Colorado Buffaloes Dominate Glass, Arizona State

By John Lloyd
Booker
Ron Chenoy- USA TODAY Sports

Josh Scott and the Colorado Buffaloes dominated the glass against the Arizona State Sun Devils in a signature win over one of the better teams in the Pac-12. Scott’s double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds helped the Buffs outrebound the Sun Devils by 20.

Despite a horrible perimeter shooting effort by the Buffs, going 1-for-9 (11 percent) from beyond the three-point line, they beat a pesky, quick Sun Devils team by nine, 61-52. Grabbing 15 offensive rebounds on the night, the Buffaloes got offense in a variety of ways with a combination of tip-ins, layups and dunks; they lived on second-chance points.

The Buffaloes might have just solidified their spot in the tournament with a big home win. An even bigger win would be the next game against the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday and could help them get a better seed in the tournament for an easier route to championship.

Colorado now sits in sole possession of third place in the Pac-12 at 20-7 (9-5) and look to be one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, a rarity in such a guard-driven conference. Scott and fellow forward Xavier Johnson have picked up the slack for the injured Spencer Dinwiddie. If they keep up their pace of rebounding, defense and scoring, they could be a fun team to watch on Selection Sunday.

As mentioned before, the Pac-12 lacks elite size for rebounding—aside from the obvious Arizona Wildcats—which plays in the advantage of the Buffaloes. Askia Booker benefited the most from his bigs dominating the glass, scoring a team-high 18 points in the process.

The Buffaloes grabbed a total of 48 rebounds on the night, giving them a huge advantage in a winning effort.

When a team shoots 37 percent from the floor it most likely loses the game, but holding the opponent to 31 percent from the floor and outrebounding them by 20 will win you games in and of itself.

John Lloyd is a Pac-12 Basketball Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JohnHLloydIII

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon

You May Also Like