Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
6-3
The Citadel
3-6
Buffs Stay Sharp After Break, Bury Bulldogs
December 17, 2010 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - If first-year men's basketball coach Tad Boyle fretted just once about semester finals and an eight-day break taking any edge off his team, it was one fret too many.
In fact, the time off might have come at a perfect time.
Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes opened with a purpose Friday night against The Citadel and played most of the next 39 minutes the same way, routing the Bulldogs, 89-61, at the Coors Events Center.
Improving to 6-3, the Buffs stretched their home-court winning streak to six this season and 18 consecutive home victories against non-conference competition. It was the first meeting between CU and The Citadel, which dropped to 3-6 and plays eight of its next 10 games on the road.
CU had four players in double figures - freshmen Alec Burks (19) and Andre Roberson (11), and seniors Cory Higgins (18) and Levi Knutson (11). Roberson also collected 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
With his team coming out of final exams and not playing since an overtime win against Colorado State on Dec. 8, Boyle had expressed mild concern earlier in the week about the layoff and whether his team would be mentally sharp after finals.
"As a coach you never know what to think coming off finals week . . . I was a little nervous," Boyle said.
Not to worry. The Buffs hit half of their 20 three-point attempts, shot 59.6 percent (34-of-57) from the field and limited the Bulldogs to 41.4 percent (24-of-58) shooting. CU outrebounded the visitors 33-29 and outran them at every opportunity, scoring 23 points on fast breaks to The Citadel's two.
Higgins said his coach's concern was needless: "We all itched to get back out on the court. I knew we were going to be ready to play, and it was just going to come down to execution."
Boyle was particularly pleased with the Buffs' increasingly unselfish play, noting on occasion they might have been overly unselfish. But finishing with 23 assists on 34 baskets won't draw too many complaints from any coach.
Said Boyle: "Guys are looking for each other . . . guys are conscious of trying to make each other better."
Point guard Nate Tomlinson is at the head of that pack. He dished out a team-best eight assists and had just one of his team's nine turnovers. Higgins had five assists and no turnovers. It was the fifth time in nine games that the Buffs have kept their errors in single digits.
If there was a dark element on a night of mostly silver linings, it was CU's overall post defense. The Citadel's 6-foot-8, 230-pound sophomore center, Mike Groselle, scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He was mainly responsible for the Bulldogs outscoring the Buffs 36-34 in the paint.
"These games are opportunities for us to get better," Boyle said. "In certain areas we did tonight; but one area we still need work in is our post defense."
CU hit three treys - the first two by Higgins - to open the game and sprinted to a 9-2 lead, undoubtedly giving The Citadel second thoughts about continuing to play zone.
The Citadel Coach Chuck Driesell, son of legendary hoops coach Lefty Driesell, called CU "a dangerous team. We thought their weakness was perimeter shooting. We were going to give them those, but they stepped up and hit threes. They made 10 threes . . . they're a talented team with good shooters and are effective enough inside."
For the rest of the half, The Citadel's zone didn't pose any more problems for the Buffs than it did in the opening minutes. And by intermission, CU led 41-28. But the Bulldogs were that close only because they closed the first 20 minutes with a 6-0 run, preventing the Buffs from building on their 19-point (41-22) advantage.
True to his word, Boyle subbed early and often, providing minutes for players who could help lengthen CU's bench when Big 12 Conference play begins next month.
Before halftime, Boyle had used everyone he suited up - and only two of his 11 players failed to score in the first 20 minutes. By game's end, only one - junior forward Trey Eckloff - hadn't reached the scoring column.
Roberson continues to catch his teammates' and coach's eye. Defense has been his main focus, but he said he is "trying to add the little things game-by-game so (his offense) evolves."
Higgins said the 6-7 wing player's early influence on the Buffs is "night and day compared to last season. Last year it was our five-man out there fighting by himself.
"Now we have our five-man and 'Dre'. Everybody knows that 'Dre' can rebound the ball. He's given us a great lift since Day One with his energy. He does a lot of little things that people don't see."
On the other hand, freshman center Ben Mills is hard to miss. Reinforcing his image as a burgeoning crowd favorite, the 7-footer went three-for-four from the field, getting his third basket on a sky hook just to the left of the free throw lane in the first half.
Mills said his hook shot "has been my move . . . my go-to move" almost since he first touched a basketball. "I feel like I've improved a lot since the summer. My teammates did a good job of finding me in a place where I could finish . . . I'm just working every day trying to get better."
Boyle said Mills is "going to be a good player . . . people just have to be patient with him."
Despite Higgins' quick start - he scored eight of CU's first 11 points - Burks was the only Buffs player in double figures (11) in the first half. Higgins' eight early points accounted for his first-half total, but he opened the second half with a layup and a trey from the left corner to build CU's lead back to 18 (46-28) and set the tempo for the final 20 minutes.
The Bulldogs didn't score until the 15:47 mark of the second half, and by then the Buffs had completed a 7-0 run and were up 48-28 - their largest margin to that point. They weren't satisfied, though, building a 65-41 advantage with just under 10 minutes left and coasting from there.
Many fans began making their way into the frigid night when CU began stretching its lead, but those who stayed for the final 21/2 minutes were treated to an alley-oop dunk on a Higgins-to-Shannon Sharpe pass.
It culminated a night when a lot went right for CU, but, of course, Boyle said further improvement is needed: "We've made strides offensively, with our chemistry, with our team identity . . . but our defense continues to be a work in progress."
The Buffs return to the Events Center at 2 p.m. Sunday to face Longwood University, a school with just under 5,000 enrollment in Farmville, Va. The Lancers (3-9) opened the season with a 113-75 loss at then-No. 7 Kansas and lost most recently at New Mexico on Friday night, absorbing their seventh consecutive defeat.
Christmas week finds CU in the 10th Las Vegas Classic against New Mexico on Wednesday and facing either Northern Iowa or Indiana on Thursday.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
