Brooks: Buffs Try To Keep Altman, Ducks Winless At Coors

BOULDER - Ever seen a Duck do a slow burn? I'm guessing that Dana Altman arrived in Boulder on Friday afternoon with his fire already flickering, which gave him roughly 48 hours to continue smoldering.

By 3 p.m. Sunday, we could be observing one crispy Duck at the Coors Events Center.

Hey, we're just having fun here, folks. For the most part, Altman is one cool courtside customer and more than a middling basketball coach. But in his three-plus seasons at Oregon, he hasn't had the best (Duck) luck against Colorado and Tad Boyle.

Their resumes at the current jobs are fairly similar; both of their teams have won 20-plus games in their first three seasons and they've earned postseason appearances in all three seasons. Boyle and Altman have a history. Altman coached at Creighton - one of three stops at which he was league coach-of-the-year - while Boyle was on Mark Turgeon's Wichita State staff.

Back in that day, Creighton and Wichita State worked up some simmering animosity in the Missouri Valley Conference - and that's as far as we need to go. Let's just say the rivalry continues.

Since Boyle's Buffs began hoops play in the Pac-12 Conference in 2011-12, they've beaten Altman's Ducks in four of five meetings - including three one-point wins, one of them (63-62) in CU's stunning four-day run to the conference tournament championship in 2012. The Buffs have won the last three meeting and have not lost to Oregon at the CEC under Boyle.

Which brings us to a snowy Sunday afternoon at The Keg and the Pac-12's first marquee matchup of the season . . .

The Ducks arrive unbeaten (13-0, 1-0) and ranked No. 10, having escaped in overtime Thursday night at Utah. The win was as exhilarating for Oregon as it was crushing for the Utes; Damyean Dotson stole an inbounds pass and scored on a breakaway dunk with one second left in OT to bail out the Ducks.

It was the sort of 'W' that can provide a double shot of momentum and motivation - as if Altman and Oregon need a jump start on either when visiting Boulder. Boyle's Buffs (12-2, 1-0) are ranked No. 20, and those who were on last season's roster and the season before know this about Altman's teams: They play insanely hard. If any of CU's five freshmen - I'm including redshirt Wesley Gordon - believe they can breeze through a possession here or there, they'll be blown away.

BOYLE'S ENDURING IMPRESSION of the Ducks begins with "their toughness, their intensity. Let me tell you something, they're going to come in here . . . they don't like Colorado," he said on Friday, his game-face already affixed. "They haven't won here yet and I'm sure they're talking about that. It's going to be a knockdown, drag out now, a competitive, big-boy game."

While Oregon was struggling to find a way in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, CU was doing the same at the CEC against Oregon State. The Beavers played a 2-3 zone (there was a flash of 1-3-1) almost exclusively and it gave the Buffs problems. CU shot 38.2 percent in its 64-58 win and was outrebounded 37-34 (21-13 in the first half).

Oregon switches defenses, mostly playing man-to-man and a matchup zone. But any other variation isn't beyond Altman if he believes it will be disruptive. After finally disposing of the Beavers, Boyle gave his offensive zone work a 'C' grade and said improvement must come in consistency and efficiency. Things to avoid, he said, include shots taken late in the shot clock and possessions that don't include inside touches by Josh Scott or Gordon. Those usually lead to inside-out opportunities.

"We had some possessions where we were really good, but we weren't consistently good," Boyle said. "Part of it is we weren't moving. When we didn't have good possessions it was because of a lack of movement. Also, we were staying too high on the court. We've got to get nearer the three-point line (and) you've got to be able to make some threes against it (CU was 5-of-20 from beyond the arc).

"We were operating too far away from the basket for too long a time. You have to initiate it two or three steps outside the three-point line, but after we move the ball a couple of times we have to get closer . . . and late in the clock we've got to drive it - get the ball inside for more penetrate and dish opportunities.

Telling the Buffs they must shoot better on Sunday is a waste of breath, and they're not too worried about getting that done. "It's not like we've put a string of those bad nights together," said junior guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who was two-of-nine from the field (two-of-seven from 3-point range) against OSU. "We just had probably our best offensive output - maybe not scoring, but in efficiency - against Georgia. We made all our free throws (26 straight) and shot 50 percent. We didn't lose confidence (after OSU) or anything. We just have to keep going."

Given their druthers, said Dinwiddie, the Buffs would rather face man-to-man defense from now through March: "We definitely like playing against man because we've got one of the best post players in the country (Scott). He can score one-on-one against anybody. They have to double him, then he can pass out. We feel like man is easy; zone is the hard one.

"We're predicated (offensively) on driving and that's what the zone tries to stop you from doing - driving, getting the ball inside. It tries to take away what we're best at. They force you to shoot outside shots . . . we have to get our feet set and knock them down. Wesley has to be a little more confident in his 15-foot jumper. That way they extend with their big guy and we can go low to Josh."

No matter how it's accomplished, a win is never a bad thing, and sophomore guard Xavier Talton contended that a grind-it-out 'W' benefitted the Buffs on a night when the basket seemed to have shrunk - as it did Thursday.

Said Talton: "That's why coach preaches defense and rebounding. We're not going to be able to put the ball in the basket sometimes and we have to rely on those other things to keep us in games."

Those intangibles, said Gordon, "show us how important our defense is if our offense isn't there. We know we've got to play 'D' and lock down."

EVEN IF THE BUFFS REDISCOVER their shooting touches on Sunday, disciplined defense will be critical. At 89.2 points a game, Oregon leads the NCAA in scoring, with four players averaging in double figures (Houston transfer Joseph Young leads at 19.3 ppg) and two more averaging nine-plus points. The Ducks are shooting 50.3 percent from the field, allowing opponents to shoot 41.7 percent, and are plus-4 in rebounding.

Redshirting last season, the 6-9 Gordon watched both CU-Oregon games and took away this: "They're fast - just like their football team - getting up and down and scoring. I was impressed by their team as a whole rather than any individuals."

The Buffs continue to establish themselves as a team that compensates by claiming the "50-50" balls and making the hustle plays that Boyle knows will be needed on Sunday. Talton claimed a long, late rebound on Thursday night that Boyle cited as one of the game's two key plays - the other being forward Xavier Johnson controlling a "50-50" ball.

"Just going hard every possession and not looking at the scoreboard is what we have to do," Talton said. "We have to focus on our defense and rebounding all the time."

The Buffs post-Christmas home attendance has been 10,848 vs. Georgia and 9,851 vs. Oregon State. At his post-OSU news conference, Boyle longed for a full, loud house on Sunday. "We need to sell out, we need this place rocking and we need our fans to understand they can have an effect on this game," he said.

Added Dinwiddie: "It helps a ton. I feel like we've got the best home court in the Pac-12. Arizona is probably the only other team that sells out. But we've got altitude and the C-Unit is crazy. I feel like it helps us a lot."

Unlike the past two seasons, the Buffs and Ducks play only once during the 2014 regular season, which ups the ante for Sunday's game and presents ramifications not lost on Dinwiddie. "Everybody is going to be jacked up," he said. "It's a very big game for us. Everybody knows when you play a team that's ranked high, it's a chance to move up. Not only that, they're a power in this conference so we get this win, and being the only time we play them, we get that tie-breaker for down the road."

Oregon's visit on Sunday marks the second by a Top 10 opponent already this season. Then-No. 6 Kansas made a Dec. 7 stop at the CEC and was beaten at the buzzer, 75-72. That win, said Boyle, wasn't so much about the Buffs rising to the occasion as it was "falling back to your level of preparation. If we have good practices, if we compete in practice and get after each other, then the game will be just another one of those events.

"We've got guys on this team who are competitive and tough; I think we play hard. But Oregon is going to test that. You don't get to be No. 10 in the country without doing the things they do very well. It's going to be a hell of a game."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU