Same story, different day. Well, about 90% of the story, different day. If the Buffs aren't losing by 20, which is about 10% of the time, CU is losing by about 5.2 points per game. That is what they did last night in a game that was gift wrapped for the Buffs to take a 20 point lead at halftime, a margin even CU could not let slip away. Instead, the margin was only eight. That eight point spread was the first time Bzdelik's team had the lead in the first half of any Big 12 contest this year...yikes. Texas A&M had 16 turnovers in the first half! Yes, 16. No wonder the Buffs had the advantage but missed opportunities only allowed 16 extra possessions to turn into an eight point lead.
Texas A&M, on the other hand, was not impressive at all. At one point in the first half, the very pro Texas A&M announcers questioned whether the Aggies could make a pass from point A to B without turning it over. Josh Carter and B.J. Holmes are nice players but the Buffs inability to guard the perimeter allowed the Aggies to crawl right back into a game which was a must win for their chances at getting to the NCAA tournament. Poor play by the Buffs in the second half allowed the Ags to go on runs of 13 - 2 and 16 - 2 to turn eight point deficits into leads. A&M shot 53.8% from the field in the second half and 60% from deep to jump start the rally and ruin CU's upset bid. The Buffs are still stuck at 9 wins on the season as they go on the road this weekend to face Kansas State. The Wildcats are another team that is on the bubble but should have an easy time in their season finale considering Colorado has lost 28 or 29 (I have lost count) straight road games in conference play.
Once again, Higgins was the man, the myth and the legend. He ended the night with 27 points on 10 of 18 shooting. He led the team in rebounds with six and minutes played (36). I posed the question last night in the game thread, "what would we do without Higgins?" The right answer was we would still lose like we have been doing but by a lot more. Shout out to true freshman Toby Veal, whose limited play this year makes you wonder why the coaching staff chose to play him at all (wasting a year of eligibility), scored 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting in only 14 minutes of play. If this is the kind of production we could get out of a guy in the middle all year, that makes me pretty upset since we have been atrocious in the paint.
One more game Buffs fans.
It was a wild night in Big 12 play, something the Buffs could have added to if they held on against Texas A&M. #3 Oklahoma was handled all game by probably the surprise team of the year in Missouri and #9 Kansas let Texas Tech's Alan Voskuil score 35 on their way to 19 point defeat. That loss won't help the conference's reputation going into the NCAA tournament.
Incoming Buff football players, TE DaVaughn Thornton and RB Quentin Hildreth from Denver East (20 - 4), continue their run in the basketball state playoffs tonight 6:30 pm at the Colorado School of Mines. They will take on Rampart (21 - 3) in the sweet 16. Good luck to DaVaughn and Quentin.
Crocs, the Boulder based shoe company, gives Dan Hawkins a donation for his youth football camps:
George B. Boedecker, Jr. and the Boulder Colorado based Anthony H. Kruse Foundation surprised Colorado Head Football Coach Dan Hawkins today with a generous donation for his Youth Football Camps. The Foundation presented the Coach with an undisclosed amount on March 4th at the Dal Ward Athletic Center, in Boulder.
"We are extremely pleased in supporting Coach Hawkins and the CU Youth Football camps again this year" said Mr. Boedecker. "It has been a pleasure watching Coach Hawk and his staff take these camps to the next level each year. His dedication to the kids, and his overall commitment to his core values is nothing short of inspirational".CU offers six camps for students in grades 1st - 8th. These high-energy non-contact camps allow younger football players a chance to develop and learn techniques at all positions from the CU Coaches and from many of the current Colorado football players. Per Coach Hawkins "The strengths of our camps include the coaching staff, the player to coach ratio (10-1), and our emphasis on teaching".
Anyway we can split the donation to go to our college level team?
USF finally found it's defensive coordinator after five attempts (CU coach Greg Brown was one of the five): Joe Tresey, former Cincinnati Bearcats defensive coordinator. Have fun working for the crazy coach in Jim Leavitt.