Colorado
California
Buffs Conclude Bay Area Swing At California Sunday
February 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball
THE GAME: The University of Colorado concludes its Bay Area swing by facing the University of California on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2:30 p.m. MST, at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.
WATCH/LISTEN:
TV: ESPNU (Roxy Bernstein, Corey Williams)
Radio: Newsradio 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Satellite: Sirius: 136 XM: 197 Internet: 959 (Cal Broadcast)
Watch Online: WatchESPN
Listen Online: CUBuffs.com, CU Gameday App
Live Statistics: CUBuffs.com
OPENING TIP: Colorado head coach Tad Boyle will be seeking his 200th career win. Boyle, in his 11th season as a collegiate head coach has a career record of 199-156 (.561).
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 13-10 overall and tied for eighth in the Pac-12 at 3-7 after earning its first conference road win of the season with an 81-74 decision at Stanford on Feb. 2. The Buffaloes have won three straight after enduring a seven-game losing streak, the program's longest since 2008-09.Â
The Buffaloes endured a treacherous stretch, playing 5-of-7 on the road to begin conference play. During that span, Colorado faced three straight ranked teams for just the fourth time in team history and began conference play with three road games for the first time in 85 years, when the 1931-32 Buffaloes had their first three Rocky Mountain Conference games away from Boulder.
The Buffaloes finished off the nonconference schedule at 10-3, the fifth time in seven seasons under head coach Tad Boyle CU has finished with at least 10 wins prior to the tip-off of the conference slate.Â
Colorado is averaging 76.3 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. The Buffaloes have allowed 72.7 points on 42 percent shooting. Although Colorado is allowing 80.4 points during the conference schedule, the Buffaloes have held their opponent under 80 the last two games, including one of their best defensive efforts of the season holding Oregon to 65 points on 39 percent shooting.
Back on the offensive side, Colorado is averaging 81.3 points over its last seven games. The Buffaloes are on a streak of 80-plus points in three consecutive road games, the longest stretch since the 1996-97 season: W 82-61 at UMKC (12/28/96), W 87-78 at Missouri (1/7/97), W 80-78 at Texas Tech (1/11/97). Colorado also scored 80-points in three straight conference games ending with the win over Oregon State. The last time the Buffaloes had three straight 80-point games in conference play was during the 2006 Big schedule: 81-48 vs. Baylor (1/18), 80-78 OT at Oklahoma State (1/21), 81-59 vs. Nebraska (1/25).
Colorado shot 53.1 percent from the floor against Stanford, is its best in the Pac-12 this season and best since shooting 54 percent at Air Force on Dec. 19. Overall it's the fourth best mark of the season and fifth game shooting above 50 percent.
Colorado is second in the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds (12.1 orpg), while ranking third in overall boards (39.2 rpg) and fifth in rebounding margin (+4.5), defensive boards (27.1 drpg), assists (14.1 apg) and 3-point defense (.344).
Senior Derrick White leads Colorado in scoring at 16.4 points per game while also pacing the Buffaloes in assists (4.3 apg) and steals (1.4 spg). He had one of the best overall stat lines of the year against Stanford with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals, leading or tied for the team lead in all five categories.
White is one of two players in the Pac-12 - joining Washington freshman Markelle Fultz - to rank in the league's top 10 in scoring, assists and blocked shots. He is fifth in scoring and assists, eighth in blocks, 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio and 12th in steals.
With his eight assists at Stanford he reached that figure for the fourth time this season. White has exactly 100 assists on the season becoming the 36th Buffalo to reach that figure. He hit both of his 3-point attempts at Stanford and has made 5-of-6 from downtown the last two games after making just 4 of his previous 23.
White is fourth in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting at 82.4 percent (98-119) while raking second free throws made and fifth in attempts. At Washington State, White was 8-of-8 from the line, marking his sixth game of the season with five or more free throws made without a miss. Earlier in the season, he made a team season-best 21 in a row, which included a perfect 12-of-12 against Arizona State, tying for the fifth best single-game mark in team history.
White had a team season-best 35 points at Arizona State. His points were the most by a Buff since Askia Booker had 43 in a triple-overtime win over USC on Jan. 29, 2015 and the most in regulation since Alec Burks scored 36 against Missouri on Jan. 8, 2011.
Xavier Johnson is second on the team in scoring (15.2 ppg) and third in rebounding (6.1 rpg). He has made 42 of his last 74 from the field (.568) and 11-of-21 from 3-point range (.524). Johnson is averaging 16.0 points on 55 percent shooting during Pac-12 play.
Johnson tied White for team honors in scoring at Stanford with 19 points while tying a career high with three assists.
He recorded is eighth career double-double, and second of the season, with 24 points and 11 rebounds against Washington. In that game, Johnson tied a career high with 10 field goals made. Johnson nearly had another double-double with 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds against Oregon. He is 15th in career scoring (1,339) and 16th in rebounds at 655.
Johnson is fifth in 3-point percentage (.441), 13th in scoring and field goal percentage (.522) and 18th in rebounding on the Pac-12 charts.
George King is third on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game and second in rebounding at 7.0 per contest. He scored a season-high 24 points against Oregon State, the ninth 20-point performance of his career, and added 13 points and eight rebounds against Oregon.
King leads the Buffaloes with five double-doubles and has missed three others by a single rebound. His first four double-doubles came in a seven-game span during the nonconference schedule, including a 16-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Xavier. King is ninth in the Pac-12 with his five double-doubles and also leads the Buffaloes with five double-figure rebound outings.
He made his 100th career 3-pointer during the Washington State game and has made 17 of his last 33 from downtown (.515). He matched his season-high with four 3-point field goals against the Beavers.
King is 13th in defensive rebounds (5.2 drpg) and 14th in overall rebounds on the Pac-12 leaderboard. His 6,8 rebounds through 10 Pac-12 games leads the Buffaloes.
Wesley Gordon tops Colorado in rebounding at 7.3 per game and blocks at 1.7 per contest while ranking second in assists (2.0 apg) and fourth in scoring (7.2 ppg). Gordon scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, with six rebounds, four assists and two blocks against Oregon.
He matched a season high with five blocked shots against Washington, and is just six shy of becoming the second player in team history to reach 200. Gordon is hitting 65 percent from the floor over the last 13 games (34-of-52).
On the Pac-12 charts, Gordon is fifth in offensive rebounding (2.9 orpg), seventh in blocks and 13th in overall rebounding.
Guard Josh Fortune is Colorado's fifth leading scorer at 6.5 points per game. He's fourth on the team in both assists (35) and 3-point field goals (21). Fortune scored a season-high 15 points in the win over Fort Hays State. He also had 13 points with five rebounds and a season-best four assists in the nonconference finale against Eastern Washington.
Fortune is shooting 86 percent from the free throw line, hitting on 36-of-42 attempts. He had a streak of 19 consecutive free throws made during the nonconference schedule. That streak included a perfect 10-of-10 game against ULM, which at time was the program's best performance without a miss since Askia Booker was 14-of-14 against DePaul on Dec. 22, 2014.
Dominique Collier is averaging 6.0 points and 1.5 assists per game. He had his third double-digit scoring performance of the season with 10 points off the bench against Oregon State. Collier matched a personal best and tied a team season-high with three steals against the Beavers. He missed nine games in the nonconference schedule with a foot injury.
Junior Tory Miller is averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds a game. Miller had 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists at Stanford. He
matched his season-high in points (ULM) while his points and rebounds are his most in a Pac-12 game this year. Miller tied a season-high with four field goals made and is shooting 65 percent in Pac-12 play (28-of-43)
Sophomore Thomas Akyazili is third on the team in assists (38) while scoring just over two points per contest. He recorded his first start of the season, and the second of his career, against Oregon State and responded by matching a personal best by dishing out six assists.
Colorado's active freshman class of Deleon Brown, Bryce Peters and Lucas Siewert have made good contributions over the course of the season. The trio were rewarded for their hard work, by starting the Oregon State game; the initial collegiate starts for Peters and Siewert and the third for Brown. Peters had 13 points hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range at Stanford and is averaging 9.3 points over the last three games. Brown had seven points hitting 3-of-5 from the field against Oregon State. Siewert had thee pints, four rebounds and a personal-best two assists at Stanford. As a group they are averaging 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
ABOUT THE BEARS: California is 16-6 overall and tied with UCLA for third in the Pac-12 at 7-3. The Golden Bears have won three straight including a 77-75 double overtime thriller over Utah on Feb. 2. Cal is averaging 70 points on 43 percent shooting. The Golden Bears are the Pac-12's second-best scoring and field goal percentage defensive teams allowing just 63 points while giving up just 39.5 percent from the field. Cal is the Pac-12's top rebounding team with 40 per game.
Sophomore forward Ivan Rabb leads California by sporting the season double-double at 15.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Senior Jabari Bird averages 14.8 points and 4.7 rebounds, tying for the team lead with 40 3-point field goals. Freshman guard Charlie Moore leads California in assists (80) and steals (28) while averaging 14 points an outing.
Cuonzo Martin is in his third year as the head coach at Cal with a record of 57-32. He is in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach with a record of 181-114.
THE SERIES: This will be the 28th meeting between Colorado and California with the Golden Bears holding a 14-13 edge. The teams split their series last year, each winning at home. The series is tied at 5-5 since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12. Cal is 11-1 against Colorado in Berkeley. Colorado's lone win in Berkeley was a 63-60 decision on Dec. 7, 2004.
Tad Boyle is 6-5 against California as a head coach. Cuonzo Martin is 2-1 against Colorado as a head coach.
