Brooks: Drought Relief In Vegas Would Benefit Buffs

LAS VEGAS - This might be third or fourth on a list of things that jolt him awake at night - maybe even lower - but be certain it's there. With the Pac-12's postseason tournament about to be tipped off, Tad Boyle frets about those seemingly endless stretches when his Colorado Buffaloes struggle to score.

It's happened more than once since point guard Spencer Dinwiddie went down and out with a knee injury on Jan. 12 at Washington. Those 7- or 8-plus minute lapses were present in the last two regular-season games - at Stanford, at California - but CU persevered, managed a split and very nearly swept their Bay Area road swing, losing by a point in overtime in Berkeley.

Underscoring the obvious, in the 15 games without him (counting the second half at UW), Dinwiddie's absence is most apparent during those pointless stretches when the Buffs go deep into the shot clock in their half-court offense and wind up settling for something that makes Boyle bury his head in his hands.

OK, they've gotten better at not pushing Boyle into that pose, but they need to be better still when they open first-round Pac-12 play Wednesday afternoon (3:30 MDT) against Southern California at the MGM Garden Arena. CU (21-10, 10-8) is the No. 5 seed, USC (11-20, 2-16) is the No. 12 seed.

The Buffs swept the season series, winning 83-62 in Boulder and 83-74 in Los Angeles. So on paper - or on your paper-white screen - it would appear that CU is pretty close to a lock to advance to the quarterfinal round on Thursday against No. 4 seed Cal. Mention that to Boyle and prepare to be rebuked. March's only guarantees are that one team will move on, the other will go home.

The Buffs have smoothed out some of their post-Dinwiddie inconsistency by re-focusing on Boyle's Two Commandments - Defend, Rebound - but there's always the need for one more point than the other guys get. In finishing 7-8 without Dinwiddie - that's counting the loss at Washington - Boyle conceded the Buffs demonstrated the ability to be consistent, "But now it's matter of going out and doing it . . . it doesn't have to be a bad game; a bad stretch of a game this time of year - a bad two or three minutes in a game can cost you a game and you're done, you're coming home.

"Our players have to understand that. There has to be a heightened sense of urgency. You don't have to play tight, nervous. You have to play with an edge and understand that every possession could be our last. You're not guaranteed a tomorrow, not now."

IN CU'S TWO REGULAR-SEASON wins against USC, junior guard Askia Booker submitted two of his most consistent games. In the first meeting he shot 3-of-5 from the field, 6-of-6 from free throw line (13 points), with six assists, four rebounds and one steal. In the second meeting, he was 7-of-16 from the field, 3-of-3 from the foul line (18 points), with six assists, eight rebounds and two steals.

Not to say it rests solely with him, but another game from Booker like either of those two likely will extend the Buffs' stay in Vegas. Sophomore post Josh Scott believes Booker assuming more of a point role without Dinwiddie has not been an unnatural transition for "Ski." Said Scott: "I think he loves pushing the ball and I don't think a lot of people knew that. He takes pride in it and has a fun time doing it . . . he's a basketball player."

All Boyle has asked of Booker - really, of all of his players - since that mid-January Sunday in Seattle is that they play within themselves and don't try and shoulder every burden solo. The biggest challenge without Dinwiddie, said Scott, has been keeping turnovers down: "You don't realize how much Spencer had the ball until the ball is getting loose.

"It's hard because Jaron (Hopkins) got thrown into a position he wasn't going to have to be in. 'X-Tal' (Xavier Talton) was thrown into a position like that, 'Ski' took on a point guard role. That means all new roles so you can't really blame anybody for what happens; it's just one of those things where you look at it and say, 'Spencer meant a lot.'"

But the Buffs have adjusted well on the fly to the loss of their floor leader and emotional catalyst, as well as to the loss of depth provided by freshman wing Tre'Shaun Fletcher. He also suffered a knee injury at Washington, but has returned to practice. He didn't play at Stanford or Cal and Boyle won't rush him back onto the court, but "Fletch" could play in Vegas.

The adjustment to not having Dinwiddie, Fletcher and freshman Wesley Gordon (ankle/knee) briefly near season's end wasn't made overnight, but Boyle wasn't surprised that it was made.

"The one thing athletics teaches about yourself and the players you coach is how you deal with adversity," he said. "A lot of credit goes to our players; Spencer was obviously a very important player to us in a lot of different ways on a lot of different levels. The way our guys responded and handled that adversity - it wasn't like we had a week or two of training camp, you have to do it on the fly.

"The way they've bounced back, regained their confidence and fought back is something I'm proud of them for. We have to help as coaches, but ultimately it's the players who have to put it together on the floor. It shows that Colorado basketball is bigger than any one person, any player or coach. That's one of the lessons learned this year."

It's good to be able to lean on experience in March, but the Buffs are about as far from being a veteran team as Boulder is from the equator. Only three current players - seniors Ben Mills and Beau Gamble; Booker, a junior - were on the roster of the 2012 team that won four games in four days in L.A. and brought home the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament championship.

MILLS SAID IT WAS INCUMBENT on the older players to remind the younger ones "that it's a brand new season. The regular season is over; every team is going to bring their best shot. Everyone has a good chance; let them know every game is huge."

USC no doubt is employing an identical approach and viewing Wednesday as an opportunity to make a final (and finally positive) statement at the conclusion of Andy Enfield's first season as coach. Courtesy of a 10-game skid that lasted from Jan. 26-March 6, the Trojans lost 11 of their last 12 games. Their two conference wins were over Cal (77-69 in L.A.) and Washington State (79-68 in Pullman) in the next-to-last regular season game.

USC junior guard Byron Wesley is the Pac-12's No. 6 scorer (17.6 ppg), but CU made him work to reach his average in each of their regular-season games. In Boulder, the Buffs limited him to 9 points on 3-of-14 shooting. In L.A., the 6-5 Wesley scored 21, again attempting 14 shots but hitting six of them.

The Trojans have been outscored 79.7-68.2 in conference games - last in the league - and are in the lower third of the conference in most other statistical categories. But rather than yesterday's numbers, Boyle is focusing on staying in the bracket tomorrow, the day after, ad infinitum. The Pac-12's top three seeds - No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Arizona State - all lost their final regular-season games, with No. 4 seed Cal needing OT to edge CU. Boyle believes winning the tournament is anyone's prize: "No question . . . twelve teams feel this is a new season. It's not about what have you done for me lately, it's about what are you going to do now? That's exciting.

"It's a new season for everybody. What we did in the preseason, the regular season doesn't matter. All that matters now is, somebody's going to leave Vegas as the champion - eleven other teams not as champions. We know what that feeling is like from two years ago. We knew what it's like to leave relatively early, like we did last year. You just want to survive every day and live to see another one."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU