Colorado
6-3
Northern Colorado
4-4
Brooks: Buffs, Scott Bounce Back In 93-68 Rout Of Bears
December 13, 2014 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes needed that. Badly. So did Josh Scott, in the same way. After absorbing consecutive non-conference defeats for the first time in three seasons, the Buffs and Scott got a confidence-boosting (launching?) win, a double shot of feel good before finals week.
CU outshot and overran first-time foe Northern Colorado 93-68 on Saturday at the Coors Events Center, and it was done as impressively as the margin of victory suggested. The Buffs enjoyed a banner day, reaching season highs in points, assists (21), 3-pointers made (12), field goal percentage (63.3), and free throw percentage (82.6).
"A good win for the Buffs," said CU's Tad Boyle, coaching for the first time against the school that made him a first-time head coach. "It's sure nice when you make shots and get the offense rolling like we did in the second half."
The 6-10 Scott helped stomp on the accelerator in the final 20 minutes, scoring six of CU's first 11 second-half points as the Buffs (6-3) finally established a double-digit lead that mushroomed to 27 points before the final buzzer. A "pretty darn determined" Scott finished with a game-best 21 points, scoring 15 of those in the second half on 5-of-8 shooting.
"It was really good and much needed," Scott said of the win as well as his bounce back. "Like I said (after CSU), it was a (stinking) night for me personally. It was really not a fun night and there wasn't much sleep to be had after that game. So it was good to come out in the fashion that we did and get a win."
Scott had considerable help, with four teammates in double figures. Askia Booker added 20 points, while Xavier Johnson scored 16 and Wes Gordon contributed 13. Jaron Hopkins added 10, with five rebounds and five assists.
If it wasn't an offensive breakthrough, it was at least a departure from the breakdowns the Buffs had suffered in the previous games. Asked if Saturday's offensive performance gave his team confidence, Boyle answered, "I hope so. We're going to need it. DePaul (CU's first opponent in the Diamond Head Classic) is a heck of a team. But right now our minds are on finals."
Those will be taken next week, with no games scheduled until Dec. 22 in Hawai'i. The holiday tournament runs through Christmas Day, with the Buffs not returning to the CEC until Jan. 2 for their Pac-12 Conference opener against UCLA.
CU led only 44-42 at the half, but took control midway through the second half behind Scott, who scored 15 of his total and had five rebounds in the final 20 minutes. He was 5-of-8 from the field in the second half, finishing 6-of-10 for the game.
The Buffs are off until they travel to Hawai'i for the Diamond Head Classic (Dec. 22-25) and open against DePaul. They don't return to the CEC until Jan. 2 for their Pac-12 Conference opener against UCLA.
CU took an eight-point first-half lead on Scott's first field goal since the Buffs' loss at Georgia three games ago. His dunk off an assist by Jaron Hopkins put the Buffs up 42-34 with 3:31 left in the half. It also ended Scott's 61:46 field goal drought that saw him go 0-for-7 in the previous game against CSU. He only took two shots in Saturday's first half.
That eight-point advantage was CU's largest of the half, but it didn't last. UNC (4-4) answered with an 8-2 run to close out the half and pull to within 44-42 at intermission. The Bears' 42 points were the most the Buffs have allowed in any half this season, and the visitors' eight 3-pointers were the most allowed by CU in any half through nine games. Cameron Michael, who led UNC with 16 points, was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. But he made only one more in the second half and the Bears finished 10-of-18 from long range.
Gordon (11 points) was the only Buff in double figures in the opening half, and while they lacked a double-figure scorer they had two players with nine points and one with eight. Gordon said his teammates "were looking for me more and I tried to stay aggressive. So yeah, it felt pretty good to start off well."
Scott quickly got into the second-half flow, blocking two shots (four for the game) and scoring six points on two free throws and a pair of inside baskets as CU restored its eight-point lead (53-45).
Less than a minute later, a Gordon put-back gave the Buffs their first double-digit advantage of the afternoon (55-45) and completed their 11-3 surge to open the half. A 7-0 run trimmed UNC's deficit to 55-52, but CU answered with back-to-back treys by Hopkins and Xavier Johnson and went ahead 61-52 with 13:04 to play.
The Buffs opened two more 10-point leads before consecutive 3-pointers by Johnson and Xavier Talton and a lefthanded layup by Scott sent them ahead 78-60 with just over 5 minutes remaining. The Bears were all but finished.
UNC coach B.J. Hill said playing against his former boss "wasn't as fun as it appeared a year ago when we signed the contract. It was a good idea but it's hard, it's no fun. But they're going to be good. I know they're not happy with how the last couple of weeks went, but they're a really good team."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
