Buffs Meet 'Cats In Nationally Televised Game Sunday
THE GAME: The University of Colorado travels to face the University of Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 2:30 p.m. at the McKale Center in Tucson.
BROADCAST: Sunday's game will be televised on FSN as part of the Pac-12 Conference national package. Steve Physioc will have the call with Ann Meyers Drysdale providing the color commentary. The game can be seen in the Rocky Mountain Region on ROOT Sports. Sunday's game will also air on KKZN AM 760 with Mike Rice handling play by play duties. Live audio is available at CUBuffs.com through BuffsTV and the BuffsRadio free subscription.
OPENING TIP: Colorado is out for its third conference road win of the season which would be its most since the 2003-04 team had five league wins away from Boulder.
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 13-4 overall, and 2-4 in Pac-12 play. The Buffaloes have lost three straight and four of five after a 12-0 start to begin the season. Colorado will look to rebound from a 64-43 loss to Arizona State on Thursday where the Buffaloes shot just 33 percent, setting a season low for points in a game. Colorado is playing its final game in a stretch where seven of nine have been away from home since Dec. 17, including five of seven to begin its inaugural season of Pac-12 competition. The road has been kind to Colorado this year though, with the Buffaloes sporting a 6-2 mark away from Boulder, including 4-2 in true road games. Two of those wins have come in Pac-12 play (at Utah and at Washington State).
Colorado has shown balance with five players averaging between eight and 16 points per game and seven averaging at least five per contest. Overall the Buffaloes are averaging 64.6 points per game and shooting 43 percent from the field, but they're looking to rebound from a cold Pac-12 start. CU is at 37 percent through six Pac-12 games averaging 55.7 points per contest. CU's defense has held its opponents to 56.7 points per game, ranking third in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes also rank third in field-goal percentage, rebounding defense (33.3 rpg) and rebounding margin (+8.4).
Junior guard Chucky Jeffery leads the Buffaloes at 15.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. She is prominent on the Pac-12 leader board ranking third in defensive rebounds (6.3 drpg), fourth in scoring, assists and steals (2.2 spg), fifth in free-throw percentage (.772), eighth in overall rebounding, 10th in blocked shots (1.1 bpg), 11th in field-goal percentage (.482) and 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9).
Jeffery has scored in double-figures in 15 of Colorado's 17 games and recorded her 51st such outing in the loss to California with a game-high 21 points. She has a team-best five double-doubles on the season, tied for seventh in the Pac-12. She was the MVP of CU's Omni Hotels Classic and was named Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Dec. 4.
Senior forward Julie Seabrook leads Colorado and ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in field goal accuracy at 57 percent while also ranking 14th in offensive rebounds (2.2 orpg). She is averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds in Pac-12 play ranking second in the league in shooting at 56.8 percent during that span. Seabrook, who scored in double-figures for three straight games for the first time in her career during the league season-opening road trip, has made 8-of-15 from 3-point range during conference action.
Freshman guard Lexy Kresl is second on the team in scoring at an even 10 points per game and leads the Buffaloes in both 3-point field goals (31) and free-throw percentage at 84 percent. She was held without a 3-point field goal for the only time in her career against Washington State, but still hit key shots down the stretch, including a jumper above the free throw line to tie the game at 56 with 37 seconds left. Late heroics are becoming the norm for the first-year player as she hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to knock off Creighton at the UTSA Holiday Classic en route to All-Tournament honors. Kresl ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in 3-pointers made (1.8 3mpg), 15th in 3-point percentage (.326) and 23rd in scoring.
Sophomore guard Brittany Wilson is third on the team in scoring at 8.8 points per game and is second on the team in assists (36) and steals (20). She scored 10 points in the loss to Stanford, scoring in double digits for the eighth time this season and third during league play. On the Pac-12 charts Wilson ranks 12th in 3-pointers made (1.3 3mpg).
Brittany's twin sister Ashley Wilson is hitting 52 percent from the floor (25-of-48) while averaging 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Wilson had nine points on 4-of-5 shooting off the bench against Stanford, a personal best during league competition. She established an overall career high scoring 13 points in the win over Weber State.
Junior forward Meagan Malcolm-Peck is averaging 4.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. She had season-highs of nine rebounds and three blocked shots in the UTSA Holiday Classic win over Texas-Pan American. Malcolm-Peck is second on the team in offensive rebounds (35) and third in assists (26).
Sophomore Rachel Hargis joins Seabrook as the only Buffaloes to start all 17 games this season. Hargis, who averages 4.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest, had a solid game against California scoring 10 points while grabbing five rebounds and blocking three shots. This was the second double-figure scoring game for Hargis, the other also served as her first career double-double netting 12 points and 11 rebounds against Texas Pan-American.
Freshman Jen Reese has been a major producer off the bench. Reese is averaging 7.9 points per contest and shooting 51.0 percent from the field (53-of-104), ranking 10th in the Pac-12. She recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win at Washington State. Reese has also been hitting the boards, ranking second on the team with 5.9 per game, improving to 6.5 during Pac-12 games. She earned UTSA Holiday Classic All-Tournament honors by averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 66.7 percent over the two games (10-of-15).
Freshman guard Jasmine Sborov has seen extended minutes over the last two games, averaging 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes. Sborov has scored Colorado's first points in each of its last two games.
Colorado's bench has been outstanding, accounting for 34 percent of the team's scoring (22.0 ppg) and 42 percent of its rebounding (17.7 rpg). In addition to Reese, who has come off the bench for each game, the Wilson twins and Kresl have been consistent in scoring whether coming off the bench or starting (Kresl has 12 starts, Brittany Wilson has five while Ashley has four), combining for 29.3 points in a reserve role. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the Buffaloes had a season-high 43 bench points (Jeffery 19, Reese 13, Kresl 11).
HISTORIC START: Colorado started the season 12-0 for just the third time in team history and first since the 1992-93 squad won a school record 15 games to begin the season. The 12-0 start ties for the second best start in school history. Here is a break down of CU's best starts:
Year Start Final Record Other
1992-93 15-0 27-4 NCAA Elite 8
2011-12 12-0 ?? Best Start Since 1992-93
1980-81 12-0 28-5 *AIAW National Tourn. First Round
1993-94 7-0 27-5 NCAA Sweet 16
1982-83 7-0 21-8 #Big Eight Semifinals
1988-89 6-0 27-4 NCAA First Round
*-CU's first national tournament appearance; #-First year of Big Eight Conference round-robin play.
NUMBERS ON 12 STRAIGHT: Colorado won 12 straight games for the seventh time and this season's streak is tied for the fifth longest in team history. It was also CU's longest win streak since its school-record 25-game streak in 1994-95. Here are the Buffs' all-time best win streaks:
Wins Season Record Notable
1. 25 1994-95 30-3 NCAA Elite Eight, 14-0 in Big Eight
2. 20 1988-89 27-4 NCAA 1st Round, 14-0 in Big Eight
3. 15 1992-93 27-4 NCAA Elite Eight, 15-0 season start
4. 14 1991-92 22-9 NCAA 1st Rd, Big Eight Tourney Champs
5. 12 2011-12 ?? 12-0 Tied Second Best Season Start
12 1981-82 28-8 AIAW National 1st Round
12 1980-81 28-5 First of two 9-plus winning streaks in '81
8. 11 2007-08 19-15 WNIT Semifinalist
9. 9 2003-04 22-8 NCAA 1st Round
9 1993-94 27-5 NCAA Sweet 16
9 1992-93 27-4 NCAA Elite Eight, Big Eight Champs
9 1980-81 28-5 First AIAW National Appearance
9 1978-79 22-9 3rd place in AIAW Regional
ABOUT THE WILDCATS: Arizona is 13-5 overall and one of four teams, along with Colorado, at 2-4 in Pac-12 play. The Wildcats are coming off a 65-60 overtime setback at home against Utah on Jan. 19. Arizona scores nearly 70 points per game and is one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the Pac-12. The Wildcats lead the conference in long-range accuracy at 37.6 percent and rank second behind Oregon in 3-pointers made at 7.0 per game.
Junior guard Davellyn Whyte leads Arizona and ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.7 points per game. A two-time all-Pac 10 performer, Whyte also ranks second in the Pac-12 in both steals (2.6 spg) and 3-pointers made (2.6 3mpg). Sophomore forward Erica Barnes tops the Wildcats in rebounding at 9.1 per game while also averaging 12.7 points. She has seven double-doubles on the season, ranking second in the Pac-12. Senior guard Shanita Arnold leads Arizona and ranks second in the Pac-12 in assists at 5.3 per game.
SERIES RECORDS: This will be 10th meeting between Colorado and Arizona with the Buffaloes holding a 6-3 series edge. The two teams meet for the first time since a 74-53 Colorado win on Nov. 24, 1991, in Boulder. The first five meetings in this series came while the two teams were members of the Intermountain Conference (1975-79). In Tucson, the series is tied 2-2, with Colorado also winning the last meeting, a 75-69 decision on Jan. 1, 1991.
Colorado head coach Linda Lappe has never faced Arizona as a head coach. Arizona head coach Niya Butts as never faced Colorado as a head coach.
CONNECTIONS: The Arizona trip is a homecoming for Colorado freshman Lexy Kresl, who is from Paradise Valley, a Phoenix suburb. Arizona assistant coach Sue Darling has Colorado ties, spending three seasons as the head women's coach at the Air Force Academy (1998-01) and prior to rejoining her alma mater, Arizona, in 2008, she was the head girls coach at Denver's Mullen High School.
ROAD WARRIORS: Colorado has won six of its last eight road games and also six of its last eight away from home (both encompassing a slightly different set of games). Prior to the Washington game, the Buffaloes had won six-straight both in true road games and games away from Boulder, each being the program's best such streaks since the 2003-04 squad won six in a row in true road contests.
Additionally, Colorado has won four of its last six conference road games after only winning four of the previous 30 dating back to the 2007-08 Big 12 season.
Colorado began the Pac-12 season with three straight on the road finishing 2-1. It was CU's first three-game conference road stand since 1997, the inaugural season of the Big 12. In that string, the Buffaloes lost at Kansas State on Feb. 19, but bounced back to win games at Missouri on Feb. 23 and No. 12 ranked Texas on Feb. 26, sparking an eight-game win streak that carried Colorado through the first Big 12 Tournament Championship and an appearance in the 1997 NCAA Sweet 16.
Colorado returned home this week for the first time since Dec. 17, after playing the last five away from home, which hadn't happened since the end of the 2001 season with a final regular season road game and then four neutral site Big 12 and NCAA Tournament games. The five away from home hadn't been done entirely in the regular season since the 1993-94 team played seven in a row away from Boulder in the late preseason (5) and early Big Eight Conference schedule (2).
FOR OPENERS, CONFERENCE VERSION: Colorado improved to 22-16 in all-time in conference openers with its 58-52 win over Utah. The win snapped a three-game losing streak in road conference openers for the Buffaloes.
DEFENDING THE HOOP: Colorado allowed just 51.7 points in the 11 nonconference games, limiting the opponent to just 33.2 percent shooting overall (34.6 percent on two-point attempts and 29.7 from three-point range). The Buffaloes held five nonconference opponents under 50 points. CU has held its opponent under 50 points 11 times in CU head coach Linda Lappe's 51-game tenure.
REBOUNDING WOWS: Colorado has outrebounded its opponent 12 of 17 games, including 11 in a row prior to the Washington game. CU's margin of plus-8.4 on the season, ranks third in the Pac-12. CU had a big night on the glass against San Francisco, ending with a margin of plus-33 (53-20). That plus-33 margin overall is tied for the ninth best margin in team history and tied for the fourth best since the NCAA/Big Eight Conference era began with the 1982-83 season. It's also the widest margin since the Buffaloes put up a similar plus-33 margin against Bowling Green (59-26) on Nov. 23, 2001. Those two games are the best since CU outrebounded Northern Arizona by 34 (56-22) on Dec. 18, 1993.
Colorado has grabbed 50 or more rebounds four times this season, including a high of 54 against Texas-Pan American. It's the most 50-plus rebound games for the Buffaloes since they also had four during the 1994-95 season.
On the other end of the spectrum, CU's 20 rebounds allowed to San Francisco tied for the second-lowest in team history. The Buffaloes held a team at 20 on three other occasions, most recently against Loyola Chicago in a 65-34 win on Nov. 27, 2010. The record low is 19, set against Northern Arizona on Feb. 7, 1981.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Chucky Jeffery earned Colorado's first ever Pac-12 Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week honor on Dec. 4. Her award was the fourth overall for the Buffaloes in their inaugural Pac-12 season, joining three football winners from earlier this fall. The league Player of the Week honor is also the first for women's basketball since Brittany Spears was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 23, 2009. For Jeffery, it's her second similar honor, as she was the Big 12 Freshman of the Week winner on Jan. 11, 2010.
Jeffery averaged 28 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 64.5 percent from the floor, leading the Buffaloes to wins over San Francisco (84-66) and Idaho (68-59).
CHUCKY DOUBLES: Chucky Jeffery has five double-doubles on the season, tied for seventh in the Pac-12, including a string of three-straight (Wisconsin-San Francisco-Idaho). It was the first time a CU player had double-doubles in three-straight games since Jackie McFarland had two separate strings of three during the 2006-07 season. She joins Bridget Turner as the only other guard in team history with three-straight double-doubles. Turner pulled the trifecta during the 1988-89 season, with one of her doubles the points-assists variety.
Overall she is the seventh player to achieve three straight double-doubles. CU Athletic Hall of Famer Lisa Van Goor holds the consecutive mark of six during the 1980-81 season.
LEXY AMONG ELITE COMPANY: Freshman guard Lexy Kresl scored in double-digits in the first six games of her career, tying CU Athletic Hall of Fame member and All-American Shelley Sheetz for the second-most in team history. Current CU Director of Basketball Operations Tracy Tripp holds the mark of 10, set during the 1985-86 season.
CHUCKY REBOUNDS: Junior guard Chucky Jeffery became the 20th player in team history to reach 500 rebounds in the win over Washington State and now sits at 519. She has a career average of 6.8 per game which jumps to 7.9 since the beginning of her sophomore year (47 games). She had a career night on the glass at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, grabbing 16 rebounds in the win over the Islanders. Her 16 rebounds were the most by a CU player since Jackie McFarland recorded 18 at Kansas on Feb. 6, 2007.
LEXY'S RECORD NIGHT: Freshman guard Lexy Kresl had a memorable collegiate debut making 5-of-6 3-point attempts in the first half of CU's 84-60 win over Northern Arizona. She tied a school record for 3-pointers made in one half, a feat that had happened five previous times by three players. Bianca Smith, who was the last person to hit five in one half (vs. Nebraska on Jan. 31, 2009), did it three times. Kate Fagan and CU Athletic Hall of Famer and All-American Shelly Sheetz are the other two.
MALCOLM-PECK CLIMBING IN 3-POINTERS, BLOCKS: Junior Meagan Malcolm-Peck ranks 13th on CU's all-time list for 3-pointers with 73 and needs one to catch Sabrina Scott (1999-03) for 12th. She is 14th in career blocked shots with 61.
JEFFERY MOVING UP CAREER LADDERS, 1,000 POINTS ON THE HORIZON: Junior guard Chucky Jeffery had one steal against Stanford moving her total to 172 and remaining 12th on CU's all-time list. Jeffery is also 17th on Colorado's career ledger for assists (297), tied for 17th in blocked shots (48) and 20th in rebounds (519) .
Jeffery has 946 career points, needing just 54 to become the 24th player in team history to reach 1,000. She is on pace to be just the 10th player to reach that milestone before her senior year.
BUFFS ON TV: Colorado's regular season schedule will feature at least nine regionally or nationally televised games in 2011-12. CU made its first appearance on The Mtn in the win over Colorado State on Nov. 20. Colorado will have eight games air on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain. The first was the San Francisco game on Nov. 30, followed by Idaho (Dec. 4), Denver (Dec. 8) and Stanford (Jan. 14). Also scheduled for ROOT Sports are at Arizona (Jan. 22), UCLA (Jan. 29), Utah (Feb. 18) and Oregon (Mar. 1). All ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain games are available nationally on DIRECTV and DISH Network.
The games with Arizona and UCLA are part of the Pac-12's FSN national package. In addition, CU's home game against Arizona State on Saturday, Feb. 11, is part of the Pac-12's FSN Wildcard Weekend. One of the five league contests scheduled for that date will be picked up for national broadcast, but that determination won't be made until the last week in January. If the CU-Arizona State game is selected for FSN the game time will change from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. MST, per conference guidelines.
CU has appeared on 91 regional or national telecasts over the last 10 seasons.