Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: CU Home Crowd Awaits Sold-Out Arizona Game
January 20, 2012 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - As a player at Kansas in the '80s, Tad Boyle quickly became acquainted with a big-time college basketball atmosphere. He sampled it a handful of times here last season in his first year on the job coaching the Colorado Buffaloes.
And on at least one of those occasions during his debut season, the electricity was generated by Boyle's alma mater and an insanely loyal, quick-to-travel fan base that simply loved to scarf up tickets and refer to CU's Coors Events Center as "Allen Fieldhouse West."
Boyle (and those who preceded him in Boulder) often speculated on the Buffs' appeal among their fans . . . specifically, when CU would be able to fill its arena on its own merit? Another pressing question: With KU no longer on the schedule, who in the Pac-12 Conference would offer CU an assist in packing Coors?
The Buffs still might be a little shy of selling out their place for games in November and December, but we've got an early answer to the who-subs-for-KU question. Much to Boyle's delight, Pac-12 foe Arizona will play in a sold-out Coors Events Center - capacity 11,064 - on Saturday (4 p.m., ROOT Sports).
At mid-afternoon Friday, the last 20 available tickets were sold, and at 3 p.m. Saturday, a limited number of standing room only tickets will go on sale at the Coors Box Office. The sellout will be CU's first this season.
CU ticket officials weren't certain how many Arizona fans would be among the capacity crowd; this is the Buffs' first Pac-12 experience with the Wildcats, so whether their fans employed the Jayhawks strategy and locked in on any loose tickets won't be known until tip time.
But those same CU ticket folks were certain of this: Arizona's ticket allocation was about 100. So for once, the Buffs figure to be playing in a building sold-out for the home team - a true home-court advantage.
"I hope so," Boyle said. "I don't think anybody will infiltrate the Events Center like the Kansas fans did. This one's got the elements of being a big game year in and year out. With the way Arizona has recruited - which is off the charts - they're kind of setting the bar for the rest of the league. I know they're going to be good for years to come. We want to be right there with them."
Of course, Arizona presents better-than-average box office appeal. The Wildcats were an NCAA Elite Eight entry last March and found their way into most Top 25 preseason polls this year. Boyle called UA "a storied program. It's had a great history and success - just like Washington has in the past decade, but Arizona's (success) goes deeper than that."
Earlier this month, Boyle had ID'd UW as a barometer game for the Buffs, and he "absolutely" views UA through the same lens. One reason, the Pac-12 standings: CU, Arizona and Washington currently share third place in the conference with 4-2 records. California (6-1) leads, and Stanford and Oregon (each at 5-2) are in second place.
There will be no lack of respect for the Wildcats among the Buffs. "They were a Top 25 pick in the preseason and they've got a ton of talent," offered CU freshman Spencer Dinwiddie. "I played against a couple of their guys (starting freshman guard Josiah Turner; reserve sophomore guard Jordin Mayes). They're just a very good team, and historically, along with UCLA, they're the team that runs this conference. So definitely it would be big for us to take down a historic power."
The Buffs are 12-6 overall, the Wildcats 13-6. Similarities go beyond those records. Said Boyle: "We're a lot alike; in a lot of ways it's like playing ourselves."
CU and UA, he noted, work out of different offensive sets, "But in terms of the way we want to play, the fundamentals that are taught on both sides of the ball, we're a lot alike. And defensively we're very similar. We have a lot of different weapons on our team that can go off on any given night, they got a lot of different weapons that can go off . . . it's going to be a heck of a basketball game."
The Buffs don't expect anything that resembles their Thursday night encounter with Arizona State. The Wildcats, coached by Sean Miller, play the kind of defense Boyle teaches, whereas the Sun Devils employed a matchup zone that requires more prep time.
But the Buffs adjusted well because they were unselfish in attacking it, said senior Carlon Brown: "I didn't feel like it was a problem for me (his two points were 11 below his average). I think I can get my shot off at any time in the game; I was just letting the game come to me . . .
"'AD' (Austin Dufault) had it going, 'Dre' (Andre Roberson) had it going, so I was just trying to get them the ball and let them take care of the offensive load. I was just trying to play defense and get stops. It's a team effort; some days I'm going to have (more shots) and some days not . . . that's where the team concept comes in."
That, and amped-up defense, have been the Buffs' staples while their offense evolves. Defensive consistency, said Brown, has "allowed us to get in transition, and when we get in transition we pick up fouls and that allows us to get in the bonus and get easy points. I think it's been in defensive rebounding and the offense has slowly worked itself out as time has gone on and roles have been a little more simplified and defined."
Added Dinwiddie: "I think it probably started before conference, but on defense we're locking in . . . we definitely have a lot of offensive work to do, but our defense can keep us in every game."
Boyle and Miller have a mutual friend in Kentucky coach John Calipari, whom Boyle calls "a big influence" on Miller's career. Calipari was a graduate assistant at KU when Boyle was there. "He's had an influence on me, too," Boyle said. "And I've got tremendous respect for Sean."
At the conclusion of Thursday night's game, Boyle commandeered the PA microphone and told an energetic student section that it was "the heartbeat of this arena."
On Friday afternoon, he expounded on those feelings: "There's such a difference between when (students) are here and when they're on break in terms of the energy level in our arena - how loud and boisterous the crowd is. I think you saw the difference between (Thursday night) and the Texas Southern game (in December). Now, this is a league game, but the point is that when our students are here, this can be a great home court for us. They make a big difference for us.
"I've said this many times, 'college basketball is not necessarily a spectator sport - it's a participant sport.' They can have an effect on the game. At the great arenas, the great venues in college basketball, they do."
The Coors Events Center isn't in that category just yet, but Boyle is hoping. Those hopes are built on these numbers: His second CU team is 10-1 overall at home, including 4-0 in its initial Pac-12 season. The Buffs are 28-3 in his 11/2 seasons at Coors. Those are solid starting points toward a true home court advantage - as is Saturday's sellout. Allen Fieldhouse West? Forget it.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
