Colorado
1-0
Drexel
0-1
Brooks: Boyle Pulls Starting Surprise As Buffs Cool Dragons
November 14, 2014 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – In Tad Boyle's estimation, opening night is a prime opportunity for an opening statement. Or to send a message. Colorado's fifth-year men's basketball coach did both on Friday in his team's 2014-15 season opener.
To "clean up some internal disciplinary things (and) get them behind us," Boyle started an unexpected five against Drexel. The difference in personnel was negligible; the extraordinarily deep Buffs did just fine, cruising to a 65-48 win at the Coors Events Center.
"It was a little unusual, but I'm really proud of how the kids responded," said Boyle, who started Josh Scott, Tre'Shaun Fletcher, Jaron Hopkins, Dustin Thomas and Xavier Talton. And of that quintet, only Scott and Talton were expected to be in Friday's opening lineup.
Boyle said forwards Xavier Johnson and Wesley Gordon were among the expected starters who sat for past disciplinary reasons, while guard Askia Booker was not in the starting lineup due to his return from illness. Freshman guard Dominique Collier, who has been hampered by an ankle injury, was not in uniform for disciplinary reasons and will not suit up for Monday night's game against Auburn.
CU's surprise starting five built a nine-point lead to open the game, and duplicated that in opening the second half. "I can't tell a huge difference between our first and second teams," Boyle said. "The strength of our team is going to be our depth."
But as usual under Boyle, strength also will be found in defense and rebounding. The Buffs held advantages in both against the Dragons, outrebounding them 43-34 after losing the first-half board battle 20-19, and holding them to 29.1 percent (16-of-55) from the field. Drexel's 48 points were the lowest by a CU opening-night opponent since the 1949-50 season (45 points).
The Buffs improved to 61-9 at the CEC under Boyle, won their fourth season-opener in five attempts under his leadership, and now have strung together 19 straight non-conference home wins.
But know this: CU is 1-0 with oh-so-much work to be done to meet Boyle's expectations, which were heightened by his team's off-season commitment after a 77-48 smacking by Pittsburgh last March in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
"Any win is a good win and that's a good win . . . but like in any opener, there are things to learn from," Boyle said.
Drexel, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, cut CU's nine-point early lead to one before falling behind by four (33-29) at halftime. Midway through the second half, the Buffs pulled away, mainly due to the pace of their new offense and the Dragons huffing and puffing because of it.
"I liked the pace . . . there's no question that Drexel wore down," Boyle said. "The pace of the game was good for the Buffs."
Added Scott, who led all scorers with 21 points and also collected a game-best 11 rebounds: "They got worn down; you looked at them at a huddle at the free throw line (in the second half), and all five of them had their hands on their knees."
Scott, meanwhile, was a 6-10 racehorse, running the court and gathering in long passes for fast-break layups. Mostly behind Scott, CU outscored the visitors 32-16 in the paint and 12-7 in fast break points. Said Boyle: "You know what you're going to get from Josh. He's the best big man in the country in running the floor. If you don't double-team him, he's going to get a double-double . . . I wouldn't trade Josh for any big man in the country."
He was CU's only player in double figures, but Gordon scored nine points, while Talton and Johnson added eight apiece. Drexel was led by Tavon Allen with 16 and Damion Lee with 12.
Booker experienced an off opening night, hitting only two of his 14 field goal attempts (0-6 from 3-point range) and lowering CU's field goal percentage to 42.3 (22-of-52). "'Ski' is pressing, trying too hard," Boyle said. "He's better than he played tonight . . . but that's part of the game, putting a game like this behind him."
Winning the opener, said Scott, "is a good feeling, but it's more rewarding to know we played defense and our style of basketball. (Drexel) was a good team; generally teams play knockoff teams (in openers). It was a good win for us."
Boyle agreed: "You look around country and see who's playing who on opening night . . . I told 'Bruiser' (Drexel coach James Flint) I needed to have my head examined."
Boyle's surprise starting five played the game's first 51/2 minutes and went to the bench having pushed the Buffs to an 11-3 lead. With 14:30 left in the half, they were replaced by freshman Tory Miller, Johnson, Gordon, Eli Stalzer and Booker.
A matter of seconds later, Booker hit one of two free throws to give CU it's largest lead off the half – nine points at 12-3. And at that point, Drexel's only points were on a 3-pointer by Freddie Wilson at the 16:37 mark.
But after the Buffs took their nine-point lead, it became apparent that the Dragons didn't make the long flight from Philadelphia for the Boulder scenery. With 7:19 left in the half, they closed to within one (17-16) on a 3-pointer by Lee. They wouldn't let the Buffs pull away, and at halftime the home team held a none-too-comfortable 33-29 advantage.
The Dragons hit six of their 18 3-point attempts in the first half, but only one of 11 in the second half. "They stuck with us for a while," Talton said, "but we hit our defensive numbers and that's what won us the game."
Boyle opened the second half with his original starters, and within 2 minutes that fivesome had restored the nine-point advantage (40-31) on a sweet 3-point play – a spinning layup and free throw – by Talton with 18:07 remaining.
Less than 3 minutes later, Fletcher drove hard from the left wing and laid it in to send CU to its first double-digit lead of the night – 44-33. The Buffs allowed the Dragons to close to within seven (44-37) before a 3-point play by Scott with 11:06 remaining opened a 12-point bulge (51-39).
When Booker hit a floater in the lane on CU's next possession to complete a 9-2 run, Drexel was down by 14 (53-39) and in trouble. The Dragons trailed by as many as 18 in the game's final 10 minutes, with Scott hitting a rare – for him – 3-pointer with 6:13 left to open a 62-44 lead.
When his 3-ball – only his fourth career 3-point attempt – fell from the top of the key, Scott turned, walked down court toward the CU student section and beat his chest. He had earned the right.
"I've been saying it all year and summer that I've been working on my jump shot," he said. "I'm not going to shoot a lot of them, but if I'm open I have to shoot them. Same with open jump shots; I have to be aggressive."
Monday brings Late Night With The Buffs at the CEC. Tipoff is at 11 p.m. against Auburn in ESPN's Tipoff Marathon. Scott said the late start shouldn't overshadow the game's importance: "It's a good team (and) you can't let an opportunity go away. You don't know what's going to happen during a season . . . it's an opportunity to get a 'W.'"
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDUÂ
