Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
14-4, 3-2
UCLA
14-3, 3-1
Brooks: Bruins Deal Buffs First Home Loss Of 2013-14
January 16, 2014 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – Until they adjust to life without Spencer Dinwiddie, little will come easy for the Colorado Buffaloes, even on their home court.
No. 25 UCLA made that clear Thursday night, defeating CU 69-56 and dealing the No. 21 Buffs their first loss in 12 games this season at the Coors Events Center.
UCLA became the only Pac-12 Conference team to win twice at the CEC in CU's Tad Boyle era. Boyle's home record in 31/2 seasons is 55-8, but the Buffs are 0-3 against the Bruins since joining the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
Boyle refused to blame the loss on the absence of Dinwiddie, CU's junior floor leader and scoring leader who suffered a season-ending knee injury last Sunday at Washington that will require surgery. Dinwiddie watched Thursday night from the CU bench wearing an elastic sleeve on his left leg. Also watching was freshman reserve wing Tre'Shaun Fletcher, who is out 6-8 weeks with a knee injury and also scheduled for surgery.
"That was a winnable basketball game," Boyle said. "We're disappointed with the way played (but) if we learned anything, it's that we're going to be OK . . . do not count this team out, guys, do not count us out."
The Buffs (14-4, 3-2) went nearly 9 minutes in the second half without a field goal, helping the Bruins (14-3, 3-1) fashion a 12-point lead. CU closed to within seven points – 58-51 – in the final 3:22, but the Buffs' threat ended there.
Boyle called adjusting to Dinwiddie's departure "a work in progress . . . the reality is, it will (take time) but we've got guys who are capable of playing better. I believe in them, they know that.
"It's going to be a process; we lost a pretty key component of our team – two of them in fact . . . but this was a winnable game. We had a shot, we just didn't do what we needed to do."
Askia Booker led CU with 21 points and Josh Scott added 19 points, a team-best nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Booker called playing without his friend and backcourt mate Dinwiddie "rough, but at the same time, we don't have him anymore (and) we can't be sorry for ourselves . . . Josh and I are going to have to step up."
Scott said the Buffs "played hard, but we didn't do the little things. We turned the ball over too much and let people get offensive rebounds. Our effort was good, but not good enough."
UCLA had three players in double figures, topped by Norman Powell's 19. Jordan Adams collected a double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) and David Wear chipped in 11 points.
It was Adams, said Boyle, that "manhandled us . . . he was the difference in the second half. We didn't have an answer for him."
Of the 6-5 Adams' 13 rebounds, six were on the offensive end and comprised the bulk of the Bruins' 15 offensive boards. UCLA outrebounded CU 41-37, including 15 on the offensive end, with 11 of those collected in the second half. The Bruins also had a 34-18 scoring advantage in the paint, outscored the Buffs 20-1 in second-chance points, and converted 17 CU turnovers into 20 points.
Look at it this way: Over half of UCLA's 69 points (40) came from CU turnovers or the Bruins' converting second chances.
UCLA was held 20 points below its league-leading average (89.7) and shot 39.4 percent from the field – almost 10 percentage points below its average (48.2 in Pac-12 play). But the Bruins' edge on the boards, their scoring inside, their dominance in second chances, and the Buffs' torrent of turnovers burned Boyle.
"You can't do that at home or on the road," Boyle said. "All the things we didn't do well, we can fix. We've shown we can do it in the past."
He said he was pleased with his team's "demeanor and competitiveness – other than Jordan Adams kicking our tails," but added that Dinwiddie "brought a swagger and confidence to the team (and) we need to get that back. We felt we could beat anybody when stepped on the court. We need to get that back."
The Buffs trailed by seven points three times in the first half, with the Bruins holding the last of those leads – 36-29 – at intermission. But UCLA has been accustomed to halftime advantages this season, outscoring its opposition by an average of 44.7-33.3 in the first 20 minutes.
The Bruins showed the Buffs a variety of defenses, utilizing a 2-3 zone and man-to-man in the half court and extending their defense to three-quarter court with 2-2-1 pressure. CU finished the half with seven turnovers, resulting in 14 UCLA points, while the Buffs managed only two points off of five Bruins turnovers and seven for the game from UCLA's 11 errors.
CU's second-half mission was clear: cut down on the turnovers and hold UCLA below the 50 percent shooting from the field (15-of-30) that the Bruins enjoyed in the first half. And getting to the free throw line in the second half would help: The Buffs, averaging nearly 13 more per game than their opponents, were two-of-four while the Bruins were one-of-three. At game's end, CU was 11-of-19 from the free throw line while UCLA finished 11-of-18.
After UCLA increased its lead to eight points twice, (47-39, 49-41) in the first 6 minutes of the second half, CU struggled to find its offense. After a Booker jumper at the 12:22 mark, the Buffs didn't get their next field goal until Scott scored on a fast-break dunk with 3:52 to play. But by then, the Bruins had built their largest lead of the game – 58-46.
After Scott's slam, CU got a stop and Booker hit a trey in transition to cut UCLA's lead to 58-51 with 3:22 remaining. After Powell missed a pair of free throws with 3:11 left, CU controlled the rebound, but an Xavier Talton turnover gave the Bruins the ball and a new shot clock.
UCLA scored on a put-back by Tony Parker, restoring a nine-point lead, and the Buffs were finished.
CU is back at the CEC on Saturday against Southern California (noon, Pac-12 Network).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
