Buffs’ Rally Comes Up Short Against Bruins
Jan 13th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Protecting a second-half lead wasn’t a problem on Saturday for the Colorado Buffaloes. Their dilemma this time was overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit – and they nearly did it.
Deep and talented UCLA led by a point at halftime, revved it up in the second half, then had to desperately hold on to beat CU 78-75 and deal the Buffs their first loss of the season at the Coors Events Center.
CU closed to within a point (76-75) on Spencer Dinwiddie’s layup, but UCLA’s Jordan Adams sank a pair of free throws with 7.9 seconds to play to give the Bruins their final lead. A three-point attempt from the left corner by Askia Booker bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
CU coach Tad Boyle said his team got the shot it wanted: “We drew that play up and got ‘Ski’ a wide-open three in the corner . . . we got the shots we wanted offensively, we really did what we set out to do in the last two or three minutes. But we didn’t get a stop when we needed to.”
When Booker’s shot didn’t go in, it left the Buffs 8-1 this season at the CEC and 39-5 at home in 21/2 seasons under Boyle. CU fell to 11-5 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12 Conference while UCLA, winning its ninth straight game, improved to 14-3 and stayed unbeaten (4-0) in conference play.
Dinwiddie led CU with 23 points – 15 in the second half – while Booker and Josh Scott added 18 each. Scott also had nine rebounds. UCLA’s Travis Wear matched Dinwiddie’s point total and stepped up with clutch baskets when the Buffs were making their comeback. Adams added 18 points, with Shabazz Muhammad contributing 14 and Kyle Anderson 12 for UCLA.
Boyle called the loss “very disappointing, frustrating for our team and program . . . the margin for error is so thin in those games (and) our team is not where we need to be. It’s frustrating when you know opportunities are there and we don’t take advantage.”
But the Bruins played a large part in Saturday’s loss, and Boyle credited them for “making plays and free throws down the stretch.” Specifically, they hit eight of 11 in the final 61 seconds. And a pair of clutch field goals by Travis Wear also helped keep the Buffs at bay.
“He was terrific down the stretch,” Boyle said of the 6-10 Wear, who was 11-of-17 from the field. Added Dinwiddie: “(Wear) was the best player on the floor. He shot over 50 percent . . . give him a lot of credit. Some of our guys are not used to guarding a big guy outside like that.”
The Buffs, said Boyle, “played hard and competed, but we have to be more consistent from start to finish against good teams.” He drew on a quote from his former college coach at Kansas, Larry Brown: “Coming back is easy; coming back and winning is hard.”
For matchup purposes with the bigger Bruins, Boyle started freshman forward Xavier Johnson in place of senior Sabatino Chen for the second time this season. The 6-6 Johnson finished with eight points – seven in the first half – in 22 minutes.
The Buffs led by as many four points in the first half, but trailed by one (35-34) at intermission. It was only the second time this season that CU has trailed at halftime – the first being in early December at Kansas. And that trip didn’t turn out so well for the Buffs.
The Bruins’ biggest first-half lead was three on three occasions, with those meager advantages telling the story of an opening 20 minutes played at a controlled pace by both teams. When running was to be done, it was usually UCLA doing it; the Bruins had 10 fast break points to the Buffs’ four.
Neither team had a player in double figures in the opening half, and CU’s Andre Roberson didn’t get his first field goal until nearly 15 minutes in. He finished the half with four points and got one more in the second half. But he collected a game-high 12 rebounds.
CU fell well short of holding UCLA to 40 percent from the field. The Bruins hit 31 of their 60 field goal attempts (51.7 percent) while the Buffs finished at 25-for-57 (43.9 percent). CU won the board battle 34-32 and was better at the free throw line, hitting 20-of-27 – an upgrade from their 14-of-26 in the previous win against USC.
“But if we make three more, it might be a tie game,” Booker said. “We have to get better there.”
Booker said his futile trey at the buzzer “felt good” when it left his hand. After releasing the shot, he wound up flat on his back. Did he think he was fouled? “It doesn’t matter now, the game’s over,” he said.
UCLA scored the second half’s first five points on a layup by Travis Wear and a three-pointer by Muhammad, opening a six-point (40-34) lead and prompting a timeout by Boyle with 18:39 to play.
The Buffs had an answer – two of them. Treys by Booker and Dinwiddie tied the score at 42-42 with 16:09 remaining. But over the next 3 minutes, the Bruins outscored the Buffs 8-1 to go up by 50-43 – UCLA’s largest lead to that point.
It grew to 13 (58-45) just over 3 minutes later as the Buffs were held without a field goal during that nearly 6-minute span, getting only a pair of free throws from Dinwiddie. Meanwhile, Jordan capped the Bruins’ 14-3 run with a four-point play to make it 58-45 with 9:49 left.
CU got as close as 61-55 on a pair of free throws by Scott with 5:25 remaining, then crept to within five on two occasions in the final 2:15 on baskets by Dinwiddie and Scott. And possession by possession, the Buffs kept coming, giving themselves the chance to tie on Booker’s near-miss at the buzzer.
“’Ski’ is one of our best clutch shooters,” said Dinwiddie. “We’re not at all disappointed in getting that shot.”
Added Booker: “We shouldn’t have let it get to that point . . . I’m happy with way fought, that gave us a chance to tie and go to overtime.”
In its three previous Pac-12 games, CU squandered double-digit leads and lost two of the three games. On Saturday, Dinwiddie said he didn’t believe the Buffs lacked a sense of urgency, “We just hit these lulls on the offensive and defensive ends. Even if it happens on the offensive end, we can’t let it happen on the defensive end . . . we have to stay on pace and execute our plan.”
Doing it only becomes tougher. If the Buffs are to climb to .500 in the Pac-12, they must do it on the road. They travel to Washington (Thursday, 9:30 p.m. MST) and Washington State (Saturday, 8 p.m. MST) next week.
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Bomb threat, “Hit List” closes Niwot High
Jan 11th
from the Longmont Times-Call via Huffington Post
Niwot High School in Boulder, Colo. is closed Friday as authorities investigate a threat to blow up the school and a 30-name “hit list.”
A threat that the school would “blow on the 11th” was found scrawled on a bathroom Monday and made public Tuesday. Officials decided to close the school when the threat escalated upon Thursday’s discovery of the threatening hit list filled with students’ names, The Longmont Times-Call reports.
Parents were notified of the decision and investigation in a letter Thursday. Deputies are using dogs to comb the school for bombs, and the school is offering a $1,000 reward for anyone with information about the perpetrator.
“We made a recommendation to the school district that they don’t have school on Friday for safety reasons, for the students,” Cmdr. Rick Brough of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office told KUSA-TV. “It gives us more time to do an investigation and see if we can identify who is responsible, and whether the threat is credible.”
Schools across the country are still on high alert as parents nervously sent their children back to class after the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook school shooting. Districts nationwide have tightened security measures and increased campus patrols, and hypersensitivity to any unusual activity or perceived threats have already resulted in numerous lockdowns.
“Ten years ago this wouldn’t have been a problem, and now it’s a real problem. And my child’s name is on the list, and it’s very concerning,” parent Ellen Ross told TheDenverChannel. “I just really hope that the parents talk to their kids and try to find out what is going on because some child knows. No child does this and doesn’t tell anybody. I really want the parents to talk to their kids and find out who’s doing this.”
Weekend activities, including a girls’ basketball game and wrestling tournament, have also been canceled, KDVR reports.
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Broncos John Elway talks about the upcoming playoff game against the Ravens
Jan 11th
This week, Chris Hall of DenverBroncos.com discussed the Broncos’ upcoming playoff opener against Baltimore with Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway in the latest installment of Elway Access.
The Broncos finished the season on an 11-game winning streak for a 13-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the AFC going into the playoffs. It was a year that ranked among the best regular seasons in franchise history, but those accomplishments will mean little if they are not followed by a strong postseason run. The players’ incentive for all their hard work throughout the year boils down to what happens over the next few weeks.
“Playoff football is exciting, that’s what you play for,” Elway said. “That’s what you start working out in March for and go through training camp to get in the position that we are right now.”
One of the biggest factors in the team’s success has been quarterback Peyton Manning’s record-setting regular season. With that portion of the year complete, Elway said that looking back, he’s been thrilled to see Manning perform so well after missing 2011 due to injury.
“No. 1, I’m happy for Peyton Manning, with the career that he’s had in the NFL and what he’s done for this game, for him to be able to bounce back like he has, I’m happy for him that he’s reached the level that he has again,” Elway said. “He’s pretty close to the Peyton of old. No. 2, I’m thrilled for us, the Broncos, the fact that he’s playing that well because we’re back in that No. 1 seed, back as one of the elite teams in this league. We’re able to go out and start the playoffs this week and compete for a Super Bowl championship. That’s why we play the game and why we work at this game.”
Denver is set for a rematch with the Ravens Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MST at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. In the first meeting of the season between the teams, the Broncos led 31-3 entering the fourth quarter and defeated Baltimore by a final score of 34-17. A key difference going into Saturday’s game is the health of the Ravens defense, which has welcomed back a trio of key contributors who were injured and inactive in Week 15.
Peyton Manning
“They’re a lot healthier now than they were when we played them,” Elway said. “(Linebacker) Ray Lewis was down, (Dannell) Ellerbe, their other inside linebacker, was down. So they were really banged up the last time we played them. They’re going to be at full strength, or close to full strength, this time.”
The return of those players has made one of Baltimore’s strengths throughout the season – the team’s red-zone defense – even more formidable. The Ravens’ playoff-opening win over Indianapolis in the Wild Card Round was highlighted by a bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort that yielded 25 first downs and 419 yards of total offense but only nine points.
“One thing that they are, and you noticed it last week also, was the fact that down in the red zone, they’re as good as anybody in the league,” Elway said. “I think they’re top 5, if not the best red-zone defense in the league. Last week they gave up three field goals to Indianapolis even though Indianapolis had the ball for 37 minutes. That’s why it’s going to be important for us to not only be good between the 20s, but when you get down in the red zone, we have to get it into the end zone.”
Another significant difference between Saturday’s game and the Week 15 matchup in Baltimore is the venue. Denver will have the advantage of playing in front of a home crowd that helped the Broncos win seven of their eight home games during the regular season.
“It will be great that we’re playing at Sports Authority Field at Mile High with the fans behind us,” Elway said. “It will bring back that great playoff atmosphere, which is great for the fans. We’ve played better at home. We did a better job this year, we’re 7-1 at home. We’re comfortable there and the fans have been great the whole year. But this is a different atmosphere and they’re going to be a big part of it, especially when (the Ravens are) on offense.”
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