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Wednesday night, in front of a dead crowd and a mostly-empty arena in Spokane, Washington, the Buffs played down to their competition, allowing an obviously inferior Washington State squad to push them into overtime. *Compared to the team we saw beat Oregon at their own game last weekend, I almost didn't recognize the Colorado squad on display. *However, in spite of a lethargic performance that seemed doomed to end in a loss, CU closed well down the stretch, and powered through hot shooting from the Cougars to claim a 71-70 victory.
WSU almost pulled off the upset by knocking down a shockingly high percentage of three pointers. Coming into the game, the Cougars were shooting barely over 30% from deep, but were allowed to shoot near 60% from range in Spokane. *You saw players like Dexter Kernich-Drew (26% coming in) and Royce Woolridge (18% coming in) hit trey after trey. *More than luck, it was simply a product of the Buffs leaving the shooters wide open. *Another team allowed to stay in the game through their perimeter play, *sigh*.
Outside of WSU's hot shooting, the story of the night may very well be the pseudo-absence of CU's talismanic point guard, Spencer Dinwiddie. *The Mayor was nigh nonexistent for most of the game, failing to take a shot in the first half, and only scoring after 32 minutes had been played. *Said Coach Boyle of the performance, 'he was not in Spokane Arena tonight mentally, physically, he was somewhere else. I don’t know where it was, but he wasn’t here.' *Athletes have off nights, but there was something almost worrying about how muted Dinwiddie was. *To my eyes, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but playing in that game, which is not the attitude you usually see from him.
Without their best player playing to his capabilities, the Buffs had to turn to their other stars. *Josh Scott, Askia Booker, and Xavier Johnson obliged by all scoring in double figures. *It was Scott who can be said to have won the game through his dominating performance in overtime, scoring eight of his team-high 19 points in the extra frame. *Booker, while a ugly 2-12 from the field, was terrific at getting to the free throw line, going 13-14 from the stripe. *Johnson also did a good job getting to the line, and was generally difficult for WSU to matchup on defense.
Nights like Wednesday aren't unheard of, particularly in college sports. *While there is no excuse for letting a team like Washington State (without their best player, no less) push you around, at least the Buffs found a way to win. *I've seen versions of that game before, and in almost every one, CU has taken the loss. *No, this time, Colorado came back and escaped with the win. *A testament to their talent and will.
Hopefully, lesson learned, the Buffs will put together a better showing Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Washington has been playing better as of late, but they should still be a beatable proposition for a CU team playing somewhere in the vicinity of good basketball. *A win over the Huskies would go a long way towards erasing the doubts generated by the Scare in Spokane.
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Tip-off from the verbose Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion is set for 1pm on Sunday. The Broncos play at 2:40, so I don't actually expect anyone reading this to plan on watching the game. *It's OK, do your thing. *If you do still plan on watching the Buffs, however, you can find the action on FOX Sports 1, with the radio call on 760 AM.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Wednesday night, in front of a dead crowd and a mostly-empty arena in Spokane, Washington, the Buffs played down to their competition, allowing an obviously inferior Washington State squad to push them into overtime. *Compared to the team we saw beat Oregon at their own game last weekend, I almost didn't recognize the Colorado squad on display. *However, in spite of a lethargic performance that seemed doomed to end in a loss, CU closed well down the stretch, and powered through hot shooting from the Cougars to claim a 71-70 victory.
WSU almost pulled off the upset by knocking down a shockingly high percentage of three pointers. Coming into the game, the Cougars were shooting barely over 30% from deep, but were allowed to shoot near 60% from range in Spokane. *You saw players like Dexter Kernich-Drew (26% coming in) and Royce Woolridge (18% coming in) hit trey after trey. *More than luck, it was simply a product of the Buffs leaving the shooters wide open. *Another team allowed to stay in the game through their perimeter play, *sigh*.
Outside of WSU's hot shooting, the story of the night may very well be the pseudo-absence of CU's talismanic point guard, Spencer Dinwiddie. *The Mayor was nigh nonexistent for most of the game, failing to take a shot in the first half, and only scoring after 32 minutes had been played. *Said Coach Boyle of the performance, 'he was not in Spokane Arena tonight mentally, physically, he was somewhere else. I don’t know where it was, but he wasn’t here.' *Athletes have off nights, but there was something almost worrying about how muted Dinwiddie was. *To my eyes, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but playing in that game, which is not the attitude you usually see from him.
Without their best player playing to his capabilities, the Buffs had to turn to their other stars. *Josh Scott, Askia Booker, and Xavier Johnson obliged by all scoring in double figures. *It was Scott who can be said to have won the game through his dominating performance in overtime, scoring eight of his team-high 19 points in the extra frame. *Booker, while a ugly 2-12 from the field, was terrific at getting to the free throw line, going 13-14 from the stripe. *Johnson also did a good job getting to the line, and was generally difficult for WSU to matchup on defense.
Nights like Wednesday aren't unheard of, particularly in college sports. *While there is no excuse for letting a team like Washington State (without their best player, no less) push you around, at least the Buffs found a way to win. *I've seen versions of that game before, and in almost every one, CU has taken the loss. *No, this time, Colorado came back and escaped with the win. *A testament to their talent and will.
Hopefully, lesson learned, the Buffs will put together a better showing Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Washington has been playing better as of late, but they should still be a beatable proposition for a CU team playing somewhere in the vicinity of good basketball. *A win over the Huskies would go a long way towards erasing the doubts generated by the Scare in Spokane.
--
Tip-off from the verbose Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion is set for 1pm on Sunday. The Broncos play at 2:40, so I don't actually expect anyone reading this to plan on watching the game. *It's OK, do your thing. *If you do still plan on watching the Buffs, however, you can find the action on FOX Sports 1, with the radio call on 760 AM.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Originally posted by The Rumblings of a Deranged Buffalo
Click here to view the article.
WSU almost pulled off the upset by knocking down a shockingly high percentage of three pointers. Coming into the game, the Cougars were shooting barely over 30% from deep, but were allowed to shoot near 60% from range in Spokane. *You saw players like Dexter Kernich-Drew (26% coming in) and Royce Woolridge (18% coming in) hit trey after trey. *More than luck, it was simply a product of the Buffs leaving the shooters wide open. *Another team allowed to stay in the game through their perimeter play, *sigh*.
 |
| Anyone want to guard the shooter? |
Without their best player playing to his capabilities, the Buffs had to turn to their other stars. *Josh Scott, Askia Booker, and Xavier Johnson obliged by all scoring in double figures. *It was Scott who can be said to have won the game through his dominating performance in overtime, scoring eight of his team-high 19 points in the extra frame. *Booker, while a ugly 2-12 from the field, was terrific at getting to the free throw line, going 13-14 from the stripe. *Johnson also did a good job getting to the line, and was generally difficult for WSU to matchup on defense.
 |
| Without Scott, the Buffs would've wound up losing on Wednesday. |
Hopefully, lesson learned, the Buffs will put together a better showing Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Washington has been playing better as of late, but they should still be a beatable proposition for a CU team playing somewhere in the vicinity of good basketball. *A win over the Huskies would go a long way towards erasing the doubts generated by the Scare in Spokane.
--
Tip-off from the verbose Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion is set for 1pm on Sunday. The Broncos play at 2:40, so I don't actually expect anyone reading this to plan on watching the game. *It's OK, do your thing. *If you do still plan on watching the Buffs, however, you can find the action on FOX Sports 1, with the radio call on 760 AM.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Wednesday night, in front of a dead crowd and a mostly-empty arena in Spokane, Washington, the Buffs played down to their competition, allowing an obviously inferior Washington State squad to push them into overtime. *Compared to the team we saw beat Oregon at their own game last weekend, I almost didn't recognize the Colorado squad on display. *However, in spite of a lethargic performance that seemed doomed to end in a loss, CU closed well down the stretch, and powered through hot shooting from the Cougars to claim a 71-70 victory.
WSU almost pulled off the upset by knocking down a shockingly high percentage of three pointers. Coming into the game, the Cougars were shooting barely over 30% from deep, but were allowed to shoot near 60% from range in Spokane. *You saw players like Dexter Kernich-Drew (26% coming in) and Royce Woolridge (18% coming in) hit trey after trey. *More than luck, it was simply a product of the Buffs leaving the shooters wide open. *Another team allowed to stay in the game through their perimeter play, *sigh*.
|
| Anyone want to guard the shooter? |
Without their best player playing to his capabilities, the Buffs had to turn to their other stars. *Josh Scott, Askia Booker, and Xavier Johnson obliged by all scoring in double figures. *It was Scott who can be said to have won the game through his dominating performance in overtime, scoring eight of his team-high 19 points in the extra frame. *Booker, while a ugly 2-12 from the field, was terrific at getting to the free throw line, going 13-14 from the stripe. *Johnson also did a good job getting to the line, and was generally difficult for WSU to matchup on defense.
|
| Without Scott, the Buffs would've wound up losing on Wednesday. |
Hopefully, lesson learned, the Buffs will put together a better showing Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Washington has been playing better as of late, but they should still be a beatable proposition for a CU team playing somewhere in the vicinity of good basketball. *A win over the Huskies would go a long way towards erasing the doubts generated by the Scare in Spokane.
--
Tip-off from the verbose Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion is set for 1pm on Sunday. The Broncos play at 2:40, so I don't actually expect anyone reading this to plan on watching the game. *It's OK, do your thing. *If you do still plan on watching the Buffs, however, you can find the action on FOX Sports 1, with the radio call on 760 AM.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Originally posted by The Rumblings of a Deranged Buffalo
Click here to view the article.