Colorado Takes It to USF 72-55
By Mary Harvill
Not ready for the Pac-12. With a disastrous start to their game with Colorado, USF finally caught their rhythm at 12:04 in the first half after allowing Colorado to jump ahead 7-0. Then the Dons went on a much needed run sinking 7 of 8 shots to get to 19-11. With Senior Chris Adams leading the way and having a breakout game, USF was leading at the half 34-32.
Whatever Colorado lacked in the first half, the second half was the Buffalo show. Colorado’s strong defensive play held USF to shooting 40% while Colorado shot an astonishing 66%. Askia Booker scored 21 points in the game and was brutal with his 3 point shot successfully landing 5 out of 6 times. Josh Scott racked up 8 points finishing the game with 12 points total and led the team with 6 rebounds. Colorado’s “X” factor, Xavier Johnson did not play in this game due to an injury. Dustin Thomas, a combo guard/forward added 8 points. The “other” Xavier, guard Xavier Talton scored 6 points and lend his hand with 3 assists. How does this happen that a team has not one Xavier but two Xaviers?
Though Matt Christiansen and Chris Adams scored 10 points and 9 points respectively, Kruize Pinkins was held to 9 points, 6 rebounds, a clear demonstration of the strength of Colorado’s defensive skills. Tim Derksen, the bearded one, was held to 6 points and 4 rebounds for the game, not scoring a single point in the second half. Colorado’s successful containment of USF’s two leading scorers definitely hurt USF. Mark Tollefson was the highest scoring player for the Dons with 12 points. Matt Glover finished the game with 7 points.
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With the win over USF, Colorado now has a 23 consecutive game non-conference winning streak. Coach Walter, on the other hand, will likely be buying the Coors for the coaching staff and the 21 and older team members. Tonight was the night for a bit of crying in the beer. This was a game that USF, if firing on all cylinders, might have won. Once final exams are over, the team will be able to fully concentrate on basketball until classes resume in January.