Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Enjoying The Ride, Want It To Continue
March 16, 2012 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
With a win Saturday night (app. 6:40 p.m., TNT) against No. 3 seed Baylor at "The Pit," which at times Thursday had the feel of Coors Events Center Southwest, the Colorado Buffaloes could become one of the national feel-good stories of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
Saturday brings St. Paddy's Day (St. Taddy's Day?) and the Buffs are still dribbling, shooting and "D-ing" it up, a fairly remarkable mid-March feat considering that they:
- Lost 76 percent of their scoring from last season;
- Were picked 11th in the preseason in their Pac-12 debut season;
- Had to make a four-wins-in-four-days run in L.A. to win the conference's postseason tournament;
- Won their first NCAA game since 1997 on Thursday, outlasting No. 6 seed UNLV 68-64;
- Have laced together back-to-back 24-win seasons, the first consecutive 20-win seasons in program history;
- Are a win away from their first Sweet 16 appearance under the NCAA's current tourney format;
- Are coached by a guy who really could get away with wearing a T-shirt saying "Yeah, I'm Likeable - And Good."
Two years into his new gig, Tad Boyle's postseason record at CU is 10-2, with half of the wins coming in the past 10 days. His best overall, most talented CU team was his first one. His gutsiest CU team is this one, and it just might be the most overachieving CU team ever.
Boyle's 2010-11 Buffs made their mark with offense, scoring 79.6 points a game. This team leaves its mark - broken wills and ugly welts - with defense, allowing 62.5 points a game (11.3 fewer than last season). During an early morning encounter with Boyle a month or so ago, he mused if the Cory Higgins, Alec Burks, et al Buffs were committed to playing "D" like this season's bunch, CU might have had its first Sweet 16 entry a year ago.
UNLV might testify for CU's defense. For the first 30 minutes on Thursday night, the Buffs squeezed the juice and the run out of the Runnin' Rebels. UNLV scored two fast-break points all night, but rallied with full-court pressure and late three-point shooting to force CU into hold-on mode in the final 2 minutes.
UNLV coach David Rice called Boyle's defense "extremely good," and it will have to be extremely similar to that against Baylor - the most talented team CU will have faced this season. Entering the tournament ranked Nos. 9/10 nationally, the Bears advanced to Saturday's round of 32 by ousting South Dakota State, 68-60.
The Jackrabbits eventually were undone by a handful of late breakdowns on each end and the Bears' length and athleticism - and therein lies Boyle's concern. Baylor starts a front line of 6-11, 6-9 and 6-7 and backs them up with 6-10 and 6-9 subs. CU has seen that kind of size and skill in the Pac-12 - Stanford and UCLA - and the image wasn't pretty.
The antidote, if there is one?
"Well, we've challenged our guys to be physical," Boyle said. "We have to be physical with them. If we get in a jumping contest, we're going to lose. We've got to get bodies on them defensively in the post. When the shot goes up, we have to create space with our box outs because you can't fight that any other way."
A smaller (at least physically) concern: point guard Pierre Jackson, who is Baylor's second-leading scorer (13.5) and delivers 5.7 assists a game. In addition to Andre Roberson (6-7) matching up with Perry Jones III (6-11), Boyle says whichever of his guards checks Jackson is just as key. Then, there's Quincy Acy, a 6-7 forward Boyle claims "scares the daylights out of me. I think he's as tough and as strong and as aggressive as any post player we've played against all year."
Maybe on the upside, the Buffs have some familiarity with the Bears, having been in the same league with them until this season. CU played at Baylor in last season's final trek through the Big 12 Conference, losing 70-66. Buffs senior guard Nate Tomlinson contends that game showed him and his teammates they can play on a par with the Bears: "Baylor plays the same way they did last year - real athletic and real big. We know what we have to do to beat them. We were close to beating them last year at their place and if we do the same things, we'll be all right."
Baylor coach Scott Drew sees the obvious when he watches CU game tape: "They've been winning because defensively they've been really solid. Tad has always prided himself on trying to instill a good defensive team, and he's done a remarkable job up there, especially with the turnover from last year's team . . ."
In less than 24 hours since CU advanced, Buffs fans haven't had any difficulty rekindling their strong dislike (maybe a healthy hate) for Baylor. To review: When the Pac-12 was in its formative stage, Baylor - or at least one regent - sought to keep the Big 12 South schools together during conference realignment and urged Baylor alums in the Texas legislature to push their alma mater's best interest to the forefront and prevent the Bears from being "left behind" in the event the Big 12 collapsed.
By itself, that was understandable, even palatable, for CU and its fan base. This was neither understandable nor palatable: The Baylor regent in question contended that "Baylor is superior to Colorado academically" and "vastly superior" athletically. Therefore, he asserted, Baylor deserved to be included in a "package deal" with the Big 12's Texas schools if a mass move to the Pac-10 appeared imminent.
Said regent concluded his remarks on CU with this: "The Baptist church base extends across the country and certainly trumps the University of Colorado's local base limited to a small town in Colorado."
You know how it all played out. CU received the first call in Pac-10 expansion, Baylor and its wildly ambitious regent remained in the reduced, now redesigned Big 12. Props to all parties; it's worked out well . . . so far.
Most of this will be confined to the stands Saturday at "The Pit," with none of it likely on any player's mind on either team. The more pressing matter is reaching the Sweet 16 next weekend in Atlanta. CU has never advanced that far under the NCAA Tournament's current format, Baylor was there in 2010 and continued to the Elite Eight.
No one need remind the Buffs of what's at stake. Earning a trip to the Sweet 16, said CU senior Carlon Brown, "means everything. It's a lot of history riding on this game. We can definitely leave an imprint and a legacy in Colorado basketball and set a high standard for a lot of teams to come under coach Boyle . . . we're definitely proud of where we're at."
But their focus is on where they're going - or hope to go next weekend. It's been a sweet ride, one nobody could see coming and now nobody wants to see end.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
