The Town Crier

[PointGuard 70]

Game #10: Oregon State Beavers (1-8, 0-0) at Colorado Buffaloes (5-4, 0-0)

This is a game we really need to win since the Beavers have the worst record in the conference and we’re playing them at our home. Two of Oregon State’s losses were against Top 25 teams including a 75-60 loss at #1 Indiana though, so they played a much tougher schedule that did we.

The Beavers hit threes on their first two possessions and went ahead 8-0 before we finally scored. We came back and got close but couldn’t take the lead until R.J. Reis threw down a dunk to put us on top 18-17 with 11-1/2 minutes remaining in the first half. We then went on an 15-0 run that put us up 35-20 with 5 minutes left in the half. We let them cut into our lead in the late going, and the half ended with us holding a 42-34 advantage. Oregon State hit 50% of their shots but we were on fire and knocked down 67% since we scored most of our points inside. We also held an 11-5 turnover advantage. SF George Seamon scored 11 for us. The Beavers’ SF Ike Archie had 10 points.

We controlled the action in the 2nd half and opened as much as a 17 point lead. We forced the Beavers to make 26 turnovers while we made just 10. We did a terrible job on the boards pulling down just 16 rebounds while Oregon State grabbed 31. We hit 60% of our FG attempts. The result was a 76-66 home court victory.

SF George Seamon had his 6th consecutive prolific game and finished with 23 points. He’s now our top scorer, averaging 13.2 ppg. Vee Kurtbek scored 16 while PF Jacob Anderson came off the bench to drop in 12 points. Those 3 players combined to knock down 23 of their 29 shots. PG Chris Smith and SG Stacey Walker had 14 assists between them. We came away with 16 steals against the Beavers. 


Game #11: #18 California Golden Bears (9-1, 0-1) at Colorado Buffaloes (6-4, 1-0)

California ran off 9 straight victories to begin the season, including wins over North Carolina, Oklahoma State and #10 Syracuse. They then came up short when playing at #11 Oregon. They’re led by SG Mario Burleston (16.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 4.0 apg). SF Jesse Herbert is averaging 15.1 ppg and 3.3 spg while PF Otis McSwain averages 11.0 ppg. So it’s going to be tough defending them. We’re huge underdogs and all of their starters, other than their PG, are rated as being strong to our starters.

With reserve guard J.B. Parker nursing a sore calf so that his minutes will be severely restricted, our limited bench will be further shortened for this game making it even more difficult for us to compete with the talented Golden Bears. 

We shoot well early and hold a small lead for the first 11 minutes of the game when turnovers prove our undoing (we make 12 in the first half). Even though we hit 46% of our shots compared to just 38% by the Golden Bears, we trail by a score of 29-23 at the end of the half. SF George Seamon leads our scoring with 5 points.

After dropping behind by 14 points we make a comeback midway through the 2nd half to draw within 6 points with 10 minutes to play. But then our offense fizzles and we soon trail by 17 points. We close the game by narrowing the final margin of our loss to 60-49. 
SF George Seamon scores 9 to lead our anemic scoring. PG Chris Smith scores 6, dishes out 5 assists, grabs 8 rebounds, and has a steal and 5 blocks. For California SF Jesse Herbert knocks down 18 points.

 

 

Buffs battle Trojans for rebound

Game #12: Colorado Buffaloes (6-5, 1-1) at USC Trojans (7-4, 1-1)

USC tore us apart and after just 6-1/2 minutes of play led by 20 (24-4). We then scored 7 unanswered points but then the Trojans unloaded another deluge of points against us. The long half ended with us trailing 44-26. We were outshot 55% to 33%. PG Chris Smith led our scoring with 8 points.

We were behind by over 20 points for almost the entire 2nd half and dropped this game by a 75-51 score. The Trojans simply out-played us in all aspects of the game.

SF George Seamon scored 15 and pulled down 6 boards. PG Chris Smith finished with 12 points. SG Ryan Kincade scored 18 points, dished out 7 assists and hauled down 5 rebounds for USC while their C Courtney Sanders tossed in 14 points and had 15 rebounds.

We’re really unable to compete with teams with as much talent as USC possesses, particularly on the road.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #13: Arizona State Sun Devils (7-6, 0-3) at Colorado Buffaloes 6-6, 1-2)

We trail the entire first half due to poor shooting. The halftime score is Arizona State-36, Colorado-26. PG Chris Smith is our only bright spot with his 10 points, but he had no support.

We fall behind by 16 in the 2nd half and the deficit remains in double digits until there are 6-1/2 minutes remaining when we get within 9. Then with 4 minutes to go Stacey Walker drops in 2 free throws to get us within 5 points at 58-53. We fail to hit another shot until just before the final buzzer and lose by a score of 66-56. Our primary downfalls are 19 turnovers and hitting just 11 of 25 free throws.

PG Chris Smith popped in 18 points and PF Vee Kurtbek and SF George Seamon both scored 12 with Kurtbek grabbing 7 rebounds and Seamon taking down 6 boards. The Sun Devils were led by C Craig Jones with 20 points.




Game #14: Utah Utes (9-5, 2-2) at Colorado Buffaloes (6-7, 1-3)

The Utes came into tonight’s game packed with talent and very heavily favored to beat us. Their two losses in conference play have been to #3 ranked Arizona and #19 ranked California.

We immediately fell behind and after 7-1/2 minutes of play we were already down by 10. Utah continued their onslaught and we trailed 41-20 with 3-1/2 minutes remaining in the half. We were able to trim their lead a little but still were far behind (46-30) at the end of the half. The Utes simply destroyed our defense as they hit 67% of their FG attempts. PG Chris Smith scored 7 for us while PG Billy Rychart poured in 16 for Utah.

We got no closer in the 2nd half and got our butts kicked by a 77-56 final score. The loss left us mired in a 3-way tie for 9th place with only winless Washington State possessing a worse conference record.

PG Chris Smith scored 13 and had 6 assists and SG Stacey Walker added 10 points. Utah’s PG Billy Rychart finished with 25 points.

Our guys are doing the best they can. Even though I know we’re not talented and have no depth, these losses at home hurt. But they’re emblematic of just how much we need to improve to be competitive in the Pac-12…next season.

[PointGuard 70]

Interview of Coach KD Durst (KD) by Ray Richardson (RR) on KDEN radio:

RR: Hey Coach, your season is half over and while your team didn’t do badly during pre-conference play, they are having a tough time against Pac-12 competition. I know you were used to winning at Youngstown State. What’s it like being on the tail end of the score this season?

KD: Everyone likes to win and I’m not exception to that. But at Youngstown State it took us a couple years before we began winning consistently. I knew coming in here that there would be a huge rebuilding effort. Making things even more difficult was that we only had 7 scholarship players and 3 walk-ons this season and now one of those scholarship players has been dropped from our roster due to grades. But looking ahead to next season I’m very optimistic. We did extremely well with recruiting 3 strong high school seniors and also have brought in 5 valuable transfer players. I believe all 8 of those players could very well contend for starting roles next season. In addition, we have 6 of this year’s team coming back next season and with the experience they’re gaining this year, they all should be stronger players next season.

RR: Can you tell us about each of this season’s players?

KD: I’d be happy to. All of them are fine young men and go all-out to do the best they can. 
Let’s start with our guards:
Chris Smith was a starter last year as a freshman and while he had a good year as a freshman, he’s doing even better as a sophomore. “Smitty” isn’t afraid to put the ball up and hits a good percentage of his shots, but he’s also been dishing out a lot more assists and has become a much stronger defender this season. He likes to shoot from mid-range and out beyond the arc. I’d like to see him driving more and drawing more fouls since he is knocking down 82% of his free throws.
Stacey “Ranger” Walker, played a year at Loyola Marymount and 2 years for Colorado, but never started until this season. As his senior season progresses, he’s getting more into the flow and while he’s primarily a SG, he’s done well also filling in at the point this season. He’s been dishing out his share of assists this year. He’s hitting a high percentage of his shots, but needs to gain more confidence and be more aggressive at putting the ball up. He’s almost exclusively a mid-range shooter. He doesn’t drive too much and only rarely will put up a shot from beyond the arc. Thus far he’s not been willing to work on those aspects of his game. He has quick hands so gets a good amount of steals. 
J.B. Parker is a senior walk-on who hardly ever played in his 2 other years with the team. He’s done better at the 2 rather than at the point so far. He’s an aggressive shooter and is knocking down a high percentage of his shots, including those from 3-point distance. For some reason, his free throw shooting is not as strong. He’s not a strong defender or rebounder and like my other guards, he doesn’t like to drive much. But he’s one of the harder workers on our team and is well liked by everyone.
One our ineligible transfer players is Matt Conley who played for Oklahoma in his freshman year. Although he didn’t get much playing time for the Sooners, I think he’s going to get a lot of playing time for us next season primarily at PG. He’s got a very nice outside shot and his talents are strong across the board.
Another transfer player who has to sit out this season is Steve Jackson who the guys call “General” and “Stonefall”. He was a starter at SG in every game last season as a freshman for Prairie View, where he averaged 16.4 ppg. Although he wasn’t a highly ranked recruit, he played above expectations and was the SWAC Freshman of the Year. He’s another player who has solid skills in most all areas other than inside shooting.
A third transfer is Camah Griffin. He came to us from Loyola Marymount where he was a starter at SG his entire freshman season. He averaged 13.3 ppg and was the WCC Freshman of the Year. While he primarily was a mid-range and outside shooter, I’ve been encouraging him to drive more and he’s been working on it.

Looking at our forwards, we have:
George “Merchant” Seamon is our starting SF. He was not used extensively during his first three seasons, but has been getting stronger and stronger this season. He’s now competing with Chris Smith as the team’s top scorer. He’s adept at working at inside, outside and midrange. He’s also one or strongest players defensively. Even though he’s at the 3 most of the time, I’ve also been able to have him fill in at the 2 when needed.
We were really lucky to latch onto Primoz Pohek from Slovenia right after I arrived here at the end of last season. He was highly ranked as a PF. At the beginning of this season, we played him at the 4 but then he showed an ability to proficiently back up Seamon at SF. He was really doing well there and hitting a high percentage of his shots. He was doing so well coming off the bench that the guys were calling him “Primetime”. Unfortunately, he ran into some scholastic problems at the end of the term and is now on academic probation. He’s a good leaper and I think he will be a very strong rebounder for us in upcoming seasons so we’ll see if he works out better at PF or SF.
Charles Maor is a transfer from the University of Washington. In his freshman year last season for the Huskies he got a lot of playing time coming in off the bench and scored and rebounded well at SF. He’s a strong defender with good shot blocking and stealing skills. I expect he will step in to take over for Seamon as our starter at SF next season when he regains his eligibility.
Vefa “Vee” Kurtbek is a sophomore from Turkey. He got very little playing time here last season, but has been our starting PF in every game this season. He’s been doing a solid job. He’s hitting a high percentage of his shots so I’d like to see him put the ball up more often. I think he’s got a lot of upside potential in his upcoming two seasons for us.
Jacob Anderson started a few games as a freshman here last season. He’s been coming in off the bench at the PF position for us this year. He’s scoring a little better this season and had one really strong game for us. He still has some maturing to do as he develops his skills.
Mat “Biggame” Hunter played for Oakland as a freshman. He got very little playing time there and transferred to us and regained his eligibility this season. He was coming in off the bench at PF but now that Primoz Pohek is unavailable to sub at SF, Hunter has done that the past few games. He had one really strong game at SF for us, but has yet been able to show consistency. Offensively he works the entire court, and will further development could be a nice asset for us.
Our final transfer player this year is Ryan Erickson who is from Canada. He was a starter in most games for Colgate as a freshman and sophomore but ran into grade problems midway through his sophomore year. He got his grades back up so far since coming here. It’s important he keep them up since I think he could be a key interior asset for us when he regains his eligibility next season. He was a good scorer and rebounder for Colgate who hit a very high percentage of his shots. He has some excellent skills, but needs encouragement to work hard.

At center we have two walk-ons:
Ryan Blackshear is 7’1” and can fill up the lane with his 295 pounds. He’s a senior but this is the first year he’s been on our team. He began the year as the backup center but then took over as the starter after some decent scoring games early in the season. Even though he’s a big guy, his rebounding skills are weak since he has yet to develop the ability to get into position and use his bulk to maintain it. He does draw a lot of fouls though, but only hits 50% of his free throws.
6’10” R.J. Reis splits time with Blackshear. As a freshman here, he played very little. I’d like to see him shoot more but is a better rebounder than Blackshear. He’s a hard worker, though, so could develop into a good role player for us the next couple years.

RR: So what’s your prognosis for the team the rest of this season?

KD: Even though we may not win that many games, you can rely on these guys to keep playing their hardest. They’re a very cohesive group of players. As I mentioned, since we have so few eligible players, they’re all getting a lot of playing time which will help them develop their skills for upcoming seasons here.

RR: Finally Coach, are you surprised your old team, Youngstown State, has a 7-8 (3-3) record this season?

KD: Ray, I really haven’t had the time to keep up on what’s going on there. I’m sad that they are struggling and hope that they come on strong the rest of this season. They have a great nucleus so could end up surprising some people.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #15: Colorado Buffaloes (6-8, 1-4) at #2 ranked Arizona Wildcats (14-2, 5-0)

The Wildcats were riding a 12 game win streak coming into the game.

Arizona scored the first 10 points in the game. At the midpoint of the half we trailed 21-2. Before we scored again, we trailed by an embarrassing 34-2 score. This is the worst start I've ever seen in a men's college basketball game. We finally woke up and began to score, but still were far behind at 42-16 at the end of the half. We were outshot 53% to 21%. Our leading scorer was PG Chris Smith with 5 points. PG Kelvin Smith dropped in 14 points for Arizona.

We played pretty well in the 2nd half and with 6 minutes to play we had reduced the Wildcats’ lead to 58-45. But that was as close as we could get. We lost 72-52. Bad, but not so bad when you consider the WIldcats had us down 34-2 early.

PG Chris Smith scored 14 points, C Ryan Blackshear added 10, and SF George Seamon scored 7 and grabbed 10 rebounds. For Arizona PG Kelvin Smith hit for 24 points and dished out 6 assists while his backcourt-mate SG Darrell Walker scored 18 and had 9 assists.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #16: #9 Oregon Ducks (13-3, 5-1) at Colorado Buffaloes (6-9, 1-5)

Oregon has a great inside-outside game with SG John Barnes scoring 15.8 ppg and their two centers, Larry Graves and John Jones, averaging 17.4 ppg and 13.5 ppg, respectively. 

We hit just 33% of our shots in the first half due to a tenacious defense employed by the Ducks. Oregon hit 49% of their shots. We trailed 43-29 at the half. PG Chris Smith hit for 7 points. The Ducks were led by PF Matt Reeves who scored 10 points.

Less than 3 minutes into the 2nd half, we trailed by 24. While we trimmed Oregon’s lead a little, we still were drubbed 88-69. A major difference in the game was Oregon’s 36-21 rebounding advantage.

PG Chris Smith dropped in 19 points and SF George Seamon contributed 13 points. Oregon had 5 players scoring in double figures led by SG John Barnes’ 17 points.

J.B. Parker sprained his finger and is likely to miss at least the next 2 games.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #17: Colorado Buffaloes (6-10, 1-6) at #9 Oregon Ducks (14-3,6-1)

In rather unusual scheduling we have play back-to-back games against Oregon, now having to play them on their court after losing to them by 19 on our home court. Crap! Oregon now is atop the standings in the Pac-12 since Arizona has lost the last 2 games they’ve played. I’d like to think that its because we wore Arizona down so badly when we played them (and lost to them by 20), but doubt that is the case. With J.B. Parker injured, we have no bench players who typically play either PG or SG, so our starters, Chris Smith and Stacey Walker, will be fatigued.

Little to say about the first half other than Oregon took it to us the entire half. At the break we were on the short end of a 44-21 score. The Ducks’ defense held our shooting to 31% and forced us to make 12 turnovers. SG Stacey Walker scored 7 for us, but SG John Barnes poured in 20 for Oregon.

The Ducks simply held us off in the 2nd half and beat us easily 83-60. PG Chris Smith led our scoring with 11 points and SF George Seamon added 10 points and 7 rebounds. C Larry Graves scored 29 and had 10 rebounds for Oregon while SG John Barnes had 25 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds.

The loss dropped us into sole possession of 11th place with only the Washington State Cougars (0-8) lower in the standings.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #18: Colorado Buffaloes (6-11, 1-7) at Oregon State Beavers (3-14, 2-6)

After a short drive up I-5 we gave the team a day off to allow them to explore Portland and then went out to Corvallis the next day to prepare for the Beavers. We beat Oregon State by 10 when playing them on our court earlier this season. But they subsequently moved slightly ahead of us in the conference standings and possess a slightly better RPI. As usual we’re the underdogs, but I’d sure like to win this one to break our 7 game losing streak. With J.B. Parker out of commission again shortening an already short bench, we decided to press infrequently and back off on the intensity of our defense to not tire our players, and particularly our guards, as quickly.

Just as the referee was about to toss up the ball for the opening jump ball, the lights at the Gill Coliseum went out. I was wondering if that meant one of the teams was going to have a lights-out night. When power was restored, we scored 8 quick unanswered points. But with 10-1/2 minutes to go, the Beavers took their first lead of the night at 16-15. At that point they caught fire, scoring at will and opening a 37-21 lead with 3 minutes remaining in the half. The half ended with Oregon State stomping us 44-25. The game was sloppy with the Beavers making 12 turnovers and we having a ridiculous 19 turnovers in the half. PG Chris Smith and SF Mat Hunter both scored 5 points for us. PG Steve Richardson dropped in 12 points for the Beavers.

We muddled along in the early going of the 2nd half and I tore the players apart at the first timeout. They responded by cutting the lead to 9, but then let Oregon State pull ahead again by 16. We made a frenzied comeback in the last 5 minutes of the game and with 56 seconds remaining we were down by just a 67-63 score. We fouled their worst free throw shooter and he missed the first of a 1-and-1, but the Beavers pulled down the rebound. We immediately fouled their 2nd worst free shooter. Wouldn’t you know…he knocked down both foul shots to put us behind by 6 with 46 seconds remaining. We called a timeout to set up a 3 point shot for Chris Smith, but the Beavers covered him and he had to pass rather than shoot. George Seamon forced up a shot that was blocked and Oregon State recovered the ball. We fouled again with 31 seconds to go. The Beavers sunk both shots putting the game out of reach and we ended up losing 74-65.

Both teams hit well over 50% of their shots and there were more turnovers (23 by Oregon State and 27 by us) than rebounds.

Topping our scoring was SF George Seamon with 14 points. C Ryan Blackshear and PG Chris Smith both had 12 points and SF Mat Hunter scored 11.

This is one helluva long season.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #19: #12 Stanford Cardinal (15-4, 7-2) at Colorado Buffaloes (6-12, 1-8)

We’re going to try getting reserve guard J.B. Parker into the game to absorb some minutes on the court tonight. While he’s not totally healed, his absence for the past two game has exhausted our remaining players. It seems as though everyone has already put notched a W for Stanford and an L for us. I’d sure like to see us pull off a big upset, but looking at game films makes the Cardinal look pretty tough, particularly PG Mike Hall who is averaging 19.9 ppg and their two interior starters who have combined to average over 23 ppg and 18 rpg.

Stanford’s quickness gave us fits early…lots of steals and driving layups. With 12-1/2 minutes left in the first half with trailed 15-9. Even though our guys were grabbing their shorts, they overcame their exhaustion to come back and with 1:55 remaining in the half, PG Chris Smith dropped in a 3 that put us ahead 32-29. We closed out the half on a run that gave us a 40-29 advantage. Most all team stats were in our favor except for turnovers. SF George Seamon poured in 13 and PG Chris Smith had 11, and we held Stanford’s high-scoring Mike Hall scoreless. PF Jacob Anderson took a blow to his right knee. As a precautionary measure we decided to keep him out of the rest of the game thus ensuring our remaining 8 players would likely be gassed throughout much of the 2nd half.

Stanford kept making small runs that cut into our lead, but our guys repeatedly fought back to re-establish a comfortable lead. Midway through the 2nd half we led 61-47, but several of our guys were running on fumes even though I was shuttling players in and out. I couldn’t believe I was watching the same team that had lost 8 straight games. Stanford could get no closer than 8 points and we closed out the game with a fantastic 81-68 victory. We ended up hitting 54% of our shots while holding Stanford’s shooting to 36%, and we out-rebounded the Cardinal 39-35. 

We finished with 5 players scoring in double figures led by SF George Seamon with 20. PG Chris Smith hit for 15, SF Mat Hunter popped in 14, and C Ryan Blackshear and SG Stacey Walker both scored 10. Smith and Walker each dished out 7 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds. Hunter also had 7 rebounds. We only allowed PG Mike Hall to score just 6 points.

Beating the 12th ranked team in the nation was a huge confidence builder for our team.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #20: Washington Huskies (10-9, 5-5) at Colorado Buffaloes (7-12, 2-8)

Another horrible start as we come out totally flat and fall behind 22-1 after 8 minutes of play. We hit just 14% of our shots compared to Washington’s 45% throughout the entire half and trail 36-13 at the break. Reserve PF Jacob Anderson scored 6 to top our anemic scoring. For Washington PF Joshua Williams dropped in 11.

We shot a little better in the 2nd half, but not good enough to put a scare into the Huskies and end up being drubbed by the U Dub 65-45. 

Our only player to score in double figures was PG Chris Smith with 12 points. PG Kelly Phillips scored 21 for Washington.

It’s disappointing to see the guys play so poorly at home after our big win over Stanford. But it just goes to prove that we really don’t have it this season. Just have to play it out and hope we come up with an upset here and there. And also hope some of our players have a big upside potential that develops for next season.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #21: Colorado Buffaloes (7-13, 2-9) at Washington State Cougars (4-16, 0-11)

Five of our last seven conference games are on the road. Not a positive outlook for a team with a 2-9 conference record. But the first of these away games is against Washington State which has yet to win a conference game. But playing at home against us, the Cougars are favorites.

The game was close early but then we had trouble getting the ball into the hoop midway through the half allowing the Cougars to pull away and take a 33-24 lead to the locker room. We were outshot 52% to 37%. SF George Seamon was our only player to shoot well and he scored 14 points. 

We didn’t score for the first 9 minutes in the 2nd half. By then we trailed by 23 points. We never recovered and were stomped 67-48. Washington State hit 49% of their shots (including 53% of their 3’s) while we could only manage to get in 34% of our FG attempts (and only 24% of our 3PA’s), and the Cougars out-rebounded us 34-18.

SF George Seamon finished with 16 points and PG Chris Smith added 11.

The loss leaves us tied for 10th place and just one game ahead of last place Washington State. Not scoring for 9 minutes and losing so badly to Washington State added insult to injury to our lackluster season. But this team has had other 8-10 minute periods where our offense has totally disappeared. These leave me feeling like I’m crawling through the desert without water. Three weeks left until the end of this f’ng season.

[PointGuard 70]

A 3-day vacation

I spent the 3 days between our debacle in the last game and our upcoming game at Cal Berkeley together with Jacky in San Francisco. Wish I could say it was a fantastic reunion. But sightseeing around the Bay Area didn’t offset my bad mood about how the Buffaloes are playing plus the growing discord between Jacky and me over when she would be moving to Colorado to be with me. So she returned to Youngstown and her job there and I rejoined the team when they got to Berkeley. I’m not sure which is going worse, the Buffaloes’ season or my marriage.

And speaking of Youngstown, the Youngstown State Penguins now are 10-11 (6-6) and tied for 6th place in the Horizon League. Also pretty sickening. And Steve Porter was fired from his job as the newspaper’s sports section reporter due to pressure from the university after he wrote a series of negative articles about the university, the team and the coaching staff.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #22: Colorado Buffaloes (7-14, 2-10) at #25 California Golden Bears (16-5, 7-5)

No one gives us a chance to win this game. If we listen to them we may as well stay home and forfeit the game.

We hung with the Bears the first 4 minutes but they clamped down defensively and gradually drew away from us. With 6-1/2 minutes remaining in the half we were down 30-13. The half ends with California on top 40-21. We turned the ball over 13 times in the half. C Ryan Blackshear led our scoring with 6 points, but SG Mario Burleston tossed in 13 for the Golden Bears.

California capitalized on our mistakes as we turned the ball over 21 times. Those who expected us to get beat were right. We were thumped 73-47. 

SF George Seamon was our only player to score in double figures as he scored 16. SG Mario Burleston scored 21 for the Golden Bears. SF Jesse Herbert hit 7 of 9 FG’s and scored 16 plus had 6 assists, 4 rebounds, a block, and 8 (yes 8!!!) steals. The guy was a freaking human vacuum cleaner.

We remain in a tie with Arizona State for 10th place, both still one game ahead of cellar-dweller Washington State. Arizona, Oregon, and Stanford are in a 3-way tie for first place with 10-3 conference records. I think Arizona has the easiest remaining schedule and Stanford the most difficult one.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #23: USC Trojans (15-7, 9-4) at Colorado Buffaloes (7-15, 2-11)

We played well early but our defense disappeared midway through the first half allowing USC to take a 28-21 lead with 8 minutes to play. 
We pulled it back together and crept to within 4 at the half, trailing 36-32. PG Chris Smith lit things up for us with 14 points. USC’s reserve PG Erick Brinson scored 11 points during his 7 minutes of play.

We came out in the 2nd half and within 2 minutes took a 41-39 lead. With 7 minutes remaining in the game, the score was knotted at 53-53. USC then scored 8 unanswered points. After playing well for the first 13 minutes of the 2nd half and being in position to win, we scored just 3 points in the final 7 minutes for a disappointing 66-56 loss at home.

PG Chris Smith had a tremendous game with 22 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 blocks. SF George Seamon chipped in 10 points. For USC, PG Erick Brinson scored 20 and SG Ryan Kincade hit for 17 points plus grabbed 8 rebounds.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #24: Colorado Buffaloes (7-16, 2-12) at Arizona State Sun Devils (9-15, 2-12)

We have yet to win a game on the road, but this sure would be a good time to turn things around. I decide to shake things up by starting Vee Kurtbek at C rather than PF and giving Mat Hunter his first start at PF. Ryan Blackshear and R.J. Reis just haven’t been able to do much for us at the C position so we don’t have anything to lose by trying something different.

We hung with the Sun Devils for much of the first half but then went into one of our patented free falls and found ourselves trailing 32-20 with 3:39 left in the half. By the end of the half we were behind 44-29. We were outshot by Arizona State 68% to 35% and out-rebounded 17-8. PG Chris Smith, C/PF Vee Kurtbek and PF/SF Mat Hunter all scored 6 points. SG Jim Robinson scored 11 and C Craig Jones had 10 for the Sun Devils. You can’t win when the other team hits 57% of their shots and you only can manage to drop in 36% of yours plus letting them control the boards 34-20.

By the first media timeout in the 2nd half we’d narrowed the gap to 46-39. At the 2nd media timeout we’d fallen behind 51-40. When the 3rd media timeout came, ASU led 58-43. At the final media timeout the score was 68-50 in favor of the Sun Devils. And the game ended with us sustaining a 74-56 drubbing. The loss dropped us into sole possession of 11th place.

PG Chris Smith led our scoring with 14 points and PF/SF Mat Hunter added 10.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #25: Colorado Buffaloes (7-17, 2-13) at Utah Utes (16-9.9-6)

Highlight of the game: Our 10-7 lead with 16:28 left in the first half. 

It was a rapid descent from there to "Colorado Buffaloes basketball hell" and by the end of the half we had been buried 51-21. We had 16 turnovers in the half compared to just 2 by the Utes. SF George Seamon led our scoring with 13 points. 

Utah simply kept us from making any significant reductions to their lead. We were trounced 73-44. 

SF George Seamon hit for 16 and PF/SF added 10. 

Fortunately Washington State lost so we remain one game ahead of them to keep out of the cellar in the Pac-12 standings.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #26: #3 Arizona Wildcats (21-6, 12-4) at Colorado Buffaloes (7-18, 2-14)

We fell behind 12-0 before we finally scored. While we then scored some points, nothing really improved and by the break we trailed 42-19. We only hit 27% of our shots and we allowed the Wildcats to hit 51% of theirs. SF George Semon led us offensively with 8 points.

We cut into the lead in the 2nd half but not enough to scare Arizona. We ended up on the short end of a 65-46 score. Even though we only hit 30% of our shots, our real downfall was making 25 turnovers. Quite simply we're in the same conference but not the same league as Arizona.

SF George Seamon finished with 13 points. C John Sanders scored 16 and grabbed 12 boards for the Wildcats.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #27: Colorado Buffaloes (7-19, 2-15) at UCLA Bruins (18-8, 11-6)

They say the chances of us winning this game are the same as a plow horse winning the Kentucky Derby. The day before the game we spent some time at Disneyland hoping for a little magic to rub off.

UCLA scored first and opened a small lead, but with 2-1/2 minutes left in the half PG Chris Smith hit a jumper that got us to within 3 points at 33-30. But the refs continued to call goul-after-foul against that repeatedly sent the Bruins to the line. The half ended with UCLA ahead 41-30. UCLA went to the line 23 times to our 8 and scored 16 more points on free throws that did we. PF/SF Mat Hunter scored 9 points to lead us offensively. 

We stayed close throughout most of the 2nd half, but UCLA stomped us late and won 76-58. But if it hadn’t been for the refs saddling us with fouls (2 of our players fouled out) and sending the Bruins to the line 40 times where they outscored us on free throws by 23 points, we would have won. Guess we should have spent 2 days at Disneyland rather than 1 so more magic would have rubbed off onto us.

PG Chris Smith scored 13, PF/SF Mat Hall hit for 12, and SF George Seamon dropped in 10.

We finished Pac-12 play in 11th place, behind Arizona State and just ahead of Washington State. Arizona finished atop the conference with Oregon and Stanford tied for 2nd place a game behind the Wildcats.

[PointGuard 70]

Ddevore65 wrote in the DDSCB forums:

 

"Time for a Cinderella run through the PAC-12 tourney. Maybe the goal is just to make it to day 2.

 

Tough season but with what you inherited 7 wins is close to a miracle honestly. How did the Guin’s finish out their season?"

 

My old team, Youngstown State, finished the regular season with a 14-13 overall record and a 10-8 record in the Horizon League, which put them in a tie for 4th place. As the #5 seed in the Horizon League tournament, the Penguins then reeled off wins over the #4, #1, and #2 seeded teams to be crowned tournament champs and gain a berth in the NCAA Tournament. After a so-so regular season, I’m really happy to see them do that. SG Doylan Anderson led their scoring with a 14.8 ppg average. SF James Asbury scored 10.6 ppg and C Will O’Neil averaged 10.4 ppg and led the team in rebounding with 6.3 rpg.

 

Following O'Neil's stellar first 3 seasons, it's disappointing to see Will not putting together a tour de force senior season. I've heard via the grapevine that he just didn't mesh well with the new strategy (which subsequently resulted in his court time being reduced). It's unfortunate since this may have torpedoed his being drafted by the pro's which I had thought was a near certainty after being named the conference player of the year as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

[PointGuard 70]

Pac-12 Conference Tournament

Day 1:

#12 seed Washington State (5-22) vs #5 seed UCLA (19-8): The game see-sawed early then UCLA took control to lead 37-24 at the half and win 71-58. PF George Mahorn scored 20 and C Manny Adams had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) for the Bruins. SF Barry Stacey and PG Mike Esherick both scored 12 for the Cougars.

#10 seed Arizona State (11-17) vs #7 seed California (19-8): There were 9 lead changes and 4 ties in this game. California gained a slim 35-34 lead at the half and edged the Sun Devils 71-65 to move on. The Golden Bears SF Jesse Herbert and SG Mario Burleston topped their scoring with 15 points apiece. Arizona State’s SG Jim Robinson poured in 19 points while C Greg Jones scored 12 and grabbed 10 boards.

#9 seed Oregon State (6-21) vs #8 seed Washington (15-12): Washington had a tough time shaking the Beavers in the first half but led 44-39 at the break. They then spurted to a 26 point lead in the 2nd half before settling for a 77-64 win. SG Pat Massiah scored 18 to lead the Huskies. C Rudy Barker led Oregon State with 11 points.

#11 seed Colorado Buffaloes (7-20) vs #6 seed Utah Utes (19-9): The first half was a real dog-fight. We led 22-17 with 5:19 to go in the half. We held on to sport a 27-23 halftime edge. We hit just 33% of our shots, but the Utes hit only 32% of theirs. PG Chris Smith led our scoring in the first half with 7 points. Utah came out in the 2nd half with a lock-down defense that allowed them to jump ahead 37-29 with 14-1/2 minutes to play. Then we let the Utes pull away midway through the half and fell behind 58-40 with 6:08 to go as our guys became exhausted. We then totally melted down to get blown out 75-51. PG Chris Smith scored 12 and C Ryan Blackshear added 10 for us. For Utah, SF Mike Herr topped their scoring with 14 points. And with that our horrendous season ended.


Day 2:

#8 seed Washington (16-12) vs #1 seed Arizona (23-6): The game was close throughout the first half but Arizona held a small lead most of the way and was ahead 43-37 at the break. The Wildcats gradually expanded their lead in the 2nd half and won 72-59. Arizona’s C John Sanders scored 28 and pulled down 10 rebounds and SG Darrell Walker had a double-double (12 points and 10 assists). PF Joshua Williams scored 13 for Washington while their C Brian Dickens picked off 14 rebounds.

#7 seed California (20-8) vs #2 seed Oregon (21-7): Oregon quickly took control and held a solid 41-25 halftime advantage. The Ducks’ lead the ballooned to as much as 34 points in the 2nd half. Oregon throttled the Golden Bears by a final score of 84-59. Oregon’s SG John Barnes popped in 20 points and C John Jones hauled down 14 rebounds. California’s leading scorer was reserve Adam Morrison with 12 points. 

#6 seed Utah (20-9) vs #3 seed Stanford (21-7): Utah surprised the Cardinal by taking a 41-31 halftime lead. Things got tight in the 2nd half, but the Utes held off Stanford for a thrilling 81-80 victory. SG Henry Polite poured in 32 points for Utah. Stanford’s PG Mike Hall scored 29, grabbed 12 boards, dished out 6 assists, and blocked 4 shots. 

#5 seed UCLA (20-8) vs #4 seed USC (18-9): This was a defensive battle the entire way. UCLA led 23-22 at the end of the first half. But after 9 lead changes and 5 ties, USC came away with a 54-48 win. USC was led by SG Ryan Kincade’s 14 points and C Courtney Sanders’ 11 boards. PG Deon Logan scored 14 points for UCLA.

Day 3:

#4 seed USC (19-9) vs #1 seed Arizona (24-6): Arizona took a 40-32 lead to the locker room. Then in the 2nd half they exploded to lead by 24 before finishing with a 78-59 whomping of the Trojans. PG Kelvin Smith led the Wildcats’ offense with 18 points. His counterpart, PG Kyle Hinton hit for 14 for USC.

#6 seed Utah (21-9) vs #2 seed Oregon (22-7): The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Oregon eking out a 40-39 lead at the half. As the 2nd half proceded the Ducks gradually pulled away to achieve a 79-68 victory. Oregon’s PF Matt Reeves scored 21. For Utah, PG Billy Rychart and SF Mike Herr both scored 13 points.

Day 4:

#2 seed Oregon (23-7) vs #1 seed Arizona (25-6): The lead was exchanged 5 times in the first half with Arizona coming out on top at the break 39-30. The Wildcats then held on to a small lead to win the championship 73-66. PG Kelvin Smith scored 15 for Arizona. PF Matt Reeves scored 18 and grabbed 14 boards for Oregon.


I’ve been receiving tons of “I told you so” emails, texts, tweets, and phone calls about my decision to take the Colorado job. But “hell year” is over and I’m optimistic that we’ll have a big improvement this coming season.

[PointGuard 70]

Tournament Selections:

NCAA #1 seeds: Arizona, Ohio State, LSU, Miami (FL)

Pac 12 tournament teams in the NCAA Tournament:
#2 ranked Arizona is the #1 seed in the East Region
California is the #9 seed in the East Region
#12 ranked Stanford is the #4 seed in the East Region
Washington is the #10 seed in the Midwest Region
#11 ranked Oregon is the #3 seed in the Midwest Region
USC is the #8 seed in the South Region
Utah is the #7 seed in the South Region
UCLA Is the #7 seed in the West Region

Non-Pac 12 Team in the NCAA Tournament:
Youngstown State played Brown for a #16 seed but lost 74-68. Thus the Penguins finished the season with an overall 14-14 record.

 

 

NCAA Round 1:
Arizona-74, Brown-40 (PG Kelvin Smith-21 pts)
Rice-82, Stanford-72 (PG Mike Hall-23 pts, C Gordon Dupree-12 pts, 14 reb)
California-78, Maine-62 (SG Mario Burleston-23 pts)
Oregon-69, Holy Cross-55 (SG John Barnes-24 pts, PF Matt Reeves-11 pts, 10 reb)
Wake Forest-76, Washington-58 (SG Pat Massiah-17 pts)
Seton Hall-74, Utah-56 (PF Justin Sneed-19 pts)
USC-77, South Carolina-68 (SG Ryan Kincade-27 pts, PG Kyle Hinton-23 pts)
UCLA-76, Tulane-56 (C Jamal Magloire-24 pts)

NCAA Round 2:
Arizona-85, California-52 (Arizona: PG Kelvin Smith-26 pts, C John Sanders-14 pts, 11 reb; California: SG Mario Burleston-12 pts, F Adam Morrison-12 pts)
Oregon-94, UNC Greensboro-80 (SG John Barnes-27 pts)
USC-69, LSU-60 (PG Kyle Hinton-18 pts, C Courtney Sanders-13 reb)
UCLA-71, Syracuse-69 (C Jamal Magloire-22 pts, PF George Mahorn-15 pts, 10 reb)

NCAA Round 3:
Arizona-65, Gonzaga-53 (PG Kelvin Smith-16 pts, SF Jamaal Iacona-11 pts, 10 reb)
Maryland-82, Oregon-71 (PF Matt Reeves-18 pts)
USC-76, Rhode Island-57 (PG Kyle Hinton-17 pts)
UCLA-83, Bucknell-66 (PF George Mahorn-17 pts)

NCAA Round 4:
Indiana-90, Arizona-83 (SG Darrell Walker-17 pts, PF James Whitworth-10 pts, 11 reb)
Florida-70, USC-44 (SF Darrell Ward-12 pts, C Courtney Sanders-14 reb)
Miami (FL)-65, UCLA-53 (PF George Mahorn-15 pts)

Tournament Championships:
CIT: UAB-73, Vanderbilt-71
CBI: St. Francis (NY)-77, Coastal Carolina-63
NIT: Miami (OH)-82, Western Kentucky-79
NCAA: Maryland-65, Florida-55

 

End of Season Awards:
Not surprisingly, no awards were given to any Colorado players.

[PointGuard 70]

RECRUITING SUMMARY

Incoming Recruits:

SF Rick Coffey, 6-7 HS Sr, 980 SAT, Mt. Vernon, SD; 18.6 ppg, 5.1 apg, 5.2 rpg, 2.8 spg, 1.8 bpg; Excellent shooter and scorer from both inside and outside, very good passing skills, very athletic, top 5 at Houston Classic Camp, hard worker, not a leader but doesn’t cause problems, rarely misses practice, primarily a jump shooter, comfortable stepping out to shoot a 3, avoids post; ranked as #57 recruit nationally, B overall rating.

SF Kenton Dunn, 6-6 HS Sr, 1050 SAT, Cheyenne, WY; 17.1 ppg, 3.5 apg, 5.2 rpg, 2.0 spg, 1.8 bpg; Excellent shooter and scorer from both inside and outside, strong defender, athletic, top 25 at Indy Elite Camp, avoids post, not a leader but doesn’t cause problems, tremendous work ethic, stand-still player rather than slasher, knows 2-2-1 zone defense, rarely puts up a jumper; ranked as #73 recruit nationally, B overall rating.

PF Shawn Owes, 6-8 HS Sr, 1050 SAT, Arvada, CO; 18.8 ppg, 2.8 apg, 4.2 rpg, 2.2 spg, 2.1 bpg; Excellent inside shot, strong scorer, hard worker, some attitude and discipline problems, knows 1-2-2 zone attack offense, tries to drive to basketball occasionally, knows half-court trap, avoids post, knows 5-out offense; ranked as #135 recruit nationally, C overall rating.

Those 3 players along with the 5 transfer players who will become eligible will be an upgrade over the 2 scholarship players and 2 walkons who graduated this year and should make our team much stronger this coming season.

When the recruit class ratings came out, we had the 30th best recruiting class in Division 1. Pretty good, but seven Pac 12 teams are rated as having better recruiting classes: Arizona (2), UCLA (6), California (11), Utah (13), Washington (19), USC (22), and Oregon (24). So that means they will continue to be extremely tough competition for us this season.

[PointGuard 70]

Miscellaneous Summer and Fall Notes:

Meeting with the AD:

Jake Meacolm, Colorado’s Athletic Director, expressed his concerned since I failed to meet any of his goals (which were ridiculous given the roster that was left when the last coach was fired). So my job security is down. Such is life. I will keep the same staff that I set up at the beginning of this season. They did the best they could with the players we had.
Meacolm set my goals for next season, growling “We’ve had 4 crappy seasons in a row and our prestige has dropped each of those years. It’s time to turn things around here.” Rather than respond that he was in charge all four of those years, I just let him lay out what he wants. The goals are the same as they were for this past season: Finish above .500, Finish in top half of conference, Qualify for NIT Tournament, Improve school prestige. This time I think they MAY be possible to accomplish, at least some of them. While we’ll not be at a point to compete with the top 3 or 4 teams in the Pac 12, I think we may be able to finish somewhere in the middle of the conference standings. If so that would give us a good chance of accomplishing the other 3 goals.

On the marriage front:

A few days after meeting with Meacolm, Jacky and I spend a week in Hawaii. While I can’t say I never thought about the team at all, we kept busy so that kept me from obsessing about it. Jacky and I actually got along quite well and enjoyed our stay in the tropics. But still no commitment from her regarding a move to Colorado, so it looks like we will continue a long-distance relationship for the foreseeable future.

Recruiting:

We have no seniors on the team this coming season we did no formal recruiting. Instead Ivoree Snoddy, my 3rd assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, spent time scouting younger high school talent and making contacts with high school and JC coaches.

Roster: 

Last season we had a very short bench with very little depth. This season we have a lot of competition for every position. It’s going to make it difficult to settle on a starting lineup, but since there are at least 2 players of pretty equal talent at each position, we’ll be able to keep fresh legs on the court.

PG—There is a pretty tight competition between Chris Smith, who is returning after a strong season for us, and transfer sophomore Matt Conley. While those 2 are our only true PG’s, SG’s Steve Jackson and Camah Griffin can also fill in at the point.
SG—Not only do we have transfers Steve Jackson and Camah Griffin fighting for time, but freshman Kenton Dunn who is a SF also has played well at SG and could win the starting position.
SF—Charles Maors, another transfer player, looks to have the inside edge to start, but Kenton Dunn and Rick Coffey, another freshman, look good at SF.
PF—Vefa Kurtbek returns after starting last season and probably will start again this season, but Mat Hunter, Primoz Pohek and Jacob Anderson, who all got extensive playing time last season, have shown improvement. Freshman Shawn Owes will also get a chance to prove himself, although he may need some maturing before he is able to contribute consistently.
C—Ryan Erickson, another transfer player, has mainly played PF in the past, but we’ll likely move him over to C as our starter. Nathan Hampton and R.J. Reis, both of whom are junior walk-ons, will back up at C. Vefa Kurtbek might also see time at C in some games.

Practices:

Pre-season practice was, shall I say, contentious? I think that’s because the entire starting lineup was up for grabs. At most of the positions the talent of 2 or more players is pretty close to being equal. So guys were scrapping to become starters and gain on-court minutes. Rather than tamp things down, I let it all play out. But I’ve let the entire team know that when the season starts there needs to be teamwork and support for each other and that if I see elsewise there will be hell to pay.

Scheduling:

I let Jack Meacolm, our AD, work out our schedule with little to no input from me. So here’s our pre-conference schedule:

@ Tulane
AUSTIN PEAY
SOUTH CAROLINA ST.
Palmetto Shootout (1st game against LSU)
GEORGE MASON
SOUTHERN MISS.
ST. MARY’S
TEXAS A&M
CAL-RIVERSIDE

Playing all those home games not only gives us a home-court advantage, but if we’re successful will build our fan base and attendance. I look at our game on a neutral court against LSU as a real test of where we are this season.

[PointGuard 70]

2024-2025 Season Begins

Game #1: Colorado Buffaloes (0-0) at Tulane Green Wave (0-0)

Here’s our starting lineup for our season opener:

PG-Matt Conley, 6-2 Sophomore from Belcourt, NC; Transfer from Oklahoma, averaged 2.3 ppg in 4.3 mpg as a freshman at Oklahoma. (It’s really a toss-up between Conley and last year’s starter Chris Smith. Both will get pretty equal playing time and we’ll see who works out best.)
SG-Kenton Dunn, 6-6 Freshman from Cheyenne, WY.
SF-Charles Maors, 6-8 Sophomore from Dexter, NM; Transfer from Washington, averaged 7.4 ppg in 16.0 mpg as a freshman at Washington.
PF-Vefa Kurtbek, 6-6 Junior from Turkey; averaged 6.5 ppg in 25.8 mpg as a sophomore.
C-Ryan Erickson, 6-7 Junior from Canada; Transfer from Colgate, averaged 8.7 ppg in 17.0 mpg as a sophomore at Colgate.

I don’t think we have one stand-out player and therefore anticipate that different players will lead out team each game. But we do have a much deeper and more talented team this season. We aren’t likely to challenge for the upper reaches of the Pac-12 conference but If they play up to their potential, we will be in the mix for the next rung and could pull of an upset here and there.

Game Results:

There were 10 lead changes and 7 ties in the initial 10 minutes of the first half, but we then hit a cold spell and Tulane pulled ahead by 9 points. We closed the gap a little toward the end of the half but still trailed 38-33 at the break. We were outshot 48% to 36%. PG Kenton Dunn scored 9 to lead us offensively. Tulane’s SG Erick Young scored 12 and C Kerry Schwab tossed in 10 points.

We fell behind by 10 early in the 2nd half and my mid flashed back to last season, but then the guys fought back to narrow the Green Wave’s lead to 64-61 with 6:07 remaining. Then with 3-1/2 minutes to go, Kenton Dunn picked off a pass and hit Matt Conley streaking down court. Conley laid it in and was fouled. He sunk the free throw to put us ahead 68-67. After a Tulane shot-clock violation, SG Steve “Stonefall” Jackson dropped in a long 3 that put us up by 4 points with 2-1/2 minutes left. The Green Way threw the ball away on their next possession. Kenton Dunn was fouled and he hit both shots to give us a 73-67 lead with 2:02 on the clock. Tulane then dropped in a pair of free throws. After a miss by us, Tulane missed a 3 but were fouled on the putback attempt. They made one free throw to narrow our lead to 73-70. PF Primoz “Primetime” Pohek scored on an 8 foot jumper giving us a 5 point cushion with 59 seconds to go. Tulane worked the ball inside and scored making it 75-72. We missed a shot and Tulane rebounded. We fouled on a drive into the key and Tulane hit both free throws to cut our lead to a single point with 27 seconds remaining. The Green Wave intentionally fouled. PG Chris “Smitty” Smith dropped in both shots and we led 77-74 with 21 seconds to play. Tulane’s 3 point attempt rimmed out and we rebounded. They fouled with 4 seconds on the clock. Smith iced the game by hitting the 2 free throws. We came away with a 79-74 victory on the road. We were outshot 46% to 40% and out-rebounded 37-29, but the big difference for us was a 16-7 turnover advantage.

SG Kenton Dunn scored 21 and dished out 5 assists. PG Matt Conley hit for 16 points plus had 6 assists. C Ryan Erickson scored 8 and had 9 rebounds. For Tulane, SG Eric Young dropped in 20 points.

I didn’t want to jinx our team so I didn’t mention before the game…but we were favored to win this game. I believe that’s the first time we’ve been favored to win ANY game since I got here.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #2: Austin-Peay Governors (1-0) at Colorado Buffaloes (1-0)

We held the Governors scoreless for the first 6-1/2 minutes of the game. With 6:18 remaining in the first half we led 20-5 primarily due to Austin-Peay turning the ball over 12 times at that point. We were hitting less that 30% of our shots or the point differential would even have been greater. When the half ended we were on top 39-18. We held a 13-2 turnover advantage. PF Vee Kurtbek and SG Kenton Dunn led our scoring with 8 points apiece. 

We kept the Governors from making a serious run in the 2nd half and cruised to a 75-53 beatdown of Austin-Peay. We led in all team stats and our made just 5 turnovers to 20 by the Governors.

SF Rick Coffey had a great game scoring 14 points in his 18 minutes of court time coming in off the bench. SG Kenton Dunn scored 13 and PF Vee Kurtbek dropped in 10. PG’s Matt Conley and Chris Smith combined to hand out 11 assists.

I’m concerned that we’ve only hit 40% and 41% of our FG attempts in the firdst 2 games. But I think we are better scorers than that and hope to see that jump up in our upcoming games.

Reserve PF Shawn Owes came down with soreness in his calf. We’ll keep him out of practice the next few days but he should be ready should we need him in our next game.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #3: South Carolina State Bulldogs (1-1) at Colorado Buffaloes (2-0)

The Bulldogs’ PG Matt Smith is averaging 24.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Either we throttle him or let him do what he will and keep the rest of the lineup in check.

We started Rick Coffey at SF to reward his outstanding effort in the last game. He didn’t disappoint, scoring 7 points in the first 5 minutes of play. We pulled away to a 25-13 lead after 9 minutes of play. After complaining about our team not shooting well in our first two contests, I was ecstatic to see them hit 51% of their FG attempts and 56% of their 3’s enroute to a comfortable 45-25 lead at the break. PG Matt Conley dropped in 10 points and dished out 4 assists.

Rick Coffey scored our first 8 points in the 2nd half, but South Carolina State scored 14 to cut our lead to 53-39. We recover and pound the Bulldogs to the tune of 89-65. We outshot South Carolina State 51% to 36% and held a 14-5 turnover advantage.

SF Rick Coffey hit 9 of 13 shots to score 19, PG Chris Smith chipped in 16, SG Kenton Dunn scored 14, PG Matt Conley added 10, and C Ryan Erickson scored 8 plus pulled down 14 rebounds.