Colorado University Athletics
Boyle's Buffs Set For Home Opener Vs. Portland
November 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Fresh off a demanding two-game road trip to start the season, the Colorado Buffaloes will finally get to see a home crowd Friday evening when they play host to Portland in a 7 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center (Pac-12 Networks, 850 KOA radio).
It will be the first of a five-game homestand for Tad Boyle's team, but Boyle said the 1-1 Buffs aren't looking past today.
“What I think about is trying to get better every day,” Boyle said. “We've got to be focused on the process and what's at hand, which is Portland. … Today's practice was an opportunity to get better and we have to be committed to the process of daily improvement. It's about getting better. That's what this time of year is for. We've got a lot of things we can get better at.”
After opening the season with a loss against seventh-ranked Iowa State, the Buffs rebounded to collect a win Tuesday at Auburn, erasing a 15-point first-half deficit in the process. Sophomore George King had 27 points and seven rebounds in the win while senior Josh Scott turned in a 24-point, nine-rebound effort, along with three blocks and a pair of assists.
The win at Auburn was big in many ways, but as Boyle pointed out, the Buffs have yet to hit two of the goals they set for every game: holding an opponent to 40 percent or less shooting from the field and at least eight more rebounds than the opponent. Iowa State shot 45 percent from the field and had a 43-38 rebounding edge; Auburn shot 46 percent from the field, but the Buffs did have a 38-30 edge on the boards, thanks to a big second half.
“What our players have to realize — and I think they do — is we didn't hit those defensive numbers or those rebounding numbers for three halves, and we lost all three of those halves,” Boyle said. “But we did in the second half against Auburn and we come back and win the game because we defended and we rebounded
“Obviously, we scored the ball well, too, which helps. But we have to be able to rely on that on a night-in and night-out basis, and we're not there yet.”
Still, Boyle is pleased with the overall progress of his team thus far. The Buffs have twice fought back from double-digit deficits with an offense that has shown it can shoot from the outside and score from the paint.
“I don't worry about this team scoring,” Boyle said. “I think we've got a lot of talented guys. The one great thing about this team is offensively we've got a lot of balance. We've got inside play, we've got good perimeter play. (But) offensively we still need to get better. We were not executing at a real high level. We're not offensive rebounding as well as we can. We're not screening as well as we can. There are things offensively that can make us more efficient.”
On the surface, the emergence of King — who Boyle called the “x factor” in the preseason — has been the biggest news. In two games, King has scored 41 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
But equally impressive for the Buffs has been their depth. In both games thus far, eight players have played at least 14 minutes, and each had a significant contribution in the game. Against Auburn, the Buffs' bench chipped in 20 points and eight rebounds, including 11 points and five boards from Josh Fortune
“I was really proud of our bench and our depth against Auburn because I felt like balance with this team is going to make us really hard to prepare for, hard to guard,” Boyle said. “On any given night, it's not just Josh Scott or George King. It might be Wesley Gordon going for 20 one night, or Dom Collier, or Xavier Talton coming off the bench.”
After Friday's game, the Buffs will play host to Nebraska-Omaha in a noon game Sunday, with Air Force, Northern Colorado and Fort Lewis to follow.
Portland brings a 1-1 record into Friday night's game, owning a 98-81 win over Oregon Tech in the opener and a 79-66 loss to UC-Davis on the road.
TICKET DEAL: A limited number of $10 tickets are available for Friday's game. CU will also host a food drive before Sunday's game (noon start), and and fans who donate a sealed food item will receive a voucher for a $10 ticket to that game. Season ticket holders are also encouraged to donate to the food drive, with all items to be given to the Community Food Share program.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
