Colorado University Athletics
Woelk: Win Over Auburn Big Step For Buffs
November 18, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Not that too much should be tied into one win — particularly an early season victory — but don't underestimate the importance of Colorado's 91-84 win at Auburn on Wednesday.
For starters, it was a rare true nonconference road win over a team from a Power Five conference. It was the first such win of Tad Boyle's tenure in Boulder, and only the sixth of its kind for Colorado since 1990.
But equally important were the circumstances. The Buffs fell behind by 15 in the first half and didn't blink, despite playing in a raucous gym against a team that was coming off a big season-opening win. They withstood a withering 3-point barrage, endured some questionable officials' calls early and refused to let Auburn's early onslaught put the game out range.
It's exactly what Boyle wanted from his early season schedule — a test. It's why he chose to schedule closed scrimmages against a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from last year (Boise State and SMU) and why agreed to open against a Top 10 program (Iowa State) and follow that up against an improving SEC team on the road.
Boyle got answers to questions he couldn't have asked if the Buffs had played a couple of meaningless exhibitions and opened with two cupcakes at home.
What Boyle knows now is that his team won't shrink in the face of adversity. The Buffs overcame a 14-point deficit against Iowa State to narrow the gap to three, then had the come-from-behind win over the Tigers.
It a trait the Buffs were lacking a year ago.
Of course the biggest news from the first two games has been the emergence of George King, the redshirt sophomore who followed a 14-point, six-rebound effort in the opener with 27 points and seven rebounds — including two big offensive boards — against Auburn. King obviously didn't waste his redshirt year last season, and some long hours in the gym improving his shot (he was 9-for-14 vs. Auburn, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range) have paid off.
Nobody's expecting King to continue to put up those kinds of numbers all year, but the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder is clearly going to create some matchup nightmares for opponents the rest of the season.
Other bright spots:
Depth. Eight different Buffs played at least 16 minutes in Tuesday's game, and all had key contributions. Three players scored in double figures, four had at least five rebounds and five shot at least 50 percent from the field.
What Boyle also has is a three-man rotation at the wings, where he'll be able to mix and match depending upon the opponent. Tre'Shaun Fletcher and Josh Fortune started the opener against ISU; Fletcher and King were on the floor for tipoff at Auburn. Fortune came off the bench to contribute 11 points and five rebounds against Auburn — better numbers than he had as a starter in the opener — to provide a nice complement to King.
Fletcher has been relatively quiet thus far, but he's a steadying influence on the floor, doesn't turn the ball over and played well in some key moments.
Point guard. Almost overnight, it seems, sophomore point guard Dominique Collier grew into the role. After a shaky opener, Collier steadied his game to produce an eight-point, five-assist, two-turnover effort against Auburn. When Collier was on the floor — he ran into foul trouble early in the game — the Buff offense seemed to click.
"Our players know how good he is," Boyle said. "They see it in practice, in pick-up games. Tonight, it transformed into a win in a big-time road environment."
Collier will no doubt endure some more bumps along the road, but if he continues to progress as he has in the first week, he'll be solid at the point.
Ball security. The Buffs still had 17 turnovers against Auburn, but only two in the first 17 minutes of the second half, a very big reason the Buffs were able to slowly take control of the game. Collier had just two the entire game, another very positive sign for the young point guard.
Shooting percentage. Nobody expected Josh Scott's shooting woes to extend past the first game (5-for-16), and he responded like most people thought he would, with an 8-for-10 effort from the field against Auburn, including hitting all seven of his first shots.
But Scott wasn't the only Buff who improved in that department. As a team, CU shot 57.4 percent.
The Buffs next will begin a five-game homestand Friday vs. Portland (7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), a stretch that will also see Nebraska-Omaha, Northern Colorado, Air Force and Fort Lewis visit the Coors Events Center.
Then comes the next big road test, a Dec. 6 game at Colorado State that tips off at noon. It will no doubt be another hostile environment — and another good barometer for the Buffs.
TICKET DEALS: Both the men's and women's programs have $10 ticket deals on tap for games this week.
The CU women play host to Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. Thursday and tickets are available for just $10. The same deal will be available for the men's home opener Friday night against Portland.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
