News and notes from Boulder, where the second-ranked Arizona Wildcats fell to Colorado on Saturday night.
Scary time for Baltic-born Cats
Always appearing to be plenty motivated, Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa had even more to play for this weekend.
At what was about 6 a.m. Estonian time on his mother’s birthday Friday, Kriisa began putting together a triple-double in a late-night game on Thursday at Utah. Thursday also happened to be his country’s birthday: Estonian Independence Day, celebrating its declaration of independence in 1918.
After 1918, Estonia still spent decades under Soviet control until re-establishing its sovereignty in 1991. Estonia’s holiday on Thursday came at a perilous time for the region.
When asked about the Russia-Ukraine situation last week, Kriisa he didn’t want to discuss political issues. But Kriisa’s hometown of Tartu, Estonia, is only 750 miles from Kyiv, Ukraine and Arizonas’ Tubelis brothers are even closer to the conflict: Their hometown of Vilnius, Lithuania is only 450 miles away.
“I knew (Thursday) was a big day with Estonia Independence Day and everything going on in the region,” said UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who was the lead recruiter for Kriisa and the Tubelis brothers. “It’s a big deal to see what’s happening in Ukraine right now. That impacts guys. The center of the world right now is in the backyard of some of our guys on the team.”
Guard Pelle Larsson (Nacka, Sweden) is from the other side of the Baltic Sea, while Adama Bal (Le Mans, France) is also from Europe.
Same names, different Wildcats
When Colorado beat Arizona 82-79 last season at the CU Events Center, guard Kerr Kriisa was playing in just his second college game and Bennedict Mathurin was pulled from the starting lineup because then-UA coach Sean Miller didn’t like his attitude at Utah two nights earlier.
The Wildcats also had another promising freshman in Azuolas Tubelis, who had 18 points in that game.
But Colorado coach Tad Boyle said he was still somewhat surprised to see that talented core turn all the way into the nation’s second-ranked team by the next time they went to Colorado.
“I didn’t think they would play at this level — they’ve all gotten better,” Boyle said. “Mathurin’s really improved. (Christian) Koloko, I mean, holy cow, his transformation. Tubelis we knew he was going to be a good player. Kriisa, when we played against him you couldn’t tell but as the year went on he kept getting better.
“And Pelle Larsson, he was one of my favorite freshmen (at Utah last season). When they got him, I was just like `Oh, my.’"
Short rest
Saturday’s 6 p.m. tipoff allowed Arizona to aim for a scheduled arrival home via charter around midnight, giving the Wildcats two nights at home before they will head to Los Angeles to prepare to face USC on Tuesday.
There was only one issue: The Wildcats charter flight out of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport was scheduled to be in the air just as another critical game in the Pac-12 race — between USC and Oregon — was expected to finish.
Colorado forward Tristan da Silva, right, drives past Arizona guard Dalen Terry as Colorado guard Julian Hammond III looks on during Saturday’s first half.
Buff booze
In addition to beer and wine, fans at the CU Events Center could go for a number of different canned cocktails for $12 each.
Choices include: whiskey mules, vodka mules, vodka sodas and bloody marys.
There were also Topo Chico hard seltzers, a strawberry beer and even a pineapple-mango hard seltzer infused with vitamin C.
CU fans cheer in the second half of Saturday's game.
C-Unit goes easy
While there were four guys in banana suits and a bunch of others wearing CU hard hats, the C-Unit student section was given an instruction sheet that was actually pretty mellow.
Instead of taking shots at the Wildcats, as many student section tip sheets do, this one merely instructed them on how to follow instructions to distract the Wildcats during free throws.
Among them: Moving hands to the left or right like windshield wipers, answering “Brick” when someone says “Let’s build a house,” and the old standard, “You’re Not Gonna Make It,” sung to the tune of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
Colorado senior forward Evan Battey makes a heart with his hands to acknowledge fans before Saturday's game.
Battey’s perspective
By the time he was introduced at Colorado’s Senior Night ceremonies on Saturday, Evan Battey had already started 98 games for the Buffs and played in another 25.
As a freshman in 2017-18, there was no telling if he’d play in any of them.
While sitting out that season for academic reasons, Battey suffered a stroke that December that kept him from working out the rest of the season and, initially, even from speaking.
With the help of his mother, Rosalind Lewis, Battey plowed through it.
“It’s gratifying to have a mother that really didn’t allow me to feel sorry for myself,” Battey said. “You know, I couldn’t get better at talking unless I talked every day. Sometimes I was afraid to talk. Sometimes I would not talk at all.
“My mom was like `I know you, I know my son.’ Speak to me. She didn’t care how many times I messed up and how many times I pronounce something wrong.”
Battey said going through that helped lead to a big-picture approach and mentality comes from.
“The sun rises every day. It doesn’t stop for nobody,” Battey said. “It’s important that we move on and keep things in the past.
Buffs moving on
Battey wiped away tears with his jersey while receiving a loud standing ovation during a pregame Senior Night ceremony, while guard Eli Parquet also drew loud cheers.
Both of them could have come back to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility afforded to athletes who participated in the COVID-stricken 2020-21 season but Battey said he felt it was time to move on.
Battey has actually already spent five seasons at Colorado because he sat out the 2017-18 season, so he said it was time to go during an interview before Saturday’s game.
“I just get the feeling that it’s about these guys,” Battey said, motioning to some younger teammates on CU’s practice court. “I’ve had a wonderful four years playing here, five years being here. I really have no regrets. I won a lot of games here. It’s more than me now. It’s always more than me. It’s about the team. It’s about progress.
“I’m just trying to leave an impact on the other guys, to have them be good players in the future, achieve things they want to achieve and and ultimately be better people.”
Quotable
One thing “that makes Arizona to me so special is their ability to pass the ball. They’re just elite passers at this level and that’s the European influence. Because European players, they know how to pass. American players know how to dribble the ball. Sometimes."
— Colorado coach Tad Boyle
