Colorado Buffaloes
Record: 23-11
Head coach: Tad Boyle (4th season)
Season summary: Colorado’s season took a turn for the worse
Jan. 12 when junior Spencer Dinwiddie went down for the year with a torn ACL.
Without Dinwiddie’s team-high 14.7 points per game, the Buffaloes dropped four
of their next five games but rebounded to finish in a five-way tie for third in
the Pac-12. The team’s best win came at the buzzer against Kansas, when guard Askia Booker knocked down an off-balance 3-pointer. Without Dinwiddie, Colorado is 0-4
against the top 25, with three of those losses coming against Arizona. Sophomore
forward Josh Scott leads Colorado in scoring and rebounding at 14.1 points and
8.5 rebounds per contest, and Booker averages 14.0 points per game
despite shooting less than 40 percent from the field. The Buffaloes play solid
defense and do so without fouling—Colorado’s opponents average just 12.1 free
throws made per game, tied for 17th-best in the nation.
How they make a run: Scott and Booker get hot as the
Buffaloes outscore a defensive-oriented Pittsburgh squad, then play their best
defense of the season to stifle the many offensive weapons of top-seeded Florida
to reach the Sweet 16.
How they falter: Losing Dinwiddie crushed Colorado’s
offense. Before the injury, the Buffaloes averaged 77.6 points per game in 16
games. In the 18 games since, they’re only scoring 64.8 and managed just 43 in
their last game. A lack of offense could send Tad Boyle’s club home early.
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