Senior guard Askia Booker brings the ball up-court. Booker joined the 1,500 point club after scoring a game high 21 points. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)
Going into Saturday night’s matchup against Washington State University, the University of Colorado men’s basketball team had come off their longest losing streak since joining the Pac-12. The last time the Tad Boyle coached team dropped four straight games was back in 2010-11 when Colorado was a member of the Big 12 conference.
So when the Buffs took their home floor on Saturday, they knew they had something to prove. They certainly played like it as they glided to a 90-58 victory. Granted, Washington State isn’t the best team in the conference, coming into the game with a 9-9 record, but to be fair this hasn’t been the Buffs’ best season either.
The Buffs, who also held a 9-9 record before the game, have suffered a lot of setbacks this season. Junior forwards Xavier Johnson and Josh Scott, arguably Colorado’s best players this year, have missed the past three and five of six games due to injury, respectively. There is no timetable for their return right now.
For much of the season, the Buffs have struggled on both their offense and defense, depending on the game. They can’t seem to win a road game, and they’ve lost every single game that was decided by one possession.
In their previous 52-50 home loss to the Huskies, the Buffs only managed to shoot 31.7 percent from the field in what can only be described as ugly basketball. But in their first few minutes against the Cougars, the Buffs shot lights out on their first five looks from the field. From that point on, they pretty much dictated the pace of a very good game on their end of the court.
The Buffs shot an exceptional 54.8 percent from the field while stifling Washington State’s offense, holding them to just 38.7 percent. To make the situation better, six players hit double digit scores during the game.
“I think you saw today what this team is capable of doing when we do the things that we talk about, and we did it without two of our best players,” Boyle said. “I think we’re really starting to see some guys step up and gain confidence and evolve before our eyes.”
Senior guard Askia Booker joined the 1,500 point club with his first shot of the game, a feat only eight players in program history had done before him. But he didn’t stop there: After sinking his first three points, Booker scored 18 more to solidify his spot in history.
But it wasn’t just Booker who stole the show, because Saturday night highlighted the freshman on the team as well. Even though six men on the squad hit double-digits in scoring, freshmen forward Tory Miller and guard Dominique Collier proved their worth by setting a new scoring record for their college careers with 10 and eight points respectively.
“He said play pissed off,” Miller explained. “I guess that’s what it was, I don’t really know. In practice we work on those shots all the time, so I guess it was more or less me taking the shots versus not being more aggressive and whatnot.”
Safe to say they’re finally starting to break through their shells.
“I wouldn’t necessarily call it a blessing, because you never want to see a man go down,” Miller commented on seeing more playing time with Scott out. “I just say I’d call it more or less an opportunity. I wish Josh gets back speedy, because I’ve been getting a little tired out there,” he added, joking.
On top of all that, the team hit a career-high for Boyle. For the first time in his five years with the team, the Buffs dished out 25 assists, the most in Boyle’s history. Ball-sharing has been the Achilles’ heel for the team this year, so hitting a high number of shares was a big milestone for them.
“We talk about that every game,” junior guard Xavier Talton said. “Take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball and share the ball. And not only in transition, but in half-court offense as well.”
With this win, Boyle said he believes that the team has gained the confidence they need going into their upcoming road trip to Los Angeles. The team is set to visit the University of Southern California on Jan. 29 and the University of California two days later. With the confidence boost, Colorado basketball is poised to earn its first road win against the struggling Trojans, who the Buffs beat 86-65 in their last meeting.
“It’s a big thing,” Talton said. “We’re going to some pretty good teams out in LA next week. It’s just another confidence boost for us to step our games up, seeing people step up off the bench. I don’t know how many people had double digits tonight. Everybody contributed, and that says it all right there.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.
