“Coach said to make them run, so we did”: Men’s basketball romps No. 19 Oregon at home

By Jillian Arja in Front Page, Sports on Mar 8, 2013 8:48 / comments

The University of Colorado men’s basketball team took down No. 19 Oregon 74-53 in Coors Events Center Thursday night, claiming their second win against Oregon this season.

Colorado showed how basketball truly is a team sport with their bench contributing 16 points and earning big minutes. Junior forward Andre Roberson sat out with a viral illness, the Sports Information Department said, but his teammates stepped up.

“Me, Ski and Josh all had two fouls so [the bench] was big,” sophomore guard Spencer Dinwiddie said. “They all came in and played really well. Everybody had contributions and helped us win the game.

Missing their top rebounder, the men combined to fill Roberson’s spot. Dinwiddie and sophomore guard Askia Booker took 13 rebounds together.

“When somebody goes out, then you have to pick up the slack in that area,” Dinwiddie said. “We all just had to pick up the rebounds. We all have to pitch in on whatever we are going to lose, like when Andre goes out we knew we would be out 11 points, 11 rebounds.”

The win brings the Buffs’ record to 20-9 and 10-7 in the Pac-12. Oregon moves to 23-7 and 12-5 in the conference.

The Buffs had an impressive first half and finished it up by 16 points, 37-12. Freshman forward Josh Scott started for the Buffs again and scored a couple points for Colorado before getting in foul trouble and having to sit out.

Oregon looked slow by the end of the first, and freshman forward Xavier Johnson said that was their plan.

“That was our game plan: to run them down,” Johnson said. “I mean, we are up here in altitude, we might as well use it to our advantage. Coach said to make them run, so we did.”

Johnson came out strong in the second half. He ended the game with 22 points. Dinwiddie scored 17. The Buffs did not give up their lead at all in the second half, they only capitalized on it.

Johnson had a near-perfect night, shooting 7-7 from field-goal range, 3-3 from three-point range, and 5-6 at the free throw line.

“‘X’ has been working on his jump shots, so his performance was big time,” Head Coach Tad Boyle said. “When you make shots it covers up a lot of things and we were able to do that tonight. ‘X’ was a big part of that.”

Colorado had another big crowd in Coors Events Center Thursday night when 11,013 people cheered the Buffs to victory.

The mean’s team plays their last, regular-season home game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Oregon State.

Contact CU Independent Sports editor Jillian Arja at Jillian.arja@colorado.edu.