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Wednesday night up at the CEC, much was stacked against the Colorado Buffaloes. *Playing against a bottom-feeding Washington State squad that had pushed them to overtime in their previous meeting, they took the court in front of a mostly-empty arena almost entirely devoid of students due to some historically frigid temperatures. *As a result, the atmosphere in the arena was mostly listless, and the normally potent home-court advantage was largely negated. What's more, a cynical defensive gameplan from the Cougars stifled Josh Scott, driving the essential big man away from the rim, and reducing him to a glorified decoy. Add in Washington State star DaVonte Lacy having a prodigious night, and the Buffs were without both their best player and their trump card against a red-hot shooter on a team already proven to be capable of making things uncomfortable.
And yet, CU won, easily. *The 68-63 final may not look like much, but Colorado was up by as many as 19 with under seven minutes to go, and, in reality, cruised home. *It was a satisfying result that brought them into a four-way tie for third place in the Pac-12, only a half game back of UCLA for second. *Pretty good value for a game against WSU.
By all rights, the star of the game was Lacy, who got hot early, and stayed in a scorer's mentality for the full 40. *Going 8-13 from beyond the arc en route to 34 total points, he took advantage of CU's notoriously suspect perimeter defense. *That's a little simplistic and unfair to the Buffs, however, who were far better guarding the outside than they were in Spokane. *Lacy was legitimately on fire, and hit some ridiculous shots, but the ball don't lie, and Colorado got lit up once again.
For the Buffs, much had to be done with Josh Scott having a quiet evening. *The Colorado Springs native was held to one point and one rebound in 32 minutes of play. *It was eerily similar to the night Spencer Dinwiddie had against the Cougars last month. *Maybe it's time to admit that WSU does a good job isolating the opposing team's best player, and making life difficult on them. *Scott was given no time on the ball, no open looks from 15-18 feet, and was double-teamed at every turn. *Jelly had been the most consistent player in the entire conference, so I doubt he'll be posting 1/1 nights for too long.
In his stead, CU enjoyed superlative performances from Xavier Johnson and Askia Booker. *The pair combined for 46 points, 30 of which were scored in the second half. *Booker was especially potent, going for 26 on 9-12 shooting to go with 5 assists, scoring 21 of his points after the break. *He was as aggressive as I've seen in getting to the rim, and really changed the complexion of the game with his pace.
As satisfying as the win was, I'm not sure it really changes anything. *For that matter, all three of Colorado's recent wins have been conventional and expected. *Beating USC, Utah, and WSU at home is not exactly a surprise, and won't be enough to get the Buffs into the Tournament. *They need to come up with some wins against stiffer competition. *While not really a shocker, beating Washington tomorrow would be a strong step in that direction. *The Huskies lit up CU in Seattle, albeit due to an understandable reason, and a little revenge would go a long way to keeping the Buffs afloat into the brutal close of their regular season schedule.
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Tip-off from the CEC is set for 6pm tomorrow evening. *Coverage will be on ESPNU, with the radio call on 850 KOA.
For reference, my preview of the previous game can be found here.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Wednesday night up at the CEC, much was stacked against the Colorado Buffaloes. *Playing against a bottom-feeding Washington State squad that had pushed them to overtime in their previous meeting, they took the court in front of a mostly-empty arena almost entirely devoid of students due to some historically frigid temperatures. *As a result, the atmosphere in the arena was mostly listless, and the normally potent home-court advantage was largely negated. What's more, a cynical defensive gameplan from the Cougars stifled Josh Scott, driving the essential big man away from the rim, and reducing him to a glorified decoy. Add in Washington State star DaVonte Lacy having a prodigious night, and the Buffs were without both their best player and their trump card against a red-hot shooter on a team already proven to be capable of making things uncomfortable.
And yet, CU won, easily. *The 68-63 final may not look like much, but Colorado was up by as many as 19 with under seven minutes to go, and, in reality, cruised home. *It was a satisfying result that brought them into a four-way tie for third place in the Pac-12, only a half game back of UCLA for second. *Pretty good value for a game against WSU.
By all rights, the star of the game was Lacy, who got hot early, and stayed in a scorer's mentality for the full 40. *Going 8-13 from beyond the arc en route to 34 total points, he took advantage of CU's notoriously suspect perimeter defense. *That's a little simplistic and unfair to the Buffs, however, who were far better guarding the outside than they were in Spokane. *Lacy was legitimately on fire, and hit some ridiculous shots, but the ball don't lie, and Colorado got lit up once again.
For the Buffs, much had to be done with Josh Scott having a quiet evening. *The Colorado Springs native was held to one point and one rebound in 32 minutes of play. *It was eerily similar to the night Spencer Dinwiddie had against the Cougars last month. *Maybe it's time to admit that WSU does a good job isolating the opposing team's best player, and making life difficult on them. *Scott was given no time on the ball, no open looks from 15-18 feet, and was double-teamed at every turn. *Jelly had been the most consistent player in the entire conference, so I doubt he'll be posting 1/1 nights for too long.
In his stead, CU enjoyed superlative performances from Xavier Johnson and Askia Booker. *The pair combined for 46 points, 30 of which were scored in the second half. *Booker was especially potent, going for 26 on 9-12 shooting to go with 5 assists, scoring 21 of his points after the break. *He was as aggressive as I've seen in getting to the rim, and really changed the complexion of the game with his pace.
As satisfying as the win was, I'm not sure it really changes anything. *For that matter, all three of Colorado's recent wins have been conventional and expected. *Beating USC, Utah, and WSU at home is not exactly a surprise, and won't be enough to get the Buffs into the Tournament. *They need to come up with some wins against stiffer competition. *While not really a shocker, beating Washington tomorrow would be a strong step in that direction. *The Huskies lit up CU in Seattle, albeit due to an understandable reason, and a little revenge would go a long way to keeping the Buffs afloat into the brutal close of their regular season schedule.
--
Tip-off from the CEC is set for 6pm tomorrow evening. *Coverage will be on ESPNU, with the radio call on 850 KOA.
For reference, my preview of the previous game can be found here.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Originally posted by The Rumblings of a Deranged Buffalo
Click here to view the article.
 |
| The cold kept plenty of seats empty for tip-off. *From: the BDC |
By all rights, the star of the game was Lacy, who got hot early, and stayed in a scorer's mentality for the full 40. *Going 8-13 from beyond the arc en route to 34 total points, he took advantage of CU's notoriously suspect perimeter defense. *That's a little simplistic and unfair to the Buffs, however, who were far better guarding the outside than they were in Spokane. *Lacy was legitimately on fire, and hit some ridiculous shots, but the ball don't lie, and Colorado got lit up once again.
 |
| Lacy was on fire. *From: the BDC |
In his stead, CU enjoyed superlative performances from Xavier Johnson and Askia Booker. *The pair combined for 46 points, 30 of which were scored in the second half. *Booker was especially potent, going for 26 on 9-12 shooting to go with 5 assists, scoring 21 of his points after the break. *He was as aggressive as I've seen in getting to the rim, and really changed the complexion of the game with his pace.
 |
| Xavier Johnson, along with Askia Booker, paced the winning effort. *From: the BDC |
--
Tip-off from the CEC is set for 6pm tomorrow evening. *Coverage will be on ESPNU, with the radio call on 850 KOA.
For reference, my preview of the previous game can be found here.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Wednesday night up at the CEC, much was stacked against the Colorado Buffaloes. *Playing against a bottom-feeding Washington State squad that had pushed them to overtime in their previous meeting, they took the court in front of a mostly-empty arena almost entirely devoid of students due to some historically frigid temperatures. *As a result, the atmosphere in the arena was mostly listless, and the normally potent home-court advantage was largely negated. What's more, a cynical defensive gameplan from the Cougars stifled Josh Scott, driving the essential big man away from the rim, and reducing him to a glorified decoy. Add in Washington State star DaVonte Lacy having a prodigious night, and the Buffs were without both their best player and their trump card against a red-hot shooter on a team already proven to be capable of making things uncomfortable.
|
| The cold kept plenty of seats empty for tip-off. *From: the BDC |
By all rights, the star of the game was Lacy, who got hot early, and stayed in a scorer's mentality for the full 40. *Going 8-13 from beyond the arc en route to 34 total points, he took advantage of CU's notoriously suspect perimeter defense. *That's a little simplistic and unfair to the Buffs, however, who were far better guarding the outside than they were in Spokane. *Lacy was legitimately on fire, and hit some ridiculous shots, but the ball don't lie, and Colorado got lit up once again.
|
| Lacy was on fire. *From: the BDC |
In his stead, CU enjoyed superlative performances from Xavier Johnson and Askia Booker. *The pair combined for 46 points, 30 of which were scored in the second half. *Booker was especially potent, going for 26 on 9-12 shooting to go with 5 assists, scoring 21 of his points after the break. *He was as aggressive as I've seen in getting to the rim, and really changed the complexion of the game with his pace.
|
| Xavier Johnson, along with Askia Booker, paced the winning effort. *From: the BDC |
--
Tip-off from the CEC is set for 6pm tomorrow evening. *Coverage will be on ESPNU, with the radio call on 850 KOA.
For reference, my preview of the previous game can be found here.
Click below for the preview...
Read more »
Originally posted by The Rumblings of a Deranged Buffalo
Click here to view the article.