Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
15-17
Oregon (Quarterfinal)
24-8
Brooks: Second-Half Breakdowns Send Buffs Packing
March 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
LAS VEGAS – Tad Boyle had seen it unfold – unravel, really – like this before. For one half here Thursday night in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, his Colorado Buffaloes were engaged defensively, competent offensively and staying with, even ahead, of the Oregon Ducks.
Then came the second half – and an all-encompassing disaster for the No. 10 seed Buffs, who were sent home to ponder a 93-85 loss and a 2014-15 season whose great early expectations fizzled.
"We're extremely disappointed. This season is over with, and it always ends quickly and abruptly," said Boyle, whose fifth CU team finished 15-17, with that number of losses the most by a Buffs team since 2008-09 (9-22).
No. 2 seed Oregon (24-8) advances to Friday night's semifinal round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against No. 3 Utah, which defeated No. 6 Stanford in Thursday night's second quarterfinal game.
Boyle said he and his staff believed their matchup with the Ducks was "winnable (and) I think the way we played in the first half, we all know we were capable of winning this game. We didn't get it done."
CU was simply undone in the second half, which Boyle called "a little bit of a microcosm of our season in the fact that we're not able to sustain really anything for an extended period of time."
In the second 20 minutes, the Buffs allowed 59 points – the most they've yielded in any half this season and tying for the most in a single half in Pac-10/12 postseason play (Arizona hit that total in the 2008 Pac-10 event). They committed eight of their 13 turnovers in the second half and seemed dumbstruck by Oregon's pressure. They allowed the Ducks to shoot 75.9 percent from the field in the second half – 84.2 percent (16-of-19) during their early surge.
Couple those nightmarish numbers with Oregon's offensive stats and it's little wonder that CU and its season finally imploded. With the game tied at 46-46, the Ducks launched a 16-1 run fed by three Buffs turnovers that resulted in three dunks and a 62-47 Oregon lead.
"I thought offensively we kind of let them go that run by not taking care of the basketball," Boyle said. "They got some steals . . . with their press against our press offense."
The Buffs' turnovers were worth 27 points for the Ducks, while CU got a mere two points from Oregon's eight errors. Said Boyle: "We had two, they had 27 . . . that's the ballgame."
SHAKEN AND TRAILING BY 18 points with 6:58 to play, the Buffs cut the Ducks' lead to four points (80-76) on a 3-pointer by Xavier Talton and a layup by Askia Booker with just over two minutes to play.
But conference player of the year Joseph Young answered with a layup, and two free throws by Dillon Brooks restored an eight-point (84-76) lead. The Ducks – the Pac-12's best foul shooting team – closed out the Buffs by making 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1:27.
One of five Ducks in double figures, Young was the game's high scorer with 30 points, with 22 of his total in the second half. He hit 12-of-22 from the field, with three-of-eight 3-pointers.
"The player of the year went off and we couldn't get stops and we turned the ball over," said CU wing Xavier Johnson, adding, "All of our turnovers led to them scoring. I think that was our biggest mistake."
Added Tre'Shaun Fletcher: "I think we stopped guarding and we let them go on a run . . . the momentum shifted their way and we never recovered from that."
Five Buffs, including Johnson, reached double figures, topped by Josh Scott's 16 points. Dominique Collier scored a career-best 14, with Xavier Talton and Booker adding 12 each and Johnson 10.
Held without a first-half field goal for the second consecutive game but scoreless in Thursday night's first half, Booker was 4-of-14 from the field. His CU career ended with 19 seconds to play, going to the bench with five fouls. It was the first time since his sophomore season – or in 82 games – that he has fouled out.
Boyle had spoken with Booker earlier about his career ending, telling him he has "to have perspective in terms of what this year is because this is a disappointing year not only for him but certainly for our whole team. It's not the way you want to go out."
Still, said Boyle, when Booker and Buffs fans reflect "15 or 20 years from now, you're going to say Askia Booker was the part of some really good teams and part of the resurgence of Colorado basketball."
HITTING 7 OF THEIR FIRST 11 shots, the Buffs held a 37-34 halftime lead and trailed only once in the opening 20 minutes. They led by as many as 11 points, going up 29-18 on a Collier 3-pointer with 7:03 left until intermission.
But few in the Grand Garden Arena believed the Ducks would roll so early – and they didn't. A 12-2 run, fueled by three 3-pointers from Young and Jalil Abdul-Bassit (two) and two of CU's five first-half turnovers, gave Oregon its only lead – 34-33 – with just under two minutes left before the break.
CU opened the game just as Boyle envisioned, working inside-out, driving for layups and taking advantage of an inside size mismatch. The Buffs scored 24 of their first-half points in the paint, with Scott getting nine. Also, CU's 25 rebounds tied for the most in a first half this season.
But as in the first-round win over Oregon State, Booker didn't hit a first-half field goal (oh-for-four) – and this time he didn't shoot any free throws. His best stat: four of the Buffs' nine assists. He finished with 20 points Wednesday night – 14 in the second half – so his quick-strike capabilities were no secret.
The big questions: Could he duplicate them 24 hours later in a game that they were needed just as badly? And could the Buffs blunt what probably would be a frenzied second-half start by the Ducks?
The answers: No and no.
The Buffs began splintering. After the Ducks got a 3-pointer from Young, consecutive CU turnovers resulted in dunks and a 55-46 Oregon lead. With the Ducks applying pressure, the Buffs fell into a turnover trap, committing five in the second half's first seven minutes that cost them 11 points, fueled Oregon's 16-1 run and put CU in a dire position.
Unless something miraculous occurred, the Ducks could plan to move on, the Buffs' only plans were going home. And with baskets being traded, no late miracles occurred.
Fletcher called CU's season "unacceptable. We are a team that returned pretty much everyone from the NCAA Tournament last year – and we went out like this. It's just not good. We have a lot of work to do, in my opinion."
And in Boyle's opinion, too. He called this season "a blip on the radar. Time will tell whether it is or it isn't. But I'm as motivated, I'm as excited, I'm as positive as I've ever been.
"And I probably have got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, which I need to have in terms of coaching this team. Because I feel like we've gotten soft a little bit. Myself as a coach (and) I think just as a program. And I think that shows up in wins and losses."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
