Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
9-7, 2-2
Arizona
15-2, 3-1
Booker Scores 30, But Wildcats Roll Depleted Buffs
January 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Colorado Buffaloes came to the desert as absolute underdogs against No. 10 Arizona, but by Thursday night's tipoff even that role didn't fit. If the Buffs were going to hand the Wildcats their first loss in the McKale Center in 31 games and earn their first road win against a top 10 team since 1973, it would have to be done the hard way – without injured starters Josh Scott (back) and Xavier Johnson (ankle).
The Buffs gave it a courageous shot with what they had, but they simply didn't have enough. The balanced and talented Wildcats took control midway through the second half and cruised to a 68-54 Pac-12 Conference win.
"I'm really happy with the way we battled," CU coach Tad Boyle said. "I thought our competiveness and our competitive spirit was great tonight, but again, we expect that and that shouldn't be something we pat ourselves on the back for but it was much better than at Utah (a 74-49 loss)."
Minus his top two big men, here's how Boyle compensated: CU's starting lineup featured four sophomores – Wes Gordon, Tre'Shaun Fletcher, Dustin Thomas and Jaron Hopkins – and one senior – Askia Booker.
The senior was prolific, but the supporting cast struggled to score. Booker hit a career-high 30 points but none of his teammates could find double figures. Hopkins' eight points was the best any of the other Buffs could produce.
If the Wildcats had balanced scoring, the Buffs were badly off-balance. Booker hit 11-of-17 from the field with 6-of-9 3-pointers. The rest of the Buffs went 10-for-32.
It was mostly a free-flowing, run-and-shoot game for "Ski." With Scott and Johnson absent, Booker's first looks frequently were at the rim rather than inside. Scoring 18 points in the first half, he kept CU (9-7, 2-2) close early. He briefly left the game after rolling an ankle with 5:29 remaining, but he had just drained his final trey to reach 30.
Boyle said Booker "played with unbelievable passion and fire and competitiveness, and you know he was terrific. We have to get him more help, not only offensively, but 'Ski' makes a lot of plays for himself, I would like to see more guys making plays for him and him making plays for others."
The Buffs finished with eight assists – three by Booker was the high – to the Wildcats' 16. Boyle said eight "is not the number you want. But I thought 'Ski's' effort tonight was great. He is a competitive guy and we all know that. We needed an effort like that out of him tonight, but we have to get more. This is an opportunity for guys to step up, and that opportunity, if it passes them by, it passes them by, that's life. We have some guys that are capable of playing better than they're playing right now."
Arizona (15-2, 3-1) countered with 22 points from freshman sensation Stanley Johnson, 14 from Caleb Tarczewski and 12 from Elliott Pitts. The Wildcats outrebounded the Buffs 41-26 and outscored them 41-26 in the paint. The 15-board discrepancy tied for the Buffs' largest of the season.
Boyle was buoyed by the Buffs' overall effort, but not in rebounding. "As a coach there are things we have to do better and the name of this game was rebounding," he said. "We're not making any excuses for anything. It doesn't matter who is suiting up for Colorado, we expect to win, we expect to come in here and battle and compete.
"That's what we're concerned with. Whether we are short-handed or not, we got beat tonight by a good team and we got really beat on the boards badly."
Obviously with something to prove, CU opened with a spirited 15 minutes. Behind Booker, who scored seven of his team's first nine points, the Buffs surged to a 9-4 lead as the Wildcats fiddled to find their offense. Once they did, they put together an 11-0 run and took a 15-9 lead, with the capper a steal and stuff by Stanley Johnson.
But the Buffs and Booker weren't broken – not just yet anyway. They pulled to within a point (20-19) on a Fletcher lay-in and could have tied the score had he converted his and-one.
Switching defenses to a 2-3 zone, CU stayed close until it began wasting possessions with a pair of its eight first-half turnovers (10 for the game). As if they needed any more help, the Wildcats took advantage and closed the period with a 12-3 run and a 35-25 halftime lead.
Booker's trey at the buzzer gave him four for the half in four attempts and sent his point total to a career-best 18 for an opening 20 minutes. He needed scoring help but wasn't getting it; while he was 7-for-9 from the field in the first half, seven other Buffs who played were a combined 3-for-13.
The Buffs' zone defense, said Boyle, "was to try to slow them down. I knew if our 'bigs' got in foul trouble because we're so thin we would have to go to it. I thought our guys did a pretty good job for not playing it a lot, we're not a zone team, everyone knows that. But, we didn't rebound very well out of it; we've got to box out better.
"Obviously, we're not going to win a jumping contest with Arizona, they're taller, they're more athletic, they're bigger, but we can box out better than we boxed out. It doesn't take talent to do that. It's not about jumping, it's about getting bodies on people . . . they just beat us on the boards all night long."
CU finished shooting 42.9 percent from the field, which was fractionally better (41.8) better than Arizona, whose last home loss was to Cal (77-69) on Feb. 10, 2013. But the great equalizer for the Wildcats was the Buffs' eight first-half turnovers, which cost them 16 first points. CU committed only two second-half turnovers.
"We talked about taking care of the ball, and we made great strides there tonight," Boyle said. "If we take anything positive out of this game, it's our competitive spirit and the fact that only we had 10 turnovers on the road. If you do that, you give yourself a chance."
If the Buffs were to keep up in the final 20 minutes, they needed an efficient start. They looked as if they would get it, outscoring the Wildcats 7-3 and cutting the deficit to 37-32. Another Arizona surge – this one 6-0 – opened another double-digit lead (43-32).
Again, though, CU wasn't in a rollover mood. Outscoring Arizona 10-3 over the next 5:12, the Buffs crept within 47-42 on four points each by Booker and Hopkins and a nifty layup by Thomas.
They continued to battle, but that five-point deficit proved to be as close as the Buffs would get in the last 10 minutes. The Wildcats eventually pushed their lead to 17.
Now 0-5 in true road games this season, CU continues its desert trip Saturday at Arizona State (2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network). Boyle wasn't sure if either Scott or Johnson would be available: "I don't know, I hope so . . . that's totally out of my control and quite frankly I don't even worry about it. Whoever is ready to practice tomorrow, that's who we are going to practice with and they'll be back when they get back.
"I feel bad for them getting hurt, but that's part of the game. I want to make it crystal clear, we are not using any injuries as any excuse for not winning games. Whether it is Arizona or Arizona State, we've got guys in this program that have ability. Do we need play better? Absolutely. Do we need to coach better? Absolutely. That's what I'm aiming to do (Friday) when I get up."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
