Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
11-9, 4-4
USC
9-11, 1-7
Brooks: Buffs, Booker Outlast Trojans In Triple OT, 98-94
January 29, 2015 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
LOS ANGELES – The Colorado Buffaloes' first road win of 2014-15 took something extra – in fact, three something extras. Triple overtime made it three times as intense but maybe ten times more enjoyable – especially for CU's LA-grown point machine, Askia Booker.
With the senior guard scoring a career-high 43 points, including 19 in the three OTs, CU time and again slipped into survival mode before finally slipping past Southern California 98-94 on Thursday night. Â For the Buffs, it was a night of grit, guts and eventually glory.Â
The score was tied 66-66 at the end of regulation, 73-73 after one OT and 83-83 after two. But behind "Ski's" eight points in OT No. 3, the Buffs outscored the Trojans 15-11 and ended it. Booker's 43 points were the most scored by a CU player since Donnie Boyce scored 46 at Oklahoma State on March 5, 1994.
A relieved but drained Tad Boyle said he couldn't remember coaching such an ebb-and-flow game. "I've been in them, but I can't remember," he said. "It's hard for me to remember what I had for breakfast. But it's been a while."
It's been 32 years since the Buffs played in a game that long. The three OT contest tied for the third-longest game in Buffs basketball history. CU's last triple overtime game was on Feb. 5, 1983, against Oklahoma State. And that game required four overtimes, with the third extra period scoreless. The Buffs lost 96-91.
And Thursday night's contest looked like it might travel that same heartbreaking route. The Buffs (11-9, 4-4) squandered an 11-point second-half lead, withstood an almost 15-minute scoring drought and overcame a season-high 20 turnovers in 55 increasingly anxious minutes in the Galen Center. They also allowed a season-high nine 3-pointers by Trojans guard Katin Reinhardt (35 points) and a season-high 30 points by USC center Nikola Jovanovic.
But CU's injury-shortened bench countered by outscoring USC's 33-11, with Xavier Johnson – playing for the first time in four games – scoring 12 points and freshman Tory Miller adding a season-best 11 with 13 rebounds for his first double-double. And with sophomore Jaron Hopkins not dressing because of a tweaked ankle, freshman Dom Collier scored seven points, including four clutch free throws near the end of regulation and in the second overtime.
In the first overtime, Booker pulled Collier aside "and told him, 'Now is the time to grow up, right now. Not tomorrow, not yesterday, no other time. Right now.' He looked me in the eye and said, 'All right.'"
Said Collier: "It meant a lot; it boosted my confidence . . . I grew up a lot. I had to suck it up."
LEADING 61-50 WITH 8:26 to play in regulation, the Buffs didn't score another field goal until Johnson hit a 3-pointer in the final half minute of the first overtime to tie the game at 73-73 and force a second OT. That was a 14:44 span, and to survive it required the mental toughness that Boyle has wanted from his team.
"We've been talking about it . . . but usually on the short end of things – we could have exhibited it but didn't," he said. "But tonight (Booker) answered the bell; the whole team answered the bell in the mental toughness part, overcoming adversity with foul troubles, injuries and all the things this team has been through. It showed great grit, great heart, great determination – not just by 'Ski' but everybody."
Booker didn't score until almost 14 minutes had elapsed in the first half, then he hit 10 points in just under 2 minutes and helped the Buffs cut a 10-point deficit to 38-37 by halftime. But Booker's grit went on full display midway through the second half when he was body-checked by USC's 6-11, 230-pound Jovanovic near midcourt.
After the game he showed reporters an angry red scrape above his left hip. He had hurt his right hip in the previous game against Washington State, but didn't miss either start. And neither would he come out after Javonovic's hit.Â
"I told him I was coming back," said Booker, who scored his team's final seven points in the second OT. "He came over to shake my hand and I didn't want to shake it. He could shake it after the game, but right then and there it got personal. I just wanted to win . . . and we battled it out and did."
Playing this weekend in his final two games in his hometown – CU visits UCLA on Saturday (8:30 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Networks) – Booker couldn't have scripted a better first game. Or could he?
"Only one way," he said. "I score 43 and we won the game in 40 minutes . . . other than that, a win is a win. I'm proud of my team, I'm proud of myself, I'm proud of our coaches to make the calls they made. I think everybody did a wonderful job tonight."
Booker, who has scored 20-plus points in five of eight Pac-12 games this season and led CU in scoring in seven of the last eight games, spread his success among his teammates.
"Everybody knows I had a great performance, whatever you want to call it," he said. "But we don't win that game without my teammates . . . those guys got a stop, the biggest stop of the game. They did it without me. Tory Miller got a rebound, made a free throw. I give credit to my teammates. It's great to have a game like this, it was a fun time, but I have to give credit to my teammates."
The Buffs remained unbeaten against the Trojans in Pac-12 play (7-0) and won their first road game in seven attempts this season. USC (9-11, 1-7) lost its fifth straight game.
After a 10-1 run, USC eventually opened a 10-point lead (26-16) before Booker and the Buffs righted themselves and began a comeback that would bring them to within 38-37 at halftime.
On the defensive end, the Buffs were being used by the 6-11 Jovanovic, who was making the most of CU's best inside defender – Wesley Gordon – playing limited minutes (8) because of two fouls. Gordon, who had accounted for 31 rebounds in the last two games, picked up his second foul with 14:28 left before the break, went to the bench and returned only briefly. He fouled out near the end of the second overtime.
Gordon's top sub, Miller, did his part. But Jovanovic was difficult to handle. Averaging 12.9 points, he had that many with 4 minutes left in the half and finished the first 20 minutes with 14 of his 30 points as USC went to the dressing room with a 38-37 lead.
Reinhardt opened the second half with a long trey from the right wing, increasing USC's lead to 41-37. But Booker trumped him, driving the length of the court two possessions later to knot the score at 41-41 before missing his and-one attempt.
JOVANOVIC TIED IT AT 66-66 with a spin move in the post with 40 seconds to play, and CU took its next-to-last timeout 10 seconds later. After Johnson missed in the lane on the Buffs' end, Jordan McLaughlin did the same at the Trojans' end – and OT awaited.
Darion Clark opened the extra period with a pair of free throws, giving USC a 68-66 lead – its first since 41-39 – then added two more for a 70-68 advantage.
After Booker forced an elbow jumper, the Trojans took a timeout with 1:58 left but turned it over and fouled Xavier Talton at the other end. He made one of two free throws, and CU still trailed 70-69. It was 72-69 after a pair of Malik Marquetti foul shots, then 72-70 after Gordon made one of two, and 73-70 with one of two from Clark.
Next was Johnson's game-tying triple from the right wing, leaving the Buffs needing a stop in the final 30 seconds. They got it when McLaughlin's soft jumper in the lane trickled right – and a second OT was next.
Reinhardt opened the scoring, hitting a right-wing trey for a 76-73 USC lead. Less than 2 minutes later, Johnson went to the bench with his fifth foul, leaving the Buffs short inside. After Reinhardt and Booker exchanged threes, Booker tied the score at 81-81 with two free throws.
But he misfired on a deep trey with the shot clock at 3 seconds. USC controlled the board and took time out with 38 seconds remaining. A putback by Javonovic with 18.7 seconds left gave the Trojans an 83-81 lead and fouled out Gordon, but Javonovic missed his and-one attempt.
Miller cleared the rebound, leaving CU 14.5 seconds to tie or win after its timeout. Booker tied it at 83-83 with a floater in the lane, and it was USC's turn to plot what to do with the final 5.9 seconds. Reinhardt was short on his deepest 3-point attempt of the night – and triple OT was on the way.
After a pair of Collier free throws, Reinhardt hit a rare two-pointer to tie the score at 85-85, but he fouled out a minute later. Then it was Booker time; two difficult jumpers put the Buffs up 91-88 but McLaughlin made it a one-point game (91-90) with two free throws.
Another contested but true Booker jumper sent CU up 95-92, then he added two foul shots for a 97-94 advantage with 13.4 seconds left. After a timeout with 10.2 seconds showing, USC – minus Reinhardt's triple potential – settled for a driving McLaughlin layup. He missed, Miller got the rebound and sealed it with one of two free throws.
"I told them in the locker room it has nothing to do with the numbers on the stat sheet," Boyle said. "It has everything to do with what's in our chest, which was big time heart tonight. We overcame a lot . . . injuries, foul trouble, on the road. It was just a gritty performance by multiple guys."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
