To paraphrase Jack Nicholson from the 1989 movie, Batman, “I have given a name to my pain, and it is Wildcat.”
It started back in late October when the CU football team went to Manhattan and laid an egg against Kaiser Bill and his army of purple clad ‘Cats.
I took a lot of crap over that one.
The most recent offense came Tuesday, when the CU men’s basketball team too k the court against Wildcats of the Arizona variety. The U of A entered the game with a record of 2-1 and were coming off a tough loss to Wisconsin the night before. In the Wisconsin game the Wildcats shot a miserable 36.4 percent from the field and made only 27.3 percent of their shots from distance.
Colorado was coming off a hard fought loss to Gonzaga. It was a game where CU played tough but were unable to make a three in the second half when they needed it.
The Buffaloes came out flat and the Wildcats took advantage. Brendon Lavender scored eight points in the six minutes helping Arizona take a 13-5 lead. CU did their best to assist the ‘Cats, scoring making only one field goal in the first six and a half minutes.
This trend did not last. The Buffaloes picked up the intensity, cutting the lead to four by the 11:30 mark in the first half.
Austin Dufault completed the old fashioned (a three point play consisting of a made field goal and a free throw) at the 7:34 mark to pull Colorado within two.
With less than seven minutes to go in the first half Cory Higgins made two free throws to tie the game at 23. The tie was short lived however as Arizona senior guard Nic Wise drained a three pointer to give the lead back to Arizona.
The Wildcats would take a 35-34 lead into the half.
Colorado shot a miserable 36 percent from the field, and was made only one three pointer in the first half. Sophomore Nate Tomlinson led the Buffs with ten points.
The two teams continued to battle in the second half. Arizona would build a lead only to see Colorado fight to erase it, which led the Wildcats to fly down the court and knock down a three pointer to retake control of the game.
With 13:32 left in the game, Wise sunk a shot from beyond the arc, giving the ‘Cats an eight point lead, their largest of the game.
Colorado did not wave the white flag, they didn’t even bat an eye. Instead they kept their heads down and tried to chip away at the Arizona lead. Freshman Shane Harris-Tunks would hit a cutting Higgins for an easy lay in that would make the score 60-54 with 10:51 left in the second half. The Buffs would hold on the defensive end and Keegan Hornbuckel would drop a jumper to cut the ‘Cats lead to two.
The Buffs continued working. At the 7:50 mark freshman Alec Burks nailed two free throws to tie the game after being fouled by Wise. The foul was Wise’s fourth of the game.
CU would ride this momentum to a three point lead before Arizona would respond with a run of their own, not only regaining the lead but stretching it to eight points with 53 seconds left. This stretch was highlighted by two consecutive three by Wise that made the score 80-72.
Just when things seemed to be at their darkest for the Buffaloes they received an answered prayer in the form of Tomlinson, who sank a three to cut the lead to five.
Missed Arizona free throws led to a Higgins three that made the score 80-78 with 24 seconds left. Dufault would steal the ensuing inbound pass which set up two Higgins free throws that tied the game and sent it into overtime.
Tomlinson started the extra frame with a three that gave CU an 83-80 lead.
From that point the game belonged to Wise, whose calming presence and ability to drop jump shots at will carried the Wildcats to a 91-87 victory.
Nic Wise led all scorers with 30 points and contributed six assists to the ‘Cats cause.
Cory Higgins led CU with 28, 22 of which were scored in the second half and overtime.
Austin Dufault recorded a double-double, notching 14 points and 11 rebounds before he fouled out.
Nate Tomlinson proved to be the top bench player for either team, scoring 20 points and leading CU in assists, with four.
In the losing effort, the Buffaloes did manage to out rebound Arizona, 37-34, but that was not enough to over come their shooting woes.
For the game the Buffaloes shot 42.4 percent from the field, 26.3 percent from beyond the arc. To compare, the Wildcats hit 52.6 percent of their field goals, including a scorching 58.3 percent from down town.
Despite the two loses, I think the trip to Maui has been a successful one for the Buffaloes. They came to the islands with nothing expected of them and, while they did lose as expected, they did not lay down for either team. They pushed Gonzaga to the limit and gave Arizona all they could handle, and then some.
Colorado will face tournament host Chaminade today before heading back to the main land. At best, Colorado will return with a 4-2 record.
The Buffaloes have shown that they have the potential to improve on the last three seasons of twenty losses. The only question now is do they live up to that potential.
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