Buffs Aim To Take Recent Success With Them On Road
February 12, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Get ready for a wild-and-wooly finish in the Pac-12.
With just three weeks remaining in conference play, there's plenty yet to be decided, with the second, third and fourth spots in the standings still up for grabs to as many as eight teams.
Yes, Arizona has established itself atop the top of the standings with a 10-3 conference mark, two games ahead of the pack. At the bottom, Cal (2-11) and Washington State (1-11) are good bets to finish in the 11th and 12th spots.
But the rest of the pack? After last week's topsy-turvy results, there are eight teams — including Colorado — still with legitimate shots at a top-four finish and first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
The eight teams currently occupying the second through ninth positions in the conference standings are: UCLA and USC at 8-5; Oregon and Washington at 7-5; and Colorado, Arizona State, Utah and Stanford all at 7-6.
That's eight teams currently separated by just one game, all looking for a top-four finish.
The good news is, Tad Boyle's 15-10 Buffs have a schedule that puts them in control of their fate. The Buffs play three of the teams ahead of them in the standings (UCLA, USC and Washington) one with whom they are currently tied (Utah), and one against a team behind them (Washington State).
The not-so-good news is that after a successful 3-0 homestand, Colorado plays three of its remaining five games on the road, beginning with this week's trip to Washington State (9 p.m Thursday) and Washington (6 p.m. Saturday). Both games will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
"If we want to continue to climb the ladder, we have to go compete on the road like we competed at home," Boyle said after Sunday's 64-56 win over Stanford. "It's the same game. It's the same group of officials, same basket height — just different venues. We have to play with great toughness, energy and effort in Pullman on Thursday and in Seattle on Saturday like we've played in two of the last three games."
If the Buffs can indeed do that — play like they did in wins over Utah and Stanford — they have a chance to put together a strong finish.
The Buffs were at their best in those wins, following Boyle's fundamental rules for success: play defense and rebound. In all three home wins, Colorado held its opponents to under 37 percent shooting. The Buffs also won the rebound battle against Utah and Stanford, and thus collected wins despite not being at their best offensively.
The only blip in that stretch came against Cal, when CU committed 19 turnovers and allowed 18 offensive rebounds. But even that game produced a win, thanks to 50 percent shooting from the field, and at this point of the season, every win is critical.
A big key to Colorado's recent play has been balance. The Buffs have been receiving contributions from a variety of players at critical junctures.
Sophomore forward Lucas Siewert scored in double figures in two of the three wins, including a career-high 17 points — and career-tying seven rebounds — against Stanford. Freshman McKinley Wright had 21 points against Utah and 17 against Cal. Senior George King averaged 10 points and eight rebounds per game over the three wins. Freshman D'Shawn Schwartz had eight points — all coming at crucial moments — against Cal. Freshman Tyler Bey had a nine-point, six-rebound effort against Cal and freshman Dallas Walton had 12 rebounds in the two games against Cal and Utah.
Meanwhile, the Buffs received some stellar defensive efforts from their youngsters — Bey, Walton and Siewert — in the post. Against the likes of Utah's David Collette and Tyler Rawson, Cal's Kingsley Okoroh and Marcus Lee, and Stanford's Travis Reid, CU's post players more than held their own.
"We've got freshmen and sophomores in the post going up against these older, experienced guys," Boyle said. "They've shown, defensively, some toughness and some grit that really makes me feel good about the future of our front line in terms of where it stands right now."
The Buffs will need all of that and more this week if they want to add to their current road win total of one. While Colorado did handle Washington State at home earlier this season, 82-73, they have more often than not struggled in Pullman. Two of their last three trips there have been overtime losses, including a 91-89 decision last year.
As for Washington, there's little doubt the Buffs would like to make up for a disappointing 72-62 loss to the Huskies in Boulder in January, a game Washington dominated.
"I said this before the season, the future of Colorado basketball is bright," Boyle said. "I know we lost some games early we shouldn't have lost. I'm not going to blame it on youth. They play five guys, we play five guys. Our guys are getting better and showing improvement and now they're showing it against Pac-12 level play, which is obviously what it's all about."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
