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CU Above the Rim

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News Junkie
By Stuart

[h=2]CU Above the Rim[/h]
February 1st
Buffs to be guests at Rick Majerus tribute
From the Salt Lake City Tribune …
The last time Utah honored the legacy of Rick Majerus, the team went out and played its best game of the season from start to finish.
A rousing win over Boise State served as the net result, as dominating a victory as Utah has experienced this year.
On Saturday against Colorado, Utah will retire Majerus’ sweater and hang it in the rafters where it has belonged for so long. The players will try to honor the former coach, who died in December.
“We really want to win this game,” senior forward Cedric Martin said. “We know what he’s meant to the program. He built this program.”
Majerus led the Utes to the national title game in 1998. He consistently made the NCAA Tournament, and recruited such stars as Andre Miller, Keith Van Horn, Michael Doleac and Andrew Bogut, along with Britton Johnsen to the hill
Preview – Colorado at Utah
From cubuffs.com … The Colorado men’s basketball team is on a mini-run (a three-game winning streak) and the Pac-12 Conference race appears to be morphing into exactly that. This is what is known as good timing, or it could be.
CU coach Tad Boyle is happy, proud and grateful – and also eager to see if the Buffs’ late-January success seeps into February. You don’t see content among those adjectives trailing Boyle’s name because he isn’t.
Not even sniffing content, in fact. At the moment, he’s as cautious as an ice fisherman in mid-April.
While Boyle certainly would rather be counting three consecutive ‘W’s than ‘L’s, he’s also reminding his players how quickly things can sour if they forget what extracted them from that 1-4 pit in Pac-12 play. After Wednesday’s practice – the week’s first after two days of rest – he said he senses the hard lessons learned en route to four early losses just might be sinking in.
When I asked him about the modest three-game streak composed of wins against Washington State, Stanford and Cal and how much momentum had been created, he answered, “We’ve got a little bit, but again, that can all go away in a heartbeat. I think we understand why we’ve been successful. Now it’s committing to making sure we do those things.
“They’re little things, it’s not like we just want to start winning. It’s what do we have to do to do that? Play together offensively, share the ball, not care who’s taking shots, making sure we’re getting the best shot for the team every time down. And then defensively, all the things we talk about.”
Do his players realize how quickly success, short and long term, can be sabotaged by an unsightly loss – say, against a Utah team that’s won once in eight league games?
“Absolutely,” Boyle answered. “We’re young and we have to continue to improve. We lost some games, we watched film and we understand why we lost and what we have to do better. We understand why we went on a three-game win streak . . . why we’re having success and what we’re doing better. We talk about all those things.”
All the talk had best be digested. If the Buffs aren’t sharing a like mindset with their coach, Saturday’s trip over the Rockies to Salt Lake City could have all the trappings of a classic trap game.
No doubt, the Utes are in their second season of severe struggle under coach Larry Krystkowiak. After losing by 21 in Boulder last Thursday, Stanford visited SLC on Sunday and won by 31, dealing Utah its eighth loss in nine games.
The blowout matched the Utes’ worst home loss ever, and Krystkowiak was more than a bit bothered. He told the Salt Lake City papers, “This is rock-bottom for me. This is the lowest I’ve felt since I took over. We just got beat up out there . . . I can tell you this much: We will play hard for the rest of the year. That won’t be a problem again. There just wasn’t a bright spot in this ballgame for us.”
As for getting “beat up” by the Cardinal, this was his prescription for getting more physical: “If you want to come watch football practice, it takes place on Tuesday afternoon. We are going to have some games that we play really well. But we can’t lay an egg like that. I’m not going to tolerate a lack of effort.”
Don’t think Boyle doesn’t monitor these things. “No question they’re going to be angry,” he said. “I’m sure (Krystkowiak) is going to get after them this week in practice and they’re going to come out with a whole new resolve and a whole new level of intensity than they showed against Stanford. And we’ve got to be ready for that . . . they’ve proven when they play well they can beat anybody.”
Case in point: Washington, which remained unbeaten two weeks ago by stiffing Arctic-cold CU, 64-54. A couple of days after the Buffs tripped to Seattle, Utah strolled into Alaska Airlines Arena and dealt the Huskies their first league loss, 74-65. If eyes rolled in the Pacific Northwest, they opened elsewhere in the Pac-12.
“Anytime a road team wins, to some degree, especially a road team that had lost five games going in there . . . I think it opened a lot of people’s eyes,” Boyle said. “I watched their game live against Boise State early in the year, and I tell you what, they shot the ball well and looked like a whole different team that night. When they shoot the ball well, they can pose a lot of problems.”
Utah’s win at UW got – and continues to hold – the attention of CU sophomore guard Askia Booker. “Utah is not going to be an easy game, not at all,” he said. “They beat Washington, a team we couldn’t beat, and they did it in their (UW’s) house. We’re not overlooking them, looking at Oregon or Oregon State (next week). We want to be prepared for the next game, that’s all. And that’s what we’re doing in practice, that’s where it starts.”
The Buffs’ problem in Seattle was frigid shooting (36.2 percent), which the Utes know something about. They’re eighth in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (42.2) and last in scoring (59.4 points). They also are No. 12 in turnover margin (-2.50).
In the Stanford game’s aftermath, Krystkowiak announced that 7-foot sophomore center Dallin Bachynski will take a break from competition. In truth, the break might have started a game ago; the younger brother of Arizona State’s 7-2 Jordan Bachynski (the Buffs have vivid memories) played only three minutes. He had started nine previous games.
Boyle insists Krystkowiak isn’t dealing from a depleted roster, only a much different roster from last season. Boyle and his staff recruited 6-6 freshman forward Jordan Loveridge, and Boyle recalls redshirt junior guard Glen Dean, an Eastern Washington transfer who played against Boyle’s Northern Colorado team. Loveridge is Utah’s leading scorer in all games (12.1 ppg) but trails 6-10 senior Jason Washburn (10.8 to 13.5 ppg) in conference. Washburn also is the team’s leading rebounder (8.9 rpg).
By Saturday’s tip time (12:30 p.m., FSN) at the Huntsman Center, the Buffs will be playing their first game in six days. Booker, CU’s No. 2 scorer by a fraction (14.4 ppg to Spencer Dinwiddie’s 14.5), said the break was welcome, but added the Utes also should be well-rested – provided that was anywhere on Krystkowiak’s agenda after the Cardinal debacle.
January 29th
CU recruit has buzzer beater waved off
Guess Jaron Hopkins is learning – the hard way – what it’s like to be a Buff …
From azcentral.com … Gilbert boys basketball coach Jay Caserio knew Friday night’s Division I matchup against Mesa Dobson would be a tight one, but no one could predict an ending this dramatic.
With 1.1 seconds remaining in the game and Gilbert leading by a point, Dobson’s Jaron Hopkins (a CU commit) caught a long pass from center court and laid in a last-chance, buzzer shot from underneath the basket. No sooner did the visiting crowd erupt than was bucket was called off, with officials saying it didn’t beat the buzzer.
The controversial call meant victory for Gilbert, which defeated Dobson for the second time in two weeks, winning 58-57 Friday at home.
“To be honest with you I think that should have probably been a bucket there at the end,” Caserio said. “I think it was kind of stolen from them.”
Oregon star likely out for CU game next Thursday
From CBSSportsline … Oregon freshman point guard Dominic Artis will miss at least the next two games with a foot injury.
Ducks head coach Dana Altman said Tuesday on SiriusXM’s Inside College Basketball that Artis, who is nursing a foot injury, has been ruled out of this week’s trip to the Bay Area.
“He’s out this week for sure,” Altman said. “My guess is he’ll miss anywhere from three to five games.”
Artis is averaging 10.2 points and 3.8 assists this season. Oregon is 18-2 and in first place in the Pac-12 with a 7-0 mark.
After traveling to play Stanford and Cal this weekend, the Ducks will host Colorado next Thursday, February 7th.
CU women remain ranked in both polls despite losses
Following competitive losses to a pair of top 10 teams, the University of Colorado remained at No. 23 in the USA Today Sports Women’s Basketball Coaches poll released on Tuesday.
On Monday, Colorado slid two spots to No. 22 in the Associated Press Women’s Basketball Top 25 poll.
Colorado, 15-4 overall and 4-4 in the Pac-12 Conference, received 64 points in the coaches’ poll, down from 113 last week. The Buffaloes have been in the coaches’ poll for three-straight weeks and four overall this season. The current No. 23 ranking, held for the last two weeks, is Colorado’s highest spot in the coaches’ rankings since coming in at No. 16 in the March 15, 2004 poll. This week’s ranking marks the 155th time Colorado has appeared in the coaches’ poll dating back to the 1988-89 campaign.
Colorado received 205 points in the AP poll, down only 75 from last week. The Buffaloes have resided in the AP poll for the last seven weeks, reaching as high as No. 20 twice – Dec. 31 and Jan. 21. CU’s seven-week run in the AP poll is its longest since appearing in all 19 polls of the 2003-04 season. The Buffaloes have a long history of rankings in the AP poll, dating back to the 1980-81 season. This week’s ranking marks the 165th time Colorado has appeared in the AP poll, trailing only Stanford, USC and UCLA among Pac-12 schools.
All four losses of Colorado’s losses this season have been to league rivals Stanford and California, ranked No. 7 or better in each meeting. After this weekend’s games, Stanford moved up two spots in the AP poll to No. 4 and one in the coaches’ poll to No. 5. California moved up one spot in both polls to No. 6. The Buffaloes do have one top 10 win on their resume, a 70-66 win over then-No. 8 Louisville on Dec. 14. The Cardinals are currently ranked No. 12 in both polls.
Colorado will play its third-straight ranked opponent with a visit to No. 18 (AP)/19 (USAT) UCLA on Friday, Feb. 1, at 9 p.m. MT. The Buffaloes will conclude their four-game California swing at USC on Sunday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m. MT. Both contests will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.


Originally posted by CU At the Game
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