Colorado senior guard Marcus Hall must have felt like he was playing in front of a mirror Tuesday night in the Buffaloes’ 54-44 win over the University of Denver at Magness Arena.
Each time Hall made a move, a Pioneers defender moved along with him.
Should anybody have expected anything else? It was Air Force coaches alumni day, with Colorado’s Jeff Bzdelik and DU’s Joe Scott running many of the same patterns in their variations of the Princeton-like offense.
Both teams played a form of me-and-my-shadow all evening. It was tough to shake loose.
“We’d call a play, and they’d call it right out,” said Hall, who led all scorers with 18 points. “The good thing about this offense, though, is there are a lot of counters.”
Colorado (4-2) countered better than Denver (2-3) countered. The Buffs, earning their first true road victory under Bzdelik after two wins on a neutral court in Madison, Wis., trailed only once in the game. But after a 3-pointer by DU senior forward David Kummer made it 7-6, Colorado regained the lead on a jumper by Hall from the left wing.
Hall then bagged a 3-pointer, also from the left side, that highlighted an 8-2 run. That’s not exactly a runaway. But in a low-scoring game, a six-point differential can be huge.
It proved too much for Denver to overcome. The Pioneers trailed 25-17 at halftime.
“The first half cost us the game,” Scott said.
Neither team shot well and both made far too many turnovers to suit their new coaches. The defenses deserved some credit.
“(Denver) runs their stuff extremely well,” Bzdelik said. “Our game plan was to try to get them to be a little chaotic. They’re a well-coached team.”
Bzdelik should know. He took over Air Force in 2005 after Scott left for Princeton after the 2003-04 season. Both coaches led Air Force to an NCAA Tournament. Chris Mooney coached the Falcons in 2004-05.
This was like two chess masters matching each other move for move, only each is missing a few pieces. The game didn’t have much flow, which wasn’t surprising. Both teams are learning an entirely different system than what they had been recruited to play.
The backdoor layups will come in time. CU could see plenty on Thursday night when Bzdelik returns for a game at Air Force but this time wearing a Buffaloes logo.
“This was two teams in the same backyard competing,” Bzdelik said, disappointed that his squad missed six first-half layups. “We’re not big. We’re young at spots. We need to dig out about every game. That’s who we are.”
A trio of 3-pointers by Kummer provided more than half of the Pioneers’ offense before halftime. But Colorado couldn’t pull away until late in the game, when a jumper by Xavier Silas with 2:38 to go kick-started an 8-0 run.
“Coach (Bzdelik) tells us that if we hold a team under 60 points, we’re going to win most of the time, no matter what our offense does,” Hall said.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
COLORADO (4-2)
Jackson-Wilson 2-4 0-0 4, Hall 5-10 6-7 18, Higgins 1-3 4-4 6, Silas 1-9 5-8 7, Roby 7-11 0-0 15, Thorne 1-3 0-0 2, Patterson 0-1 0-0 0, Knutson 1-4 0-0 2, King-Stockton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-45 15-19 54.
DENVER (2-3)
Kummer 4-12 4-4 15, Tanner 0-2 1-2 1, Bullock 2-6 0-0 6, K.Lewis 2-8 0-0 6, Rohnert 1-3 1-2 3, R.Lewis 1-2 0-0 2, Jackson 3-6 0-0 7, McNally 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 15-43 6-8 44.
Halftime — CU 25-17. 3-point goals — CU 3-13 (Hall 2-5, Roby 1-2, Silas 0-2, Knutson 0-2, Thorne 0-2), DU 8-25 (Kummer 3-8, Bullock 2-3, K.Lewis 2-8, Jackson 1-4, McNally 0-1, Rohnert 0-1). Fouled out — McNally. Rebounds — CU 35 (Roby 9), DU 24 (Kummer 6). Assists — CU 11 (Hall, Roby 3), DU 13 (Bullock 5). Total fouls — CU 8, DU 16. A — 5,035.
