01-07-2018, 06:22 AM
BOULDER â New year, new team.
2018 seems to suit the the Colorado Buffaloes quite well.
Saturday, for the second time in as many games, Tad Boyle's Buffs knocked off a top-20 team at the Coors Events Center, sending No. 14 Arizona back to Tucson with an 80-77 loss. The win, coming on the heels of Thursday's 90-81 win over No. 4 Arizona State, improved the Buffs to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in Pac-12 play while Arizona fell to 12-4, 2-1.
Just like the win over ASU, Saturday's win was a complete team effort. Five Buffs scored in double figures. Freshman McKinley Wright IV led CU with 16 points and 10 assists (his third double-double this year), Dallas Walton added 15 points, Namon Wright and Dominique Collier each scored 14 and D'Shawn Schwartz added 10. George King, meanwhile, led CU on the boards with 11 rebounds.
Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton led all scorers with 26 points. Arizona's Allonzo Trier finished with just eight points, 12 under his season average.
"The difference between our team now and a week ago (when CU lost at Oregon State and Oregon) is number one that we believe," Boyle said. "Number two, we're playing together and we're playing with great energy. We have good moments, we have bad moments. We showed that today but we have a toughness that we didn't show in Corvallis. ⦠At some point when you're on a slide, your players have to see that they're sick and tired of this and it's time to turn it up. Players win games. I haven't changed anything other than my little bit of zone between the Oregon trip and this trip."
But that "little bit of zone" has definitely made a difference. The Buffs stymied ASU on Thursday with their new-look defense and appeared to catch Arizona by surprise as well. The Wildcats shot just 38.4 percent from the floor (28-for-73), including just 7-for-25 from 3-point range. Colorado, meanwhile, once again found its shooting eye, hitting 54.7 percent of its field goal tries (29-for-53), including a respectable 7-for-16 afternoon from 3-point range.
"The key with talented teams is that you want to keep them off balance," said Boyle, who celebrated his 55th birthday Saturday. "We wanted to try to keep them off balance and I thought the zone helped do that."
The wins over ranked teams in back-to-back games were the first for Colorado since Boyle's first Colorado team beat Missouri (No. 9) and Kansas State (No. 21) in consecutive games in 2011.
"If we play the way we're capable of playing, we can play with anybody in this league," Boyle said. "We still have to prove that on the road. That's the next challenge for this team."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Unlike the last five five games, the Buffs jumped out to a big lead early. Colorado led by as much as 20 in the first half and still led by 16 at intermission, 45-29.
But the Wildcats came back with a vengeance in the second half, outscoring Colorado 17-4 over the first eight minutes to cut CU's lead to three, 49-46. After having just two turnovers in the entire first half, the Buffs had eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half.
The run sent a palpable shiver through the Events Center crowd of 8,519, and a sizable UA group into delirium.
Colorado, though, didn't fold. With a lineup on the floor that included four freshmen and senior Collier, the Buffs regrouped and slowly rebuilt the lead.
D'Shawn Schwartz ended the Arizona rally with a long 3-pointer, followed by a Collier drive to the hoop. Walton then scored on a jump hook over Ayton, Schwartz hit a pair of free throws and Collier drained a three to push the margin back to nine with a 3-pointer.
A minute later, Collier scored on another drive to the hoop, followed by a McKinley Wright transition layup and another Collier 3-pointer that gave CU a 68-58 lead with 4:33 to play.
"Whether you're behind or ahead, when the other team makes a run, you have to have the intestinal fortitude to stop that run," Boyle said. "You have to stop it on defense, you have to stop it with good offense. As simple as it sounds, our offensive game plan tonight was to attack them and get great shots and we did that in the first half. We did that for the second part of the second half but we had a stretch there where we turned the dang thing over. It was the same offense, the same players , the same defense, the same game but you just hit that spot offensively and we need to get rid of that."
From that point on, the Buffs protected their lead. Walton hit another big hook shot with 1:58 remaining, then had two blocks on one UA possession that led to a McKinley Wright slam dunk for a 74-65 CU lead with a minute to go.
The Buffs then hit six straight free throws in the final 40 seconds to clinch the win.
"I thought Colorado first of all did a great job," UA coach Sean Miller said. "They played with an amazing amount of energy in an overtime game the other night and for them to respond as quickly as they did for today's tipoff at noon, come ready to play with confidence and energy, says a lot about them as a team and as a program."
TURNING POINT: After Arizona had seized momentum with a 17-4 run to cut Colorado's lead to three in the second half, the Buffs answered with a 19-12 run to bump the lead back to 10 with 4:33 left to play. Freshman D'Shawn Schwartz started the run with a 3-pointer, and Dom Collier had 10 of his 14 points in the surge.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs â who have yet to win on the road this year â head out of town this week with a bucketload of confidence when they play at USC and UCLA.
CU STANDOUTS: McKinley Wright had 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds for his third double-double of the season. ⦠Freshman Dallas Walton scored a career-high 15 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting and two blocked shots. ⦠Namon Wright scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, along with two assists. ⦠Dominique Collier scored 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and also had two assists. ⦠Freshman D'Shawn Schwartz had a career-high 10 points. ⦠George King had 11 rebounds, five points and three assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held Arizona to just 38.4 percent shooting from the field (28-for-73). Colorado shot 54.7 percent from the field (29-for-53).
http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2018/1/6/men...izona.aspx
2018 seems to suit the the Colorado Buffaloes quite well.
Saturday, for the second time in as many games, Tad Boyle's Buffs knocked off a top-20 team at the Coors Events Center, sending No. 14 Arizona back to Tucson with an 80-77 loss. The win, coming on the heels of Thursday's 90-81 win over No. 4 Arizona State, improved the Buffs to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in Pac-12 play while Arizona fell to 12-4, 2-1.
Just like the win over ASU, Saturday's win was a complete team effort. Five Buffs scored in double figures. Freshman McKinley Wright IV led CU with 16 points and 10 assists (his third double-double this year), Dallas Walton added 15 points, Namon Wright and Dominique Collier each scored 14 and D'Shawn Schwartz added 10. George King, meanwhile, led CU on the boards with 11 rebounds.
Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton led all scorers with 26 points. Arizona's Allonzo Trier finished with just eight points, 12 under his season average.
"The difference between our team now and a week ago (when CU lost at Oregon State and Oregon) is number one that we believe," Boyle said. "Number two, we're playing together and we're playing with great energy. We have good moments, we have bad moments. We showed that today but we have a toughness that we didn't show in Corvallis. ⦠At some point when you're on a slide, your players have to see that they're sick and tired of this and it's time to turn it up. Players win games. I haven't changed anything other than my little bit of zone between the Oregon trip and this trip."
But that "little bit of zone" has definitely made a difference. The Buffs stymied ASU on Thursday with their new-look defense and appeared to catch Arizona by surprise as well. The Wildcats shot just 38.4 percent from the floor (28-for-73), including just 7-for-25 from 3-point range. Colorado, meanwhile, once again found its shooting eye, hitting 54.7 percent of its field goal tries (29-for-53), including a respectable 7-for-16 afternoon from 3-point range.
"The key with talented teams is that you want to keep them off balance," said Boyle, who celebrated his 55th birthday Saturday. "We wanted to try to keep them off balance and I thought the zone helped do that."
The wins over ranked teams in back-to-back games were the first for Colorado since Boyle's first Colorado team beat Missouri (No. 9) and Kansas State (No. 21) in consecutive games in 2011.
"If we play the way we're capable of playing, we can play with anybody in this league," Boyle said. "We still have to prove that on the road. That's the next challenge for this team."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Unlike the last five five games, the Buffs jumped out to a big lead early. Colorado led by as much as 20 in the first half and still led by 16 at intermission, 45-29.
But the Wildcats came back with a vengeance in the second half, outscoring Colorado 17-4 over the first eight minutes to cut CU's lead to three, 49-46. After having just two turnovers in the entire first half, the Buffs had eight turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half.
The run sent a palpable shiver through the Events Center crowd of 8,519, and a sizable UA group into delirium.
Colorado, though, didn't fold. With a lineup on the floor that included four freshmen and senior Collier, the Buffs regrouped and slowly rebuilt the lead.
D'Shawn Schwartz ended the Arizona rally with a long 3-pointer, followed by a Collier drive to the hoop. Walton then scored on a jump hook over Ayton, Schwartz hit a pair of free throws and Collier drained a three to push the margin back to nine with a 3-pointer.
A minute later, Collier scored on another drive to the hoop, followed by a McKinley Wright transition layup and another Collier 3-pointer that gave CU a 68-58 lead with 4:33 to play.
"Whether you're behind or ahead, when the other team makes a run, you have to have the intestinal fortitude to stop that run," Boyle said. "You have to stop it on defense, you have to stop it with good offense. As simple as it sounds, our offensive game plan tonight was to attack them and get great shots and we did that in the first half. We did that for the second part of the second half but we had a stretch there where we turned the dang thing over. It was the same offense, the same players , the same defense, the same game but you just hit that spot offensively and we need to get rid of that."
From that point on, the Buffs protected their lead. Walton hit another big hook shot with 1:58 remaining, then had two blocks on one UA possession that led to a McKinley Wright slam dunk for a 74-65 CU lead with a minute to go.
The Buffs then hit six straight free throws in the final 40 seconds to clinch the win.
"I thought Colorado first of all did a great job," UA coach Sean Miller said. "They played with an amazing amount of energy in an overtime game the other night and for them to respond as quickly as they did for today's tipoff at noon, come ready to play with confidence and energy, says a lot about them as a team and as a program."
TURNING POINT: After Arizona had seized momentum with a 17-4 run to cut Colorado's lead to three in the second half, the Buffs answered with a 19-12 run to bump the lead back to 10 with 4:33 left to play. Freshman D'Shawn Schwartz started the run with a 3-pointer, and Dom Collier had 10 of his 14 points in the surge.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs â who have yet to win on the road this year â head out of town this week with a bucketload of confidence when they play at USC and UCLA.
CU STANDOUTS: McKinley Wright had 16 points, 10 assists and four rebounds for his third double-double of the season. ⦠Freshman Dallas Walton scored a career-high 15 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting and two blocked shots. ⦠Namon Wright scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, along with two assists. ⦠Dominique Collier scored 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and also had two assists. ⦠Freshman D'Shawn Schwartz had a career-high 10 points. ⦠George King had 11 rebounds, five points and three assists.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs held Arizona to just 38.4 percent shooting from the field (28-for-73). Colorado shot 54.7 percent from the field (29-for-53).
http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2018/1/6/men...izona.aspx