Brooks: 2,4,6,8 . . . Time For Buffs To Separate

BOULDER - Suddenly, it's crunch time. A couple of mornings ago, Tad Boyle had another name for it: Separation Week. That fits, too, especially considering the crowd huddled behind the first two entries in the Big 12 Conference basketball standings.

With Valentine's Day approaching - that constitutes a public service announcement - there's usually some daylight, some order at least, among the 12 pack. Not so this season.

Following Texas (8-0) and Kansas (8-1) is a jumbled assortment of four- and five-loss teams - eight to be exact. Only streaky Texas Tech (3-6) and snake-bit Iowa State (1-8) are outside that mix - and the Red Raiders could play themselves back into a mid-tier finish while the Cyclones seem relegated to soiling someone's March fantasy.

"I don't know if I've seen it like this," KU Coach Bill Self said. "I've said all along that parity sometimes gives the appearance of mediocrity - and that's not the case at all. There are good teams."

Colorado (4-5) is among the able eight. It's not healthy at this time of season to look at what might have been, but it's almost impossible not to sneak a peek at the recent past. Boyle's bunch is a better road team, but not yet a consistently good road team. The memory of conference losses at Nebraska, Oklahoma and Baylor are hard to flush - particularly the latter pair in light of OU (4-4) and Baylor (5-4) being perched ahead of CU in the standings.

That's the dark side, but we're here to show you the light. The Buffs have seven games remaining - four of them (Texas A&M, Kansas State, Texas, Nebraska) in the Coors Events Center, where they're 12-1 this season.

Remaining road trips are to Kansas, Texas Tech and Iowa State - and the latter two opponents have lost five games apiece this season on their respective home courts. As for playing Kansas at home . . . you know that story and we'll spare you the grisly details.

So, Boyle is right on - this is Separation Week for his Buffs. They catch No. 22 Texas A&M (4-4) Wednesday in the Events Center (7 p.m.) and semi-resurgent K-State (4-5) in the Events Center on Saturday (7 p.m.).

Win both and voila . . . CU achieves some separation in the standings, matches its Big 12 win total from last season (6-10) and inches toward a possible Big Dance berth - a dream that seemed to be materializing nicely when the Buffs opened 3-0 in the conference.

"It's a huge week for us; the fact that we are at home and you have to take advantage of that - especially with the jumble there in the middle of the league," Boyle said. "You never know where your next win's going to come from. Home games are the ones you have to take advantage of, no doubt."

Boyle's players say they don't need to be reminded of the week's importance. "Saying it's big is an understatement," noted senior guard Levi Knutson. "We've got two games against teams that have been in the NCAA Tournament and are potential NCAA teams again. That's a group we'd like to join, and we can if we take care of business.

"Everybody knows there are a bunch of teams in the thick of things . . . (Boyle) doesn't need to say it. We know how important it is and we also know we can't look past Wednesday."

A game past the halfway point of Big 12 play, we've seen enough of CU to make a couple of observations - one of which was made above (better on the road, still not consistently good). The other: Given their offensive shortcoming inside (the lack of a physical presence), the Buffs' nightly margin for an off-night by anyone is pretty thin.

Boyle has them compensating well on the boards and, for the most part, defending ably. But if they don't get consistently good offensive performances from at least four (five is even better) players, they have problems with bigger, better teams.

Boyle believes they know that: "Our guys, we've experienced enough success (and) failure to understand the difference between the two. I think that's the key this time of year; guys have to be dialed in to whatever it is you need to do to be successful."

Which brings us to senior Marcus Relphorde . . . . Boyle has called the gifted 6-foot-7 Relphorde his team's "X factor" - and CU needs the X-Man at the top of his game for Separation Week.

Maybe Relphorde's two most recent games are a good indication of that happening: In last week's home blowout of Iowa State, he scored 15 points. In the loss at Missouri, he contributed his third career double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds). Those two performances are in contrast to forgettable outings at Nebraska (nine points, two rebounds), Oklahoma (six, four) and Baylor (four, two). The Baylor game aside, he's added 15, 15 and 13 points to the usually steady productivity of Alec Burks and Cory Higgins.

A&M Coach Mark Turgeon is most cognizant of Burks' and Higgins' size and ability: "Both of them have a chance to be pros . . . they're tall and long and create matchup problems for us; our guards are a little bit shorter."

But Turgeon adds: "You put Relphorde and their other shooters around them - Levi Knutson - they spread you out so much. They're really hard to guard."

The Aggies opened 17-1, but the past three weeks have brought four losses in five games, including defeats in the past three. A&M would like to hold Wednesday's game in the mid-60s: the Aggies are averaging 65.8 points and allowing 65.9 in conference play. (The Buffs are at 75.2 and 74.3 in those categories.) Turgeon isn't likely to land in the Events Center and pull a Fred Hoiberg, emulating the first-year Iowa State coach who wanted to match CU's up-and-down tempo at altitude. Bad choice.

But Knutson makes a good point: While conceding the Buffs "obviously want the pace in our favor at home," he adds, "It's more about us getting stops on defense."

If this is Separation Week for the Buffs, it's Reclamation Week for the Aggies. Said Boyle: "There are two sides to every coin . . . the one side is side is they have been struggling, but the other side is they're going to come out kind of like a wounded dog right now. They're a little dangerous. There's no doubt they'll be ready to play. This is an important game for them to get back on track. But we're kind of the same way. We've lost a few lately that we'd like to have back. So we feel like we need the game as well. It's going to be a heck of a dog fight."

Staying with that canine theme, the Buffs would be wise to fetch a W - a couple of them, in fact - and let the hounds go their separate ways.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU