Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
4-3
Colorado State
5-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | 25 | 39 | 64 |
| Colorado State | 32 | 33 | 65 |
Brooks: Buffs' Late Rally Falls One Point Short
November 30, 2011 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
FORT COLLINS - Of all the questions about his Colorado basketball team crowding Tad Boyle's mind, the one that puzzled him most was this: "Really, how were we ever in it?"
But somehow - despite committing 15 turnovers, missing 16 free throws and shooting 36.8 percent from the field - Wednesday night's game against Colorado State came down to the Buffaloes' final possession.
And when senior guard Nate Tomlinson's long jumper bounded off the rim at the buzzer, CSU had escaped with a 65-64 victory at raucous Moby Gym.
"I have no idea how we had a chance to win this game, but I think it's a testament to our team that we did," said Boyle, reflecting on how poorly his team executed for much of the previous 38 1/2 minutes then amazingly put itself in position to steal a win from its in-state rival.
He continued: "I told our guys in the lockerroom I do not fault your competitiveness, I don't fault your desire . . . your will to win, I don't fault any of that stuff. But what I fault is our execution."
The Buffs overcame an eight-point deficit in the final 1:25 and even went ahead 64-63 on a Tomlinson layup with just over 14 seconds to play. But a floater from the right baseline by CSU's Dorian Green returned what would be the final advantage to the Rams and set the stage for Tomlinson's heart-breaking miss.
"We just needed one extra stop and didn't get it," said CU senior Austin Dufault.
Tomlinson, one of three CU players in double figures (he had 11, Dufault 13 and freshman Spencer Dinwiddie 16), said he didn't get the final shot he wanted because CSU switched defenders. Boyle had called for a high ball screen involving Dufault and Tomlinson, with either of them taking the final shot. But a bigger player switched on Tomlinson as time was expiring and he took the only shot he could.
"I didn't get a very good look," Tomlinson said. "I didn't get a very good feel for the ball and it just didn't go down."
Boyle said he takes responsibility for the poor execution overall, but added, "This team's heart is there. And we're not going to lose that. We're going to be in a lot of close games like this - we already have been. We've won our fair share."
The Buffs had missed 15 free throws in Monday night's 70-68 home win against Georgia, and Tomlinson said missing one more than that two nights later indicated more of a mental issue than anything else. "The more we talk about it, the worse it gets," he said. "That's the game (the missed free throws) . . . . we're a real young team, but we're a tough team and that's not going to change."
Dufault called the team's misadventures at the free throw line "all mental . . . every guy on our team is a good shooter. We don't have any bad free throw shooters. But right now we're just in one of those situations where a couple of guys go up and miss and the team starts kind of it getting in their heads.
"The only way to get better is to knock them down. You can practice more, but you've got to get in the game and knock them down."
Boyle believed the Buffs could establish an inside advantage and they did on the boards, outrebounding the Rams 44-31. Sophomore forward Andre Roberson led all rebounders with 12 - his average - but he was 10.2 points below his scoring average.
Roberson took only two shots and didn't make either. He was one-for-seven from the free throw line while Dinwiddie, whose 16 points matched his career high, was two-for-six.
CSU scored 17 points off of CU's 15 turnovers, was four points better than the Buffs in the paint (26-22) and outscored the visitors 6-0 on fast breaks. Still, CU worked itself back in until Tomlinson's final shot missed.
The Buffs dropped to 4-3, while the Rams improved to 5-2 and now own a 4-2 edge against their instate rival in games played at Moby since 2001.
CU coupled a mediocre start with a poor finish to trail 32-25 at halftime. After trading the lead in the first 5 1/2 minutes, CU succumbed to a poor shooting stretch - 3-of-10 from the field at the 11:41 mark - and found itself down by eight points (15-7) following an 8-0 CSU run.
But the Buffs followed Dinwiddie's lead and righted themselves - temporarily. With his team trailing 15-7, the 6-5 freshman scored nine of the Buffs' next 12 points as they tied the score at 19-19 with 5:29 left before intermission.
And the night appeared to be brightening when Carlon Brown buried a three-pointer from the left wing to give CU a 22-19 lead - its first since 6-5 - with 4:28 left in the half.
From there, however, the Rams ruled. They outscored the Buffs 10-1 to close the half, which saw CU shoot its worst percentages from the field (32 percent, 8-of-25) and the free throw line (37.5 percent, 6-of-16) in any first half this season.
The Buffs' seven-point halftime deficit matched their largest of the season (Wichita State in Puerto Rico), and their nine first-half turnovers were two more than their 40-minute total two nights before against a more athletic Georgia team.?
Obviously, there was no shortage of areas for the Buffs to improve on in the second half - but improvement wasn't accomplished early. After Dufault opened the second half with a layup to bring CU to within 32-27, guard Wes Eikmeier went on a tear, scoring seven of CSU's first nine points to push the Rams ahead 41-30. It would increase to 43-31 on a Will Bell basket before the Buffs responded.
Two of Eikmeier's game-best 19 points came on a pair of free throws awarded when Tomlinson was whistled for a technical foul after objecting to a personal foul.
When Eikmeier followed with a long trey on the next possession, the Moby crowd roared its approval. And unfortunately for the Buffs, the roaring was only beginning - but they blocked it out.
After Brown hit a three from the deep right corner and Dinwiddie scored in the lane, CU had cut CSU's 12-point lead to four (46-42). And it was shrinking. At the 12:26 mark, Tomlinson drained a three from the left corner, bring the Buffs to within 48-45.
From there, Eikmeier and Tomlinson traded treys, and CU found itself down again by four points (52-48) with transfer Jeremy Adams shooting a pair of free throws. His first two career points for the Buffs pulled them to 52-50 with 9:49 remaining.
Adams wasn't done. A three-pointer from in front of the CU bench again cut CSU's lead to two (55-53), but the Rams reeled off four consecutive points on a Dwight Smith follow and a Kaipo Sabas layup to take a 59-53 advantage into the final 7 minutes.
CU got to 59-54 on one of two free throws by Askia Booker with 5:42 to play, then closed to 62-57 on a Dufault three-pointer with 1:17 showing. Dinwiddie drove for a dunk to cut the deficit to 62-59 with 44.1 seconds to play, then Dufault hit another trey 20 seconds later to cut the margin to 63-62.
With 21.4 remaining, CSU was unable to inbound the ball and used two timeouts. Tomlinson stole the ball on the Rams' third try and converted a layup, giving CU a 64-63 lead, but Green answered with his baseline runner to put the Rams up 65-64 with 10.6 seconds left.
CU had a final chance, but when Tomlinson missed his three at the buzzer the Rams fans stormed the court - a repeat of a 2009 scene Boyle had showed his team before they made the trip to Fort Collins.
"Good for them . . . that's an exciting part of college basketball," Boyle said. "If they want to do that, I have no problem with it."
When Wednesday night's numbness wears off, maybe the Buffs can settle in and (hopefully) enjoy the comforts of home. Owning a 26-game non-conference home winning streak and with an eight-game home stand beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 7 against Fresno State, they aren't scheduled to leave the Events Center until Jan. 12, when they travel to California.
The home stand includes the final five non-conference games and the first three Pac-12 Conference games, beginning with Utah on Saturday, Dec. 31.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
