Colorado
7-3 (1-0DHC)
DePaul (First Round)
6-5 (0-1DHC)
Booker, Second-Half Spurt Propel Buffs Into Semis
December 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
HONOLULU – Askia Booker will be the first to admit he and his basketball game are a long way from perfection. But Colorado's enigmatic senior guard approached it here Monday in the Diamond Head Classic.
Behind Booker's all-around contributions, which included tying a career high with 27 points, and his team's 19-5 surge to open the second half, CU swept past DePaul 82-68 and into Tuesday's Classic semifinals. CU (7-3) plays George Washington at 2:30 p.m. MST (ESPNU). The Buffs last won a holiday tournament in 2012-13 (Charleston Classic).
GW (7-3) advanced with a 77-49 blowout of Ohio University on Monday. DePaul (6-5) lost its fourth consecutive game and faces Ohio University on Tuesday.
In addition to his 27 points, Booker contributed six rebounds, six assists and hit all 14 of his free throw attempts. Moreover, he committed only one turnover in 31 minutes.
"It's all about confidence," Booker said. "I think the first four games of the season my head wasn't there. I think I figured it out. Coach (Tad Boyle) made things clear; it's not just me scoring the ball (although) I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it right now."
Boyle called Booker's game "terrific," but "Ski" had plenty of help. Three other CU starters reached double figures, with Xavier Johnson adding 20, while Wes Gordon contributed 11 and Jaron Hopkins had 10 for the second straight game. Josh Scott, the Buffs' leading scorer at 15.4 points a game, finished with 5 points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field.
"We played against 30-32 minutes of zone (and) it's hard particularly for a big guy to get touches in the zone sometimes," Boyle said. "But, we need to do a better job of attacking inside-out against the zone because we are going to see it (Tuesday) against GW. The fact that they play zone doesn't mean that Josh can't be effective."
Boyle's emphasis at halftime Monday was finishing plays, "because you get the ball to the rim and there may be some contact, but there may not be a whistle," he said. "So you have to play through it, you have to finish it, and he (Scott) normally finishes better than he did . . . he may have gotten a little frustrated. But again, he defended and rebounded great, and I thought he was terrific against a really good player in Tommy Hamilton. Josh was the difference defensively against that kid."
Still, Hamilton led DePaul with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Billy Garrett Jr. added 15.
Boyle called the Buffs' win impressive against a "talented, quality bunch." He also said his team's depth paid off against an opponent with far less and was pleased with only three second-half turnovers after nine errors in the first half.
"We're looking for 12 a game and we finished with 12 in the game; I can live with that," Boyle said.
Leading by only three points (36-33) at halftime, the Buffs cranked up their offense, buttoned down their defense and began sharing the ball and taking care of it in the final 20 minutes. Having only three assists in the first half, CU finished with 12 on 23 baskets. The Buffs also improved their field goal percentage from 37.0 in the first half to 53.8 in the second.
And in the free throw department, CU hit 31-of-38, yet DePaul was even better – going 20-for-22. But the Buffs limited the Blue Demons to 33.3 percent from the field and forced them into 18 turnovers. DePaul finished with a 40-36 rebounding edge, which accounted for Boyle's lone statistical disappointment.
He called the Blue Demons' 16 offensive rebounds "way too many. I thought coming into the game that was an advantage we had, and we didn't do a very good job. We have to credit DePaul. Rebounding is just an aggressiveness, a want-to, a mentality, and we have to have that."
After a torrid start in their preferred up-and-down pace, the Buffs led by as many as 13 points (17-4) in the first half. But they had to be thankful for their three-point halftime advantage after the Blue Demons settled in and slowed the tempo with full-court pressure and a 2-3 zone.
"I think we started off the game very hot, we were in the gaps, we were rebounding, we were contesting shots, and we made a lot of buckets in transition," Booker said. "Then they made a run towards the end of the half and the game was neck-and-neck."
DePaul caught up with 10-1 and 11-2 runs, and pulled to within one point twice in the first half's final 6 minutes. But frequent trips to the free throw line enabled CU to stay ahead; achieving double-bonus status with 5:20 left before intermission, the Buffs hit six of eight foul shots while getting only one field goal – a stuff by Scott – in a nearly 7-plus minute span.
DePaul's full-court pressure sent CU into sloppy mode, forcing most of the Buffs' nine turnovers that cost them 10 points. Plus, the Buffs managed only three first-half assists. But that would change – greatly.
The Buffs needed to rekindle their first-half start to open the second half – and they did. Opening the half with a 12-4 run, they restored their double-digit lead (48-37) on a pair of Booker free throws with 16:02 remaining.
Said Booker: "Coach went into halftime and just telling us, 'Keep grinding defensively, contest shots, get the boards and get out in transition, they can't guard us in transition.' I think we took advantage of that in the second half, and did it very well."
And "Ski" was merely warming up. After draining a 3-pointer from the right wing to push CU ahead 53-39, he dished a nifty behind-the-back bounce pass to Wes Gordon for a stuff that sent the Buffs up by 16.
Suddenly, CU's 12-4 spurt to open the half had ballooned to 19-5 – and DePaul was close to deflating. The air appeared to go out of the Blue Demons on a Jaron Hopkins fast-break stuff that gave the Buffs their largest lead of the game – 69-51 with 7:30 remaining.
DePaul cut its deficit to 10 (76-66) on a conventional 3-point play by Garrett with 2:12 remaining. But the Blue Demons came no closer and the Buffs began looking toward Tuesday.
"It's really exciting," Hopkins said. "It's really good for our team because it gives us confidence . . . hopefully (on Tuesday) we can do the same thing and be able to win comfortably."
