutes and all of his four points in the first half. Mills also snatched three rebounds.
“It was so much fun,” Mills said. “This is something you dream of as a kid, a packed house at the Coors Events Center and the fans going nuts. To come in and play well in front of the fans and put on a show for them was great.”
Trailing by as many nine twice in the first 20 minutes, the Buffs finally caught the Jayhawks with a 14-4 run and took their first lead (26-25) on a layup from the left side by Mills with 4:21 left before intermission. It was Mills’ second straight basket, following a pump fake that got Embiid in the air and resulted in a soft, short jumper.
The CEC crowd roared with both of Mills’ baskets – and more of the blissful noise for the Buffs was coming.
Said Booker of Mills: “This guy comes to practice every day and works his butt off. Although he may not play as much as he wants or as much as he should, when his number was called, he was ready. Without him, we wouldn’t have won the game.”
And Boyle said the game wouldn’t have been won if he hadn’t “swallowed my pride,” pulled the Buffs out of his favored man-to-man and stationed them in a 2-3 zone. Given Gordon’s day-to-day status and KU’s inside power, Boyle said he had no choice: “If they would have made some shots against it in the first half early I probably would have gotten out of it, because I’m not committed to it. But, they didn’t, they struggled with it, and so we stayed with it. Second half we tried to flash it and keep them off balance a little bit. It’s hard sometimes man to man once they get in a rhythm to stop them, and I think the zone helped keep them off balance.”
Also, the Jayhawks came to Boulder shooting 30.7 percent from three-point range, and part of Boyle’s strategy was to make them jump shooters rather than layup and put-back artists. KU finished at 52.9 percent from the field (25 percent from beyond the arc) and Boyle conceded on first glance at the stat sheet, “I wonder how we won . . . but our guys’ resiliency and guts won out. I’m just glad we had the ball at the end; they were scoring pretty quick, pretty easily at the end.”
The Buffs endured their worst free-throw shooting of the season in the first half, hitting only 11 of 19 and finishing 22-for-37. In the final 1:49, Dinwiddie hit five of six and Booker one of two – his make coming with 12.8 seconds to play. KU called timeout with 11 seconds left to reset, and Ellis tied it at 72-72 with a layup.
The Jayhawks had rallied from nine down after the Buffs went up 53-44 on one of two free throws by Tre’Shaun Fletcher and a steal and stuff by the freshman on the next KU possession. But over the next 2 minutes, a 7-0 Jayhawks run cut their deficit to 53-51 and it was Boyle’s turn to call a timeout with just over 9 minutes to play. When the Buffs didn’t score, super KU freshman Andrew Wiggins (22 points) sent KU’s run to 9-0, tying the game at 53-53 with a layup at the 8:38 mark.
CU led by as many as six points twice in the final 3:36, the first six-point lead (63-57) coming on a Booker trey from the right corner. That shot, said Booker, “was great for me, but at the same time that play was initially for Spencer. I think they expected that so they left me open . . . it let me make the play.”
But the Jayhawks weren’t waving a white towel. They roared back behind a trey and two-pointer by Naadir Tharpe, a Wiggins layup and an Ellis tip to close to 70-68. With 12.8 seconds showing, Dinwiddie caught Wiggins’ elbow on a three-point attempt, and Wiggins hit two of three free throws to pull KU to within 71-70.
Dinwiddie made one of two foul shots – he finished eight-for-10 from the line – to increase the Buffs’ lead to 72-70. But Ellis’ layup tied the score and set the stage for Booker’s buzzer beater and the CU students storming the court.
Boyle said Booker, who was just five of 24 from three-point range in the first nine games but three-for-six Saturday, “is important to us, he’s our emotional leader. He can’t let his play affect his leadership on the court and it’s hard, it’s hard when you’re a shooter and you’re not shooting it well . . . (but) the capability’s there. If I didn’t see it in practice and he’s shooting that percentage (20.8 percent on three’s through nine games), then I’m the dumbest coach in America to be playing him.”
Turns out Boyle isn’t close to dumb or dumber. “Ski” Booker chiseled out his place in Buffs history and KU fans left the CEC without chanting “Rock Chalk Jayhawk.”
Said Boyle: “’Ski’ made an unbelievable play and we’re going to take it and not look back. Our crowd was great; to me it was a great day for college basketball in the state of Colorado and I’m really proud of our guys.”
CU study: Some primates sleep in caves for safety
Dec 4th
The ring-tailed lemurs may be opting to sleep in caves for several reasons, said University of Colorado Boulder anthropology Associate Professor Michelle Sauther, who led the study. While the cave-sleeping behavior is likely important because it provides safety from potential predators, it also can provide the primates with access to water and nutrients, help to regulate their body temperatures during cold or hot weather and provide refuge from encroaching human activities like deforestation, she said.
“The remarkable thing about our study was that over a six-year period, the same troops of ring-tailed lemurs used the same sleeping caves on a regular, daily basis,” she said. “What we are seeing is a consistent, habitual use of caves as sleeping sites by these primates, a wonderful behavioral adaptation we had not known about before.”
A paper on the subject appeared in the November issue of the journal Madagascar Conservation and Development. Funding for the project came from Primate Conservation Inc., the International Primate Society, the American Society of Primatologists, the National Geographic Society, CU-Boulder, the University of North Dakota, Colorado College and the National Science Foundation.
Although sleeping in caves by ring-tailed lemurs — which are found only in Madagascar — has likely been going on for millennia, it is only now being recognized as a regular behavior, said Sauther. The endangered Fusui langurs, slender, long-tailed Asian monkeys roughly 2 feet tall, also have been documented sleeping in caves but as a direct result of extreme deforestation, moving from cave to cave every few days. There also have been isolated reports of South African baboons sleeping in caves.
Ring-tailed lemurs are easily identified by their characteristic, black and white ringed tails, which can be twice as long as their bodies. They weigh roughly 5 pounds with a head-body length of up to 18 inches and are highly social, congregating in groups of up to 30 individuals. Sporting fox-like snouts and slender frames, they are unusual among lemurs, spending a considerable amount of time on the ground feeding on leaves and fruit and socializing, said Sauther.
In “gallery forests” near rivers, ring-tailed lemurs regularly sleep high in the canopies of tall trees. But in “spiny forests,” most of the trees with woody stems are covered in rows of spines, making them uncomfortable as well as dangerous sleeping sites because predators can easily climb them, Sauther said. The new study documents their cave sleeping behavior in the dry spiny forest habitat adjacent to limestone cliffs.
The lemur observations were made at the 104,000-acre Tsimanampesotse National Park and the Tsinjoriake Protected Area in southwestern Madagascar between 2006 and this year. The research team used field observations and motion-detector camera traps to chart the behavior and movements of 11 different troops of ring-tailed lemurs.
One of the early clues to the cave sleeping by the lemurs was their presence on limestone cliffs adjacent to spiny forest trees or on the ground when Sauther’s research team arrived at the study sites early in the morning. “They seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was not from the trees,” she said. “We were baffled. But when we began arriving at the study sites earlier and earlier in the mornings, we observed them climbing out of the limestone caves.”
The primary predator of the lemurs is a cat-like, carnivorous mammal called a fossa native only to Madagascar that is closely related to the mongoose and may weigh up to 20 pounds. Fossil evidence shows a cougar-sized relative of the fossa that only became extinct several thousand years ago likely preyed on lemurs as well, she said.
There is evidence that some early ancestors of humans in South Africa may have used caves to protect themselves from predators, said Sauther. The remains of hominids going back several million years have been found inside or near limestone caves there, and some fossil bones have evidence of damage consistent with the bite of saber-toothed cats.
“We think cave-sleeping is something ring-tailed lemurs have been doing for a long time,” she said. “The behavior may be characteristic of a deep primate heritage that goes back millions of years.”
Co-authors of the new study included Associate Professor Frank Cuozzo of the University of North Dakota, Ibrahim Antho Youssouf Jacky, Lova Ravelohasindrazana and Jean Ravoavy of the University of Toliara in Madagascar, Krista Fish of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Marni LaFleur of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Fish and LaFleur are former CU-Boulder students of Sauther.
Sauther co-directs the Beza Mahafalay Lemur Biology Project in southwestern Madagascar with Cuozzo, a former CU-Boulder doctoral student. Centered at the roughly 1,500-acre Beza Mahafalay Special Reserve, the research focuses on how climate- and human-induced change affects lemur biology, behavior and survival.
Sauther and her team were aided by field observations made by students and faculty from the University of Toliara in Madagascar. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students from CU-Boulder regularly travel to Madagascar to conduct research under Sauther, including students from CU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, which provides hands-on research and fosters student-faculty relationships.
“I never thought I would have a chance as a CU undergraduate to conduct research in an exotic place like Madagascar,” said former UROP student Anthony Massaro, who was part of a team that trapped ring-tailed lemurs, measured their physical characteristics including dentition, and released them back into the wild. “Dr. Sauther and Dr. Cuozzo mentored and guided me through the process of creating and conducting a unique research project.”
Unfortunately, habitat destruction, including deforestation, is increasing in many parts of Madagascar. In southwestern Madagascar, trees are being harvested for cattle forage, construction materials and firewood, and the mining of limestone there — used for the production of cement, fertilizer and other products — is increasing. Ring-tailed lemurs are now listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission.
Sauther has been conducting research on Madagascar for 25 years, beginning as a University of Washington graduate student. Today she has several CU-Boulder doctoral students working with her, including James Millette, who is studying how the tooth wear of lemurs relates to their foraging behaviors.
“Madagascar is a challenging place to conduct research,” Millette said. “Part of our job is to work with local communities, because without the support of these people there would be no lemur conservation. We consider Beza, where we have been working with the community for several decades, to be a real success story.”
A video of ring-tailed lemurs climbing into a cave is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjWF3_SmYS0&feature=youtu.be.
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CU soccer: Finally—a win over DU
Nov 17th
DENVER – The University of Colorado soccer team finally tasted victory over No. 15 and fourth-seeded Denver when it was most important – in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.
With less than seven minutes remaining in regulation, senior standout Anne Stuller netted the game-winner to give the Buffs’ the 1-0 victory.
In Stuller and her fellow seniors’ time at CU, the Buffs had never gotten a win over their in-state rival Denver. That changed Saturday in front of a crowd of 1,394 at Denver’s CIBER Field. In just their third win in Denver, the Buffs reclaim the slight series edge over the Pioneers, 9-8-1. The Buffs are now a perfect 2-0 against the Pioneers in NCAA play.
The Buffs got further revenge on the Pioneers after DU claimed a 3-0 win at CIBER Field earlier in the season to put an end to the Buffs’ recording-setting start of six wins to begin the 2013 campaign.
After remaining winless in their final four games of the season, the Buffs improve to 13-6-2 overall (after finishing tied for sixth in the Pac-12 Conference with a league mark of 4-5-2). CU advances to the Round of 32 for the first time since 2007 (when the Buffs fell to No. 3 Portland in the second round of tournament play). The win was the Buffs’ first over a ranked opponent since 2010, when the squad took down No. 12 UCLA and No. 6 Texas A&M in back-to-back games.
Denver suffers just its second loss of the season, falling to 18-2-1 as its impressive season is put to an end.
“First, I want to congratulate Denver on a great season,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said. “They’re worthy of the four seed they got. They had a great season pre-conference and during the conference. As far as the match today, like I told the team, we’re really proud of what this team has accomplished. Last year they finished tied for last place in the Pac-12. They’ve really bought in and done everything we’ve asked them. We’re really proud, especially of our four senior starters, but really everybody. We’re really pleased that we’re able to represent the University of Colorado on this stage.
“Today’s match could have gone either way. I felt both teams played very well. Big moments take special players, and Anne Stuller’s a special player. She came up and made the play when we needed it. Brunner and Lizzy (Herzl) and Hayley (Hughes) and Bianca (Jones) and Alex (Huynh) were rock solid in the back against Kristin Hamilton and Nicholette DiGiacomo and all their dynamic attacking players. We’re just real, real happy to have the opportunity to move on to Florida next week.”
The Buffs just edged the Pioneers in nearly every category. CU outshot DU 15 to 13 (with six on goal to DU’s three). CU also took three more corner kicks (seven to four), helping set up more shooting opportunities at the net. The Buffs’ backline held DU’s two leading scorers and record-breaking seniors Kristen Hamilton and Nicholette DiaGiacomo (who helped Denver become one of just 16 Division I teams with multiple double-digit scorers) to just three shots combined, with none on goal.
In the 84th minute, Brie Hooks was fouled just outside the left corner of the box, setting up the free kick that would give the Buffs the game. Stuller, who’s become known for her killer strike, bent her shot over the wall of defenders, getting the ball to deflect and reach the far post.
“That was all Brie,” Stuller said of the free kick setup that led to the goal. “She’d been putting the defense on their toes all night. She’s so dangerous out of the midfield; she’s really dangerous anywhere. She just came up and attacked the defenders and created a foul. Hats off to her – that was big time by her.”
Stuller, who says her team has been a “treat to play with” and fights every game, continues to shine in her senior season. She adds to her CU single season records with 89 shots and 52 shots on goal. Stuller also ties Katie Griffin for second most points in single season at CU, with 25.
In what has been her best season to date, goalkeeper and co-captain Annie Brunner grabbed three saves and posted her ninth clean sheet of the season, her career-best. She and 2003 Big 12 Championship team member Jessica Keller are the only two Buffs to have at least nine shutouts in a single season. Brunner is now the second-winningest keeper in program history with 32 in her career. Brunner has contributed to 24 shutouts in her career, and in 2013 has posted career-best season totals of 78 saves, a 3.71 save percentage and 0.98 goals-against average.
“I knew it was going to come down to a one-goal game,” Brunner said. “Going into the game, I was just on extreme focus like, ‘Hey I’m going to make one big save this game, maybe two, and we’re going to get one and that’s how we’ll win the game.’ Sure enough, DU started putting a lot of pressure on us in the back and that’s just when you’ve got to step up. Our defense did great blocking shots, and I just had to save a couple of them and that’s how you win.”
In the opening minutes of the game, the Buffs worked to press the net, getting two corner kicks, though the Denver defense prevented them from any looks at the net.
Denver took the first shot of the game in the fourth minute. A wide Nikki Pappalardo found Francesca Garzelloni at the front of the net, but Hayley Hughes forced the ball wide. Hughes was at it again, this time on offense, finding her shot blocked in the 10th minute. The Pioneers continued to make moves in the opening 15 minutes, with DiGiacomo finding an open look in front of the net, but blasting the ball out of the park.
After focusing on defense, the Buffs finally got back into Pioneer territory, with Hooks responding to DiGiacomo, but rushing her shot wide. The Buffs had one of their best opportunities of the half in the 18th minute. From deep left, Hooks found Emily Paxton at the right. Paxton sent a through ball to Stuller at the right post. Stuller aimed her shot at the net, forcing DU keeper Cassidy Rey to dive for the ball at the far post. Though the ball remained in play, a DU defender came into the net to clear the ball.
In the 25th minute, the Pioneers got another opportunity when Pappalardo beat her defender to get the ball in front of the net. After a few touches, Garzelloni hit just over the crossbar.
The Buffs dominated offensively in the final 15 minutes before the break. In the 34th minute, Hooks found her target and made Rey claim her second save. Following a hard foul on Madison Krauser, the Buffs got a free kick off from about 40 yards deep off a late call. Though DU initially got the ball, CU recovered, and Stuller got blocked at the net. CU would take another shot and corner in the final six minutes, but were unable to get a shot past the DU defense.
In the final two minutes before the break, the teams traded free kicks from midfield. DiGiacomo got another shot off for the Pioneers, but the game would remain scoreless at the half. (The Buffs are now 7-5-1 this season when entering halftime in a scoreless tie).
Stuller once again began the half with tough offensive pressure, forcing a corner kick that got to Paxton, whose shot went wide. Though Denver spent a lot of time in CU territory, they were only able to get one shot off and take one corner in the first 10 minutes, though their shot was a big one. In the 51st minute, a CU turnover in front of the DU net nearly cost them a goal. With lots of action and players going down in the box, Brunner grabbed a great save of a Garzelloni shot. The Buffs had several other strong defensive plays, with Bianca Jones helping the Buffs get a goal kick following a DU corner.
CU then went on a shooting spree, taking five shots and three corners in less than 12 minutes, while holding DU to playing defense. The Buffs played together in the 58th minute, with Jerman getting a good read to set up a play that would find Krauser at the left edge. Krasuer rushed in and shot, getting the ball to the center of the net, where Rey grabbed the save. Krauser was at it again just two minutes later, hitting the ball wide this time.
In the 64th minute, Jerman and Brooke Rice worked together to get Jerman in front of the net. She took a close range shot that was saved by Rey’s finger tips. The Buffs then got a corner, and Lizzy Herzl’s header got blocked. The Buffs kept up the pressure, with Jerman this time getting blocked. The Buffs got two more corner kicks, but Denver was finally ready to get on the attack.
It wasn’t until the 72nd minute when DU’s Hamilton was able to take her first (and only) shot. She got an open look from close range, but Brunner was ready as the shot went high. Denver was able to attack again at 75:01, with Pappalardo forcing a save from close range. The Pioneers continued to make the Buffs’ defense work, forcing another great save from Brunner in the 79th minute.
Then, the momentum began to turn the other way, as Denver got back to back fouls that would help spur the Buffs’ scoring drive. In the 81st minute, Alex Huynh took a free kick that was an easy grab for Rey. DU would reclaim possession and get a free kick from 25 yards out, but the Buffs’ came up with big back-to-back blocks.
CU would then rush from one side to the other, with Hooks, who was forcing a lot of aggressive plays out of the DU defense, going down just outside the left corner of the box. Stuller would put her golden boot to use to shoot over the wall and score off a deflection to give the Buffs the 1-0 lead.
“If I strike the ball cleanly and if I get it over the wall, there’s a good chance it’s going to get a rebound or go in,” Stuller said. “That was my focus – just getting over the wall, but not getting over the net. That’s what I try to do when I hit the ball.”
Denver would send everyone forward in the final six minutes, taking three more shots and two corners, but the Buffs would hold strong in the closing minutes to claim the win.
CU joins UCLA and Stanford as the only Pac-12 teams to advance to the Round of 32. With the win over Denver, and a loss by Colorado College on Saturday, CU is also the only in-state team to advance. CU will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on BYU (15-4-1), who defeated Weber State 4-0 in their first round, on Friday, Nov. 22. Though the teams have never met on neutral ground, BYU holds a 3-0-1 lead over CU.
“They’re very good,” Sanchez said. “They’re co-champions in the West Coast Conference, which is one of the top leagues. Obviously I’m familiar with them from back in the Mountain West days. They’re very athletic. They’re very direct. They’re very good. They were probably border line to get a seed as well this year. We know the challenge of that. We’ve actually watched a little bit of them hoping that we’d have the opportunity to advance and face them. We know they’re a great team with a great coach – Jennifer Rockwood’s been there since the start of the program. They’re a perennial tournament team, and we’ll have our hands full, but we’ll start worrying about them tomorrow at practice.”
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Marlee Horn
Graduate Assistant SID
University of Colorado