THE GAME: The University of Colorado continues its season-long six-game home stand by hosting the University of Denver on Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center.
BROADCAST: Thursday's game will be televised by ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain. Tom Helmer will have the call with legendary CU head coach Ceal Barry providing the color commentary and Alanna Rizzo reporting from the sidelines. Thursday's game will air on KKZN AM 760 with Mike Rice handling the play-by-play and Carol Callan of USA Basketball with the color commentary. Live internet audio is available on CUBuffs.com, through the BuffsRadio free subscription.
OPENING TIP: Reigning Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week Chucky Jeffery has double-doubles in three straight games, a first by a CU player since the 2006-07 season. Thursday's game includes a halftime performance by the popular Disc Dogs.
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 7-0 and off to its best start since matching that mark to begin the 1993-94 season. Colorado will play game five of a six-game home stand at the Coors Events Center where the Buffaloes are a perfect 5-0 and outscoring their opponents by nearly 18 points per game (70.8 to 53.0).
Colorado has shown early balance with four players averaging between nine and 18 points per game and seven averaging at least five per contest. The Buffaloes are averaging 71.0 points per game and shooting 44 percent from the field. CU's defense has held its opponents to 53.7 points per game, ranking third best in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes lead the Pac-12 in free-throw percentage (.719) and rank third in rebounding defense (32.4 rpg) and scoring margin (+17.3) and fourth field-goal percentage defense (.335).
After a slow start the Buffaloes are steadily improving on the glass and from the free-throw line. After shooting just 61.5 percent from the free-throw line over the first two games (24-of-39) CU is 77.3 percent over the last five (58-of-75). After being out-rebounded in the season-opening win over Northern Arizona, Colorado has won the battle of the boards the last six games, including an impressive plus-33 margin against San Francisco (53-20).
Junior guard Chucky Jeffery is on a tear. She received Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 4 after averaging 28 points, 11 rebounds and shooting 64.5 percent from the field in wins over San Francisco and Idaho. Overall she leads the Buffaloes at 18.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. She is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring and ranks third in defensive rebounds (7.4 drpg), sixth in rebounding, assists and blocked shots (1.4 bpg), seventh in 3-point field-goal percentage (.438), eighth in minutes (33.0 mpg), ninth in free-throw percentage (.793), 10th in field-goal percentage (.538), 14th in steals (1.7 spg) and 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).
Jeffery is coming off a career-best and team season-high 30 points in the win over Idaho. With 10 rebounds, it was also her fourth double-double of the season (third-straight) and 14th of her career. She was named MVP of the Omni Hotels Classic after averaging 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in the two games, including 14 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game win over Wisconsin.
Freshman guard Lexy Kresl is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game and leads the Buffaloes in both 3-point field goals (15) and free-throw percentage at 94.1 percent. She has made 15-straight free throws dating back to the Colorado State game and her percentage leads the Pac-12. She also ranks fourth in 3-pointers made (2.1 3mpg), 13 in 3-point percentage (.375) and 18th in scoring. She averaged 13 points and four rebounds during the Omni Hotels Classic, en route to All-Tournament Team honors.
Sophomore guard Brittany Wilson is third on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game and is second on the team with 10 steals. She tied a career-high with 22 points against Northern Arizona in the season opener, a team-season high. On the Pac-12 charts, Wilson ranks 12th in 3-pointers (1.6 3mpg) and 23rd in scoring.
Brittany's twin sister Ashley Wilson was her starting back court mate for the season's first two games, the first two starts of her career. She has made eight of her first 18 field goal attempts and is averaging three points and 3.1 rebounds. She had a career-best seven rebounds in the Omni Classic first round win over Valparaiso to go along with seven points. Additionally, she is averaging 4.3 rebounds over the last four games.
Junior Meagan Malcolm-Peck has played well defensively, averaging five rebounds and just under one blocked shot per game. She is one of three Buffaloes with a
team-best 14 offensive rebounds so far and her 2.3 per game average ranks 13th in the Pac-12.
Colorado's front court duo of senior Julie Seabrook and sophomore Rachel Hargis are the only two players to start all seven games. Seabrook leads Colorado in field-goal percentage at 59 percent (19-of-32) and has averaged 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds over the past two games. She recorded a personal-best 18 points on 8-of 13 from the field in the win over San Francisco. Hargis played a career-best 33 minutes in the Omni Classic championship game win over Wisconsin, recording eight points and seven rebounds. She matched a career-high with four field-goals made against the Badgers and also had a personal-best nine field-goal attempts.
Colorado's bench has been outstanding, accounting for 177 of 497 points or 36 percent of the team's scoring through seven games. Although Kresl cracked the starting lineup for three of those games, she and inside classmate Jen Reese have accounted for the bulk of that bench production. Reese, who had a personal-best 13 points at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, is averaging just under 10 points per contest and shooting 47 percent from the field (23-of-49). Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the Buffaloes had a season-high 43 bench points (Jeffery 19, Reese 13, Kresl 11). Reese has also been hitting the boards, ranking second on the team at 6.2 per game.
HISTORIC START: Colorado is 7-0 for the first time since 1993-94, looking for its third start of 8-0 or better in team history. The only two teams in school history to start better were the 1992-93 squad at 15-0 and a 12-0 run by the 1980-81 Buffaloes. Here is a break down of CU's best starts:
Year Start Final Record Other
1992-93 15-0 27-4 NCAA Elite 8
1980-81 12-0 28-5 *AIAW National Tourn. First Round
2011-12 7-0 ?? Best Start Since 1993-94
1993-94 7-0 27-5 NCAA Sweet 16
1982-83 7-0 21-8 #Big Eight Semifinals
1988-89 6-0 27-4 NCAA First Round
*-CU's first national tournament appearance; #-First year of Big Eight Conference round-robin play.
ABOUT THE PIONEERS: Denver is 6-2 overall, but 2-2 after a fast 4-0 start. The Pioneers are coming off a 53-52 win over Montana at home. Three of DU's wins are against the other Colorado NCAA Division I schools, Colorado State at home and Air Force and Northern Colorado on the road. Denver is averaging 60.9 points per game while giving up just slightly less at 60.4. In fact three of DU's wins (Air Force, CSU, Montana) have been by three points or less. The Pioneers were picked to win the Western Division of the Sun Belt Conference this season by the league's coaches.
All-Sun Belt Conference forward, and 2011-12 SBC Co-Preseason Player of the Year Kaetlyn Murdoch leads Denver with 17 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Quincey Noonan is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 and has a team-leading 17 steals. Junior guard Emiko Smith tops the Pioneers in assists at 5.8 per game while scoring at 8.5 points per contest. Sophomore forward Maiya Michel is Denver's top rebounder at 7.4 per game.
REBOUNDING WOWS: Colorado has outrebounded its opponent in six straight games and overall by a margin of plus-11.1 on the season, ranking third in the Pac-12 and 16th in the nation (through games of Dec. 4). CU had a big night on the glass against San Francicso, ending with a margin of plus-33 (53-20). That plus-33 margin overall is tied for the ninth best margin in team history and tied for the fourth best since the NCAA/Big Eight Conference era began with the 1982-83 season. It's also the widest margin since the Buffaloes put up a similar plus-33 margin against Bowling Green (59-26) on Nov. 23, 2001. Those two games are the best since CU outrebounded Northern Arizona by 34 (56-22) on Dec. 18, 1993.
Additionally, CU's 20 rebounds allowed to San Francisco tied for the second-lowest in team history. The Buffaloes held a team at 20 on three other occasions, most recently against Loyola Chicago in a 65-34 win on Nov. 27, 2010. The record low is 19, set against Northern Arizona on Feb. 7, 1981.
CHUCKY DOUBLES: Chucky Jeffery has four double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the Pac-12, including three-straight. It's the first time a CU player has had double-doubles in three-straight games since Jackie McFarland had two separate strings of three during the 2006-07 season. She joins Bridget Turner as the only other guard in team history with three-straight double-doubles. Turner pulled the trifecta during the 1988-89 season, with one of her doubles the points-assists variety.
Overall she is the seventh player to achieve three straight double-doubles. CU Athletic Hall of Famer Lisa Van Goor holds the consecutive mark of six during the 1980-81 season. A fourth by Jeffery would be the most since Van Goor ran off a string of five in a row late in the 1982-83 season.
LEXY AMONG ELITE COMPANY: Freshman guard Lexy Kresl scored in double-digits in the first six games of her career, tying CU Athletic Hall of Fame member and All-American Shelley Sheetz for the second-most in team history. Current CU Director of Basketball Operations Tracy Tripp holds the mark of 10, set during the 1985-86 season.
BROADCAST: Thursday's game will be televised by ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain. Tom Helmer will have the call with legendary CU head coach Ceal Barry providing the color commentary and Alanna Rizzo reporting from the sidelines. Thursday's game will air on KKZN AM 760 with Mike Rice handling the play-by-play and Carol Callan of USA Basketball with the color commentary. Live internet audio is available on CUBuffs.com, through the BuffsRadio free subscription.
OPENING TIP: Reigning Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week Chucky Jeffery has double-doubles in three straight games, a first by a CU player since the 2006-07 season. Thursday's game includes a halftime performance by the popular Disc Dogs.
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 7-0 and off to its best start since matching that mark to begin the 1993-94 season. Colorado will play game five of a six-game home stand at the Coors Events Center where the Buffaloes are a perfect 5-0 and outscoring their opponents by nearly 18 points per game (70.8 to 53.0).
Colorado has shown early balance with four players averaging between nine and 18 points per game and seven averaging at least five per contest. The Buffaloes are averaging 71.0 points per game and shooting 44 percent from the field. CU's defense has held its opponents to 53.7 points per game, ranking third best in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes lead the Pac-12 in free-throw percentage (.719) and rank third in rebounding defense (32.4 rpg) and scoring margin (+17.3) and fourth field-goal percentage defense (.335).
After a slow start the Buffaloes are steadily improving on the glass and from the free-throw line. After shooting just 61.5 percent from the free-throw line over the first two games (24-of-39) CU is 77.3 percent over the last five (58-of-75). After being out-rebounded in the season-opening win over Northern Arizona, Colorado has won the battle of the boards the last six games, including an impressive plus-33 margin against San Francisco (53-20).
Junior guard Chucky Jeffery is on a tear. She received Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 4 after averaging 28 points, 11 rebounds and shooting 64.5 percent from the field in wins over San Francisco and Idaho. Overall she leads the Buffaloes at 18.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. She is fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring and ranks third in defensive rebounds (7.4 drpg), sixth in rebounding, assists and blocked shots (1.4 bpg), seventh in 3-point field-goal percentage (.438), eighth in minutes (33.0 mpg), ninth in free-throw percentage (.793), 10th in field-goal percentage (.538), 14th in steals (1.7 spg) and 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).
Jeffery is coming off a career-best and team season-high 30 points in the win over Idaho. With 10 rebounds, it was also her fourth double-double of the season (third-straight) and 14th of her career. She was named MVP of the Omni Hotels Classic after averaging 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in the two games, including 14 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game win over Wisconsin.
Freshman guard Lexy Kresl is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game and leads the Buffaloes in both 3-point field goals (15) and free-throw percentage at 94.1 percent. She has made 15-straight free throws dating back to the Colorado State game and her percentage leads the Pac-12. She also ranks fourth in 3-pointers made (2.1 3mpg), 13 in 3-point percentage (.375) and 18th in scoring. She averaged 13 points and four rebounds during the Omni Hotels Classic, en route to All-Tournament Team honors.
Sophomore guard Brittany Wilson is third on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game and is second on the team with 10 steals. She tied a career-high with 22 points against Northern Arizona in the season opener, a team-season high. On the Pac-12 charts, Wilson ranks 12th in 3-pointers (1.6 3mpg) and 23rd in scoring.
Brittany's twin sister Ashley Wilson was her starting back court mate for the season's first two games, the first two starts of her career. She has made eight of her first 18 field goal attempts and is averaging three points and 3.1 rebounds. She had a career-best seven rebounds in the Omni Classic first round win over Valparaiso to go along with seven points. Additionally, she is averaging 4.3 rebounds over the last four games.
Junior Meagan Malcolm-Peck has played well defensively, averaging five rebounds and just under one blocked shot per game. She is one of three Buffaloes with a
team-best 14 offensive rebounds so far and her 2.3 per game average ranks 13th in the Pac-12.
Colorado's front court duo of senior Julie Seabrook and sophomore Rachel Hargis are the only two players to start all seven games. Seabrook leads Colorado in field-goal percentage at 59 percent (19-of-32) and has averaged 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds over the past two games. She recorded a personal-best 18 points on 8-of 13 from the field in the win over San Francisco. Hargis played a career-best 33 minutes in the Omni Classic championship game win over Wisconsin, recording eight points and seven rebounds. She matched a career-high with four field-goals made against the Badgers and also had a personal-best nine field-goal attempts.
Colorado's bench has been outstanding, accounting for 177 of 497 points or 36 percent of the team's scoring through seven games. Although Kresl cracked the starting lineup for three of those games, she and inside classmate Jen Reese have accounted for the bulk of that bench production. Reese, who had a personal-best 13 points at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, is averaging just under 10 points per contest and shooting 47 percent from the field (23-of-49). Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the Buffaloes had a season-high 43 bench points (Jeffery 19, Reese 13, Kresl 11). Reese has also been hitting the boards, ranking second on the team at 6.2 per game.
HISTORIC START: Colorado is 7-0 for the first time since 1993-94, looking for its third start of 8-0 or better in team history. The only two teams in school history to start better were the 1992-93 squad at 15-0 and a 12-0 run by the 1980-81 Buffaloes. Here is a break down of CU's best starts:
Year Start Final Record Other
1992-93 15-0 27-4 NCAA Elite 8
1980-81 12-0 28-5 *AIAW National Tourn. First Round
2011-12 7-0 ?? Best Start Since 1993-94
1993-94 7-0 27-5 NCAA Sweet 16
1982-83 7-0 21-8 #Big Eight Semifinals
1988-89 6-0 27-4 NCAA First Round
*-CU's first national tournament appearance; #-First year of Big Eight Conference round-robin play.
ABOUT THE PIONEERS: Denver is 6-2 overall, but 2-2 after a fast 4-0 start. The Pioneers are coming off a 53-52 win over Montana at home. Three of DU's wins are against the other Colorado NCAA Division I schools, Colorado State at home and Air Force and Northern Colorado on the road. Denver is averaging 60.9 points per game while giving up just slightly less at 60.4. In fact three of DU's wins (Air Force, CSU, Montana) have been by three points or less. The Pioneers were picked to win the Western Division of the Sun Belt Conference this season by the league's coaches.
All-Sun Belt Conference forward, and 2011-12 SBC Co-Preseason Player of the Year Kaetlyn Murdoch leads Denver with 17 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Quincey Noonan is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 and has a team-leading 17 steals. Junior guard Emiko Smith tops the Pioneers in assists at 5.8 per game while scoring at 8.5 points per contest. Sophomore forward Maiya Michel is Denver's top rebounder at 7.4 per game.
REBOUNDING WOWS: Colorado has outrebounded its opponent in six straight games and overall by a margin of plus-11.1 on the season, ranking third in the Pac-12 and 16th in the nation (through games of Dec. 4). CU had a big night on the glass against San Francicso, ending with a margin of plus-33 (53-20). That plus-33 margin overall is tied for the ninth best margin in team history and tied for the fourth best since the NCAA/Big Eight Conference era began with the 1982-83 season. It's also the widest margin since the Buffaloes put up a similar plus-33 margin against Bowling Green (59-26) on Nov. 23, 2001. Those two games are the best since CU outrebounded Northern Arizona by 34 (56-22) on Dec. 18, 1993.
Additionally, CU's 20 rebounds allowed to San Francisco tied for the second-lowest in team history. The Buffaloes held a team at 20 on three other occasions, most recently against Loyola Chicago in a 65-34 win on Nov. 27, 2010. The record low is 19, set against Northern Arizona on Feb. 7, 1981.
CHUCKY DOUBLES: Chucky Jeffery has four double-doubles on the season, ranking third in the Pac-12, including three-straight. It's the first time a CU player has had double-doubles in three-straight games since Jackie McFarland had two separate strings of three during the 2006-07 season. She joins Bridget Turner as the only other guard in team history with three-straight double-doubles. Turner pulled the trifecta during the 1988-89 season, with one of her doubles the points-assists variety.
Overall she is the seventh player to achieve three straight double-doubles. CU Athletic Hall of Famer Lisa Van Goor holds the consecutive mark of six during the 1980-81 season. A fourth by Jeffery would be the most since Van Goor ran off a string of five in a row late in the 1982-83 season.
LEXY AMONG ELITE COMPANY: Freshman guard Lexy Kresl scored in double-digits in the first six games of her career, tying CU Athletic Hall of Fame member and All-American Shelley Sheetz for the second-most in team history. Current CU Director of Basketball Operations Tracy Tripp holds the mark of 10, set during the 1985-86 season.
