Senior guard Askia Booker pulls up for a jumper in the first half against Lipscomb on Sunday in Boulder, Colo. Booker finished with 18 points and a game-high 7 assists. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)
Before Sunday’s game, senior guard Askia Booker could hardly make a shot to save his life.
In the first four games of the season, he only managed to average 7.25 points per game and 2.75 rebounds per game. But all that changed against Lipscomb.
“It’s about that time, four games is not enough,” Booker said. “I owed it to my team. I had some other stuff I was dealing with personally and it showed that I let it get to my head.”
Up to that point, Booker’s season high score came against Auburn, where he contributed nine points in the 90-59 rout over the Tigers. But against the Lipscomb Bisons on Sunday, Booker managed to surpass that number in the first half alone.
“I tried to keep my energy up throughout those games, be positive with my teammates,” Booker said. “Individually, my head is clear now.”
When Lipscomb came to town for the fifth game of the Buffs’ 2014-15 season, Booker picked up his game and completed his first double-digit performance of the year. With five minutes left in the first half, Booker hit that mark when he sunk a three from the corner to put him at 11 points.
By the end of the half, Booker had amassed 13 points, five assists and a rebound. But for much of the second half, Booker once again had trouble finding the rhythm that he had in the first half. Booker managed to finish with 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds in a sloppy Buffs’ victory over the Bison.
By the end of the night, Colorado only managed to defeat the Bisons by nine after their three-point defense fell apart once again and they struggled against the zone. Booker’s performance certainly helped the Buffs gain and maintain their lead throughout the entire game.
“[Head coach Tad Boyle] was happy about the win, but he was saying that as of late, the past two games we’ve lost the second half,” Booker noted. “And if we can’t finish out games against teams like Air Force and Lipscomb, what happens when we play against UCLA or Arizona? So we have to just put both halves together and take care of the ball, take shots and be disciplined on defense.”
Contact CU Independent staff writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.Noe@colorado.edu.
