Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Finals Break Good For Higgins' Health
December 16, 2010 | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
For the first time in his basketball career, the senior captain on the Colorado men's team needed time to heal. Coach Tad Boyle offered this understatement Thursday afternoon shortly after his team concluded practice in antiquated Balch Field House: "Cory's been banged up a little during the first part of the season. The time away, getting his body recovered, is important."
The Buffs haven't played since Dec. 8, a gut-it-out overtime win (90-83) against Colorado State in which Higgins wasn't Higgins at the end of regulation play. He missed three of six free throws that likely would have closed out CSU without the OT. Was his physical state a factor? He would never blame sub-par foul shooting on that, but who's to discount it?
His injuries weren't of the career- or season-ending sort, but they were plentiful and they were nagging. Let him name them: "Thigh, shoulder, hand, concussion, stitches (forehead) . . . oh yeah, the (bruised) kidney.
"I've never been through anything like this. But it'll just make me stronger in the long run, I guess. This is a first for me. I've never been in the training room that much; I guess you just fight through it."
Indeed, Higgins is a proven fighter. CU basketball has been a battleground unto itself, and Higgins has waged the battle for four seasons now. It's time for a reward or two, and he believes if the Buffs continue on their current course they can make his final year rewarding for the program.
Allowing the CSU game to reach overtime wasn't how he would have scripted his final game against CU's in-state rival, but the score justified the extra work.
"It made us stronger," he said. "I never want to put the team in that position again, and I don't plan to, but it was good for us just knowing we can do it. The last couple of years, I don't know if we'd have won that game. It was good for us growing as a team."
The Buffs, who face The Citadel Friday at the Coors Events Center (7:30 p.m., FSN Rocky Mountain), are 5-3 and pretty decent on their home court. Their 5-0 record in non-conference play this season gives CU 17 consecutive non-conference wins dating to the 2008-09 season.
"We've been up and down, but as of right now we're headed in the right direction," Higgins said. "I think over the last few weeks, the last couple of games, we've made some big strides. We're just looking to continue that."
CU has two home games in a three-day stretch (Sunday vs. Longwood, 2 p.m.) before playing next week in the 10th Las Vegas Classic. The Buffs face New Mexico on Wednesday night, then either Indiana or Northern Iowa on Thursday night.
"Over the next couple of weeks, there's no games we can't win," Higgins said. "At the same time, it's going to be a great test for us - especially in Vegas. It's a huge opportunity for us. If we can get a couple of big wins we're just going to be that much more confident going into the conference."
CU doesn't begin its final season of Big 12 Conference hoops until Jan. 8 against Missouri, with home games against Maryland-Eastern Shore (Dec. 29) and Western New Mexico (Jan. 5) and a trip to Cal State-Bakersfield (Jan. 2) preceding Mizzou's visit.
But Boyle isn't looking that far ahead, and he doesn't want his players fast-forwarding either. The Citadel (3-5) starts five seniors, which Boyle says "scares the heck out of us. We just talked about the scores in college basketball - Louisville gets beat at home by Drexel, Oakland goes to Tennessee and wins, UNLV gets knocked off although Santa Barbara is a heck of a team . . . we've got to be mentally ready to go.
"(Friday) night is a mental challenge for us, just as much as it is physical - especially coming off of finals. That's a mental drain - and that's what scares you as a coach. You talk about it. We tried to give our guys plenty of time away from the court to get their studies done, to get academics taken care of. When we've practiced, we've practiced hard, not long."
In a best-case scenario Friday night and Sunday afternoon, Boyle would like to get more players more minutes and begin establishing more depth for conference play. But the first order of business is winning, and he's not going to sacrifice for the sake of his bench.
"We're going to play every game to win it, but going into all these games before Big 12 play, I'd like to develop some depth and build our bench," he said.
The Buffs played confidently and unselfishly, particularly in overtime, against the Rams. Boyle is looking for those traits, as well as more consistent defense, to continue as conference play approaches.
Higgins believes the eight-day break was welcome in the R&R category and won't dull any edge: "We've had three days off (from practice) and haven't played in over a week, so I think it's good for everybody - especially myself."
TAKING IT TO TROY: First-year CU women's coach Linda Lappe assembled her players Thursday after practice and issued road do's and don'ts. The Buffs have ventured outside the Events Center only once this season - a one-point loss in Game 2 at the University of Denver.
Appearances in the Women of Troy Tournament Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles will be the Buffs' first out-of-state games under Lappe. CU (7-2) plays host Southern California (5-3) on Saturday (5:30 p.m., MST) and either Dayton (5-4) or San Diego State (3-4) on Sunday.
"This is a plane ride, hotels, eating meals together - all that," Lappe said. "So it is our first major trip. We've been over itineraries, expectations . . . things always come up that you're not expecting but our players and staff are very excited.
"It should be a great tournament, a fun tournament with good competition. We should have a lot of family and friends there supporting us. I'm anxious to see how we respond in a different environment, one that we're not used to."
That said, Lappe believes the Buffs are ready. Their number of able bodies remains low (eight), but senior guard/forward Chelsea Dale could return from academic ineligibility as early as Saturday. She has missed the first nine games.
According to Lappe, USC will be the most explosive offensive team CU has faced: "They're bigger than we are and they have five great offensive players. We've done a great job so far defensively, but this is going to be the best offensive team we've played so far. The five players we have in the game are going to have to be ready to play really good defense and play our principles. We have to make sure we know where our shooters are and do a great job in the post. They don't have a weak offensive player."
Sophomore forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck concurred about the Trojans' firepower, but believes she and junior Julie Seabrook could pose match-up problems for USC.
"Their post players are tall . . . but I think we can take them outside," Malcolm-Peck said. "They're not used to guarding our size posts, who technically aren't posts. I think everybody matches up really well."
Lappe has stressed defensive improvement, and Malcolm-Peck said her biggest strides have come in that area - particularly in playing post defense: "I'm not used to guarding post players. But the coaches have really helped me there."
In their team meeting after Thursday's practice, Malcolm-Peck said Lappe emphasized that their trek to Southern California "is a business trip and we're there for basketball. She's making sure everybody knows that. We're focused and ready to go."
After this weekend's tournament, the Buffs finish non-conference play with home games against Colgate (Dec. 30) and North Dakota State (Jan. 4). CU opens Big 12 play at Texas A&M on Jan. 8.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
