Boyle's Buffs Open Crucial Home Stretch Friday Vs. Utah
January 29, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Now just past the halfway point of the Pac-12 season, the Colorado Buffaloes find themselves in a conference logjam.
The Buffs, who return home this week for the beginning of a three-game homestand, currently sit at 12-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play. They are part of a tightly bunched eight-team pack that currently occupies the third through 10th spots in the standings, with just two games separating the group.
It means the home stretch will be the decisive run for a couple of those teams as they battle for a top-four conference finish and a first-round bye in the March 7-10 Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.
The Buffs, now sitting on a three-game losing streak after dropping a pair in Arizona last week, have a favorable stretch-run schedule. Colorado will play five of its final eight games at home, beginning with Friday's 7 p.m. matchup with Utah (FS1). If the Buffs can hold serve at home and pick up at least one more road win, a 10-8 conference record might be enough to sneak into the top four.
But it begins this week.
Friday's home game with the Utes — Colorado's only game this week — comes at a good time. The Buffs did not practice Sunday or Monday, as head coach Tad Boyle gave his players a chance to heal up the bumps and bruises that come with already having played 22 games.
A little time off will also give CU a chance to recharge for what will be a crucial stretch: Friday's home game with Utah, followed by a Feb. 7 home game with Cal (9 p.m.) and a Feb. 11 home game against Stanford (2 p.m.).
The Buffs will return to practice Tuesday.
"We have to have some really good days of practice because there's a lot of areas we need to improve upon as we go into this stretch run of the conference race," Boyle said. "It's a very important week for us."
It's also an important week for the Buffs simply in terms of ending a recent losing skid to the Utes.
After the two schools entered the Pac-12 in 2011-12, Colorado won five of the first six meetings with Utah. But since then, the Utes have won seven in a row over Colorado — the Buffs' longest current losing streak to any Pac-12 school — including three straight in Boulder.
The Buffs are 8-2 at the Coors Events Center this year, with wins over nationally ranked Arizona and Arizona State. But the two losses, to San Diego and to Washington, were perhaps two of CU's most disappointing efforts.
From here on out, the Buffs can't afford any slip-ups at home. Four of their remaining five home opponents — Utah, Stanford, USC and UCLA — are currently ahead of Colorado in the Pac-12 standings, and each game will offer the Buffs a chance to move up from their current ninth-place spot.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu