The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

Game #25: Colorado Buffaloes (7-17, 2-13) at Utah Utes (16-9.9-6)

Highlight of the game: Our 10-7 lead with 16:28 left in the first half.

It was a rapid descent from there to "Colorado Buffaloes basketball hell" and by the end of the half we had been buried 51-21. We had 16 turnovers in the half compared to just 2 by the Utes. SF George Seamon led our scoring with 13 points.

Utah simply kept us from making any significant reductions to their lead. We were trounced 73-44.

SF George Seamon hit for 16 and PF/SF added 10.

Fortunately Washington State lost so we remain one game ahead of them to keep out of the cellar in the Pac-12 standings.

[PointGuard]

Game #26: #3 Arizona Wildcats (21-6, 12-4) at Colorado Buffaloes (7-18, 2-14)

We fell behind 12-0 before we finally scored. While we then scored some points, nothing really improved and by the break we trailed 42-19. We only hit 27% of our shots and we allowed the Wildcats to hit 51% of theirs. SF George Semon led us offensively with 8 points.

We cut into the lead in the 2nd half but not enough to scare Arizona. We ended up on the short end of a 65-46 score. Even though we only hit 30% of our shots, our real downfall was making 25 turnovers. Quite simply we're in the same conference but not the same league as Arizona.

SF George Seamon finished with 13 points. C John Sanders scored 16 and grabbed 12 boards for the Wildcats.

[PointGuard]

Game #27: Colorado Buffaloes (7-19, 2-15) at UCLA Bruins (18-8, 11-6)

They say the chances of us winning this game are the same as a plow horse winning the Kentucky Derby. The day before the game we spent some time at Disneyland hoping for a little magic to rub off.

UCLA scored first and opened a small lead, but with 2-1/2 minutes left in the half PG Chris Smith hit a jumper that got us to within 3 points at 33-30. But the refs continued to call goul-after-foul against that repeatedly sent the Bruins to the line. The half ended with UCLA ahead 41-30. UCLA went to the line 23 times to our 8 and scored 16 more points on free throws that did we. PF/SF Mat Hunter scored 9 points to lead us offensively.

We stayed close throughout most of the 2nd half, but UCLA stomped us late and won 76-58. But if it hadn’t been for the refs saddling us with fouls (2 of our players fouled out) and sending the Bruins to the line 40 times where they outscored us on free throws by 23 points, we would have won. Guess we should have spent 2 days at Disneyland rather than 1 so more magic would have rubbed off onto us.

PG Chris Smith scored 13, PF/SF Mat Hall hit for 12, and SF George Seamon dropped in 10.

We finished Pac-12 play in 11th place, behind Arizona State and just ahead of Washington State. Arizona finished atop the conference with Oregon and Stanford tied for 2nd place a game behind the Wildcats.

[Ddevore65]

Time for a Cinderella run through the PAC-12 tourney. Maybe the goal is just to make it to day 2.

Tough season but with what you inherited 7 wins is close to a miracle honestly. How did the Guin’s finish out their season?

[PointGuard]

Time for a Cinderella run through the PAC-12 tourney. Maybe the goal is just to make it to day 2.

Tough season but with what you inherited 7 wins is close to a miracle honestly. How did the Guin’s finish out their season?

My old team, Youngstown State, finished the regular season with a 14-13 overall record and a 10-8 record in the Horizon League, which put them in a tie for 4th place. As the #5 seed in the Horizon League tournament, the Penguins then reeled off wins over the #4, #1, and #2 seeded teams to be crowned tournament champs and gain a berth in the NCAA Tournament. After a so-so regular season, I’m really happy to see them do that. SG Doylan Anderson led their scoring with a 14.8 ppg average. SF James Asbury scored 10.6 ppg and C Will O’Neil averaged 10.4 ppg and led the team in rebounding with 6.3 rpg.

Following O'Neil's stellar first 3 seasons, it's disappointing to see Will not putting together a tour de force senior season. I've heard via the grapevine that he just didn't mesh well with the new strategy (which subsequently resulted in his court time being reduced). It's unfortunate since this may have torpedoed his being drafted by the pro's which I had thought was a near certainty after being named the conference player of the year as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

[Wayne23]

It fascinates me that almost inevitably when I leave a team for a new one, the old one goes to seed quickly. Not just me, I guess.

[Ddevore65]

Time for a Cinderella run through the PAC-12 tourney. Maybe the goal is just to make it to day 2.

Tough season but with what you inherited 7 wins is close to a miracle honestly. How did the Guin’s finish out their season?

Following O'Neil's stellar first 3 seasons, it's disappointing to see Will not putting together a tour de force senior season. I've heard via the grapevine that he just didn't mesh well with the new strategy (which subsequently resulted in his court time being reduced). It's unfortunate since this may have torpedoed his being drafted by the pro's which I had thought was a near certainty after being named the conference player of the year as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

Yeah those are surprising numbers for O’Neil, the kid was an undersized center but put up amazing numbers for Youngstown State. Hopefully he gets drafted or a look at the development league.

With the NCAA tourney berth I’m sure your old AD is sitting back and saying to himself they didn’t need old KD anymore.

[PointGuard]

LOL...probably.

Poor Steve Porter though. With the Penguins being pretty much a .500 team this season, Steve ripped them a few times under his byline in the sports pages of the newspaper. The university put the squeeze on the paper and now Steve has been relegated to critiquing plays and movies. Steve says some kiss-ass reporter has replaced him on the sports beat and is writing obsequious articles about the basketball team.

[PointGuard]

Pac-12 Conference Tournament

Day 1:

#12 seed Washington State (5-22) vs #5 seed UCLA (19-8): The game see-sawed early then UCLA took control to lead 37-24 at the half and win 71-58. PF George Mahorn scored 20 and C Manny Adams had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) for the Bruins. SF Barry Stacey and PG Mike Esherick both scored 12 for the Cougars.

#10 seed Arizona State (11-17) vs #7 seed California (19-8): There were 9 lead changes and 4 ties in this game. California gained a slim 35-34 lead at the half and edged the Sun Devils 71-65 to move on. The Golden Bears SF Jesse Herbert and SG Mario Burleston topped their scoring with 15 points apiece. Arizona State’s SG Jim Robinson poured in 19 points while C Greg Jones scored 12 and grabbed 10 boards.

#9 seed Oregon State (6-21) vs #8 seed Washington (15-12): Washington had a tough time shaking the Beavers in the first half but led 44-39 at the break. They then spurted to a 26 point lead in the 2nd half before settling for a 77-64 win. SG Pat Massiah scored 18 to lead the Huskies. C Rudy Barker led Oregon State with 11 points.

#11 seed Colorado Buffaloes (7-20) vs #6 seed Utah Utes (19-9): The first half was a real dog-fight. We led 22-17 with 5:19 to go in the half. We held on to sport a 27-23 halftime edge. We hit just 33% of our shots, but the Utes hit only 32% of theirs. PG Chris Smith led our scoring in the first half with 7 points. Utah came out in the 2nd half with a lock-down defense that allowed them to jump ahead 37-29 with 14-1/2 minutes to play. Then we let the Utes pull away midway through the half and fell behind 58-40 with 6:08 to go as our guys became exhausted. We then totally melted down to get blown out 75-51. PG Chris Smith scored 12 and C Ryan Blackshear added 10 for us. For Utah, SF Mike Herr topped their scoring with 14 points. And with that our horrendous season ended.


Day 2:

#8 seed Washington (16-12) vs #1 seed Arizona (23-6): The game was close throughout the first half but Arizona held a small lead most of the way and was ahead 43-37 at the break. The Wildcats gradually expanded their lead in the 2nd half and won 72-59. Arizona’s C John Sanders scored 28 and pulled down 10 rebounds and SG Darrell Walker had a double-double (12 points and 10 assists). PF Joshua Williams scored 13 for Washington while their C Brian Dickens picked off 14 rebounds.

#7 seed California (20-8) vs #2 seed Oregon (21-7): Oregon quickly took control and held a solid 41-25 halftime advantage. The Ducks’ lead the ballooned to as much as 34 points in the 2nd half. Oregon throttled the Golden Bears by a final score of 84-59. Oregon’s SG John Barnes popped in 20 points and C John Jones hauled down 14 rebounds. California’s leading scorer was reserve Adam Morrison with 12 points.

#6 seed Utah (20-9) vs #3 seed Stanford (21-7): Utah surprised the Cardinal by taking a 41-31 halftime lead. Things got tight in the 2nd half, but the Utes held off Stanford for a thrilling 81-80 victory. SG Henry Polite poured in 32 points for Utah. Stanford’s PG Mike Hall scored 29, grabbed 12 boards, dished out 6 assists, and blocked 4 shots.

#5 seed UCLA (20-8) vs #4 seed USC (18-9): This was a defensive battle the entire way. UCLA led 23-22 at the end of the first half. But after 9 lead changes and 5 ties, USC came away with a 54-48 win. USC was led by SG Ryan Kincade’s 14 points and C Courtney Sanders’ 11 boards. PG Deon Logan scored 14 points for UCLA.

Day 3:

#4 seed USC (19-9) vs #1 seed Arizona (24-6): Arizona took a 40-32 lead to the locker room. Then in the 2nd half they exploded to lead by 24 before finishing with a 78-59 whomping of the Trojans. PG Kelvin Smith led the Wildcats’ offense with 18 points. His counterpart, PG Kyle Hinton hit for 14 for USC.

#6 seed Utah (21-9) vs #2 seed Oregon (22-7): The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Oregon eking out a 40-39 lead at the half. As the 2nd half proceded the Ducks gradually pulled away to achieve a 79-68 victory. Oregon’s PF Matt Reeves scored 21. For Utah, PG Billy Rychart and SF Mike Herr both scored 13 points.

Day 4:

#2 seed Oregon (23-7) vs #1 seed Arizona (25-6): The lead was exchanged 5 times in the first half with Arizona coming out on top at the break 39-30. The Wildcats then held on to a small lead to win the championship 73-66. PG Kelvin Smith scored 15 for Arizona. PF Matt Reeves scored 18 and grabbed 14 boards for Oregon.


I’ve been receiving tons of “I told you so” emails, texts, tweets, and phone calls about my decision to take the Colorado job. But “hell year” is over and I’m optimistic that we’ll have a big improvement this coming season.

[PointGuard]

Tournament Selections:

NCAA #1 seeds: Arizona, Ohio State, LSU, Miami (FL)

Pac 12 tournament teams in the NCAA Tournament:
#2 ranked Arizona is the #1 seed in the East Region
California is the #9 seed in the East Region
#12 ranked Stanford is the #4 seed in the East Region
Washington is the #10 seed in the Midwest Region
#11 ranked Oregon is the #3 seed in the Midwest Region
USC is the #8 seed in the South Region
Utah is the #7 seed in the South Region
UCLA Is the #7 seed in the West Region

Non-Pac 12 Team in the NCAA Tournament:
Youngstown State played Brown for a #16 seed but lost 74-68. Thus the Penguins finished the season with an overall 14-14 record.