BOULDER, Colo.—Tad Boyle couldn’t get his team’s attention during the game so he’s hoping this will wake them up—he’s scheduled an intense early morning practice.
The Colorado coach was livid at his team for not defending the 3-point line, not respecting the scouting report his staff prepared and not really following directions.
All this distress after a win, too.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 24 points and Askia Booker added 14, helping Colorado hold off injury-depleted UC Santa Barbara 76-68 on Thursday night for its fifth straight victory.
For making it close, Boyle’s turning up the pressure at practice.
“What I don’t want is I don’t want our players to have a sense of entitlement,” Boyle said. “I don’t want players to feel like they can show up and play like this and it’s OK. We have to get better. The way we get better is by practicing.
“Maybe I’m getting too soft as a coach? We weren’t dialed in mentally tonight.”
Dinwiddie was certainly dialed in at the line, though, making 14 of 15 free throws as the Buffs (5-1) improved to 49-7 at home under Boyle. Sensing almost a sluggishness with his squad, Dinwiddie tried to pick up the tempo.
“I didn’t like the team energy coming out,” the junior guard explained. “When I felt that, I decided I wanted to be a little more aggressive in the game. That’s what happened.”
Taran Brown had a career-high 23 points for the Gauchos (2-2), who were without leading scorer and rebounder Alan Williams for a second straight game due to back spasms.
The Buffaloes knew Brown could shoot—it was spelled out in the scouting report—but not like this.
“Maybe this was a great night for him. Maybe he shoots like this for the rest of the year,” Booker said. “We don’t know. That’s a credit to him.”
With his parents, grandparents, high school coach and friends in the stands, Brown put on quite a show.
“It’s nice to have them here,” said Brown, who’s from Gillette, Wyo. “I wish we would have gotten the win, though.”
Xavier Johnson was back on the court for Colorado after sitting out two games with an undisclosed injury. He finished with nine points in 29 minutes.
The Gauchos were poised to pull off the upset, leading 54-52 with 5:51 remaining on a deep 3-pointer by Brown, one of seven he had on the night. But the Buffaloes went on a 12-0 run to take back control of the game.
The big play in the run was when Josh Scott was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play to give the Buffs a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Those were the only points of the game for Scott, the team’s leading scorer. Johnson also had a steal and a dunk to energize the crowd.
“We knew it would be a tough challenge,” UCSB coach Bob Williams said. “Tad has built a very strong program here.”
Alan Williams went through the shoot around Thursday and was feeling better, but the team elected to give the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Williams more time to rest his balky back. Gone with Williams were 24 points and 13 rebounds a game.
Santa Barbara also was missing John Green with a foot injury. The injury-plagued Gauchos did have Mitch Brewe back on the court after he sprained his left knee earlier this season in an exhibition game. He had four points and before fouling out.
“When we get all our pieces back we can really compete with anybody,” Brown said.
For Boyle, what was particularly disturbing was that Santa Barbara hit 11 of 28 3-pointers. Lately, teams have been burning the Buffs from long range.
“It’s officially a deficiency of our team now,” Boyle said. “Maybe I’ve been in denial, thinking, ‘Well, this team is hot, that team is hot.’ But when it happens six games in a row, I think maybe that’s a trend. We have to get better.”
Hence, the early morning practice.
“We fall back to how we prepare in practice,” said Boyle, whose team finishes a stretch of six straight home games on Sunday against Harvard. “If that’s not good enough, that’s on me. We have guys in that locker room thinking they can rise to the occasion. That doesn’t happen.
“Maybe what’s going to teach them is someone coming in here and hanging an ‘L’ on us, which if we play like we did today is going to happen on Sunday.”
