Big Tony Solorzano reporting for Mid Valley Sports
Colorado Crashes Big Dance with PAC-12 Title
Los Angeles – The Pacific Life Pac-12 Men’s Basketball tournament became the stuff of legends as the Colorado Buffaloes, in their first year as part of the Pac-12 Conference,
knocked off the regular season champion Arizona Wildcats, 53-51, to claim the first PAC-12 Conference Title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Saturday
afternoon at STAPLES Center.
The Buffaloes held off a late charge from the Wildcats and survived a last-second three-point attempt by Arizona’s Kyle Fogg that hit the rim as time expired. For the second consecutive year, the Wildcats reached the finals only to fall by two points.
“Well, I had the same feeling this year as we did last year, I’m really proud of our team and program for being in the championship game of this tournament in back-to-back years,” said Arizona head coach Sean Miller. “Today was much different because it meant the NCAA Tournament versus no on that and it’s a difficult loss for all of us.”
The Buffaloes got out to an early 8-3 lead on a basket by Austin Dufault and two three-pointers by Spencer Dinwiddie, while Kyle Perry hit a free throw and a jumper to keep the Wildcats close Over the next 10 minutes, the Wildcats slowly chipped away at the Buffaloes lead until Perry’s layup with 6:47 left tied the score at 19.
The Wildcats took the lead less than a minute later on Fogg’s second three pointer of the half. Nick Johnson hit a three a minute later to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, a four-point advantage with 4:45 left in the half, but it would be the last time they controlled the game, as the Buffaloes began to take down the regular season champs. After trading the lead with the Wildcats, the Buffs tied the game at 28-28 on a free throw by Jeremy Adams, then a 30-28 halftime lead on a layup by Adams with less than a minute left.
In the second half, Solomon Hill opened the half by tying the game at 30-30, but it would be the last tie of the game as the Buffs started their march to the championship. The Buffs would spend the first nine minutes of the half on an 18-6 run, getting out to a 12 point lead at the halfway point, but the Wildcats had one more run left in them.
Over the final nine minutes, the Wildcats closed out the game with a 15-5 run, taking advantage of a number of missed shots by the Buffaloes, but the Buffs kept up their pressure, as evidenced by Carlon Brown’s monster dunk with less than a minute left in the game that put the Buffs up 53-47.
However, Perry and Hill cut that lead to two on Perry’s two free throws and Hill’s layup with 21 seconds left. The Wildcats got a final shot at tying the game after Dufault missed two free throws. Perry pulled in the rebound on the second missed shot and moved the ball down the court as the clock ran down. He passed off to Fogg who launched a three-point attempt for the win with one second left, but the ball clanked and was rebounded by the Buffs as the final horn sounded, ending the game and giving the Buffaloes the
win and the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
“To say I’m proud of these guys is probably the biggest understatement I’ve ever made, but we beat a great program, a storied program in Arizona,” said Colorado head coach Tad Boyle. “It isn’t easy, but I’m telling you, before this game, we talked about it as a group. If you believe in destiny, you believe in the Colorado Buffaloes because it was
meant to be for us.”
Dinwiddie led the Buffaloes in scoring, hitting four three-point shots in the game on his way to 14 points. Brown added 13 points, going five-for-six at the free throw line while Andre Roberson hit for 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, including eight on defense. Brown was named Most Outstanding Player in the Tournament.
Kyle Fogg led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Hill hit for 13 points and five rebounds. Perry added 11 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
After the game, as the members of the team were awarded the conference trophy, the members of the Colorado Student Section, the “C-Unit,” were accorded an honor that few student sections receive. A member of the 50 students who accompanied the team to the tournament, Sean Shearon, who is known as “Buff Man,” for the superhero costume he wears to the games, was given the honor of cutting down the first piece of the net on behalf of the C-Unit.
Boyle, when asked about the honor, gave the credit to Colorado Athletic Director, Mike Bohn, for not only bringing the students to the tournament, but for the commitment to the program he’s shown.
“I wouldn’t be coach at Colorado if it weren’t for Mike Bohn. His leadership and bringing those students here, I think, is a testament to what he’s all about,” said Boyle. “I’m just so thankful those 50 kids could come here and experience this with us.”
Leave a Reply