Boyle Aims For Bigger Crowds For Red-Hot Buffs

BOULDER — Tad Boyle still wants a sellout.

The Colorado basketball coach called Saturday night's Coors Events Center crowd of 8,913 the “best it's been all year,” but after the Buffs had carved out a 92-83 win over BYU, Boyle made it clear he'd like to see fewer empty seats.

“I always start with the fans that show up,” Boyle said. “We're so appreciative. I thought the students were great. The energy in the building was good.”

But it was still far short of a sellout. The Events Center capacity is listed at just over 11,000 — meaning there were more than 2,000 empty seats — and Boyle would like to see the Buffs' home filled to near capacity on a regular basis.

“Anytime there's an empty seat in the Coors Event Center, we've got room for improvement,” Boyle said. “Our organization — I'm talking about marketing to students to coaches to players, you name it — we've got work to do when we don't sell out a BYU team that's been to the NCAA Tournament eight of the last nine years. That's a big-time team. We've got to sell those games out.”

Players are also noticing Events Center attendance. Asked about Saturday night's crowd, CU senior Josh Scott said, “It's about time. I think we have a really good team and I would be lying to say that I wasn't a little disappointed when we were on a roll right before CSU and not to have more people there.

“But it was really cool to see all those people show up, especially during finals and the snow. We are really appreciative and it helped make a difference.”

It would be hard to argue that the Buffs aren't playing an entertaining brand of basketball. They lead the Pac-12 in scoring, they're No. 1 in the conference in 3-point shooting and No. 1 in rebounding margin. They're also ranked in the top 25 in both the offical NCAA RPI and CBS Sports' RPI rankings.

The Buffs have two home games this week, playing host to Nicholls State on Friday and Hampton on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

KING GETS DEFENSIVE: Buffs sophomore George King has quickly earned a reputation as a scorer this season, and he lived up to that reputation Saturday night, tossing in 23 points in CU's 92-83 win over BYU.

But what King accomplished on the other end of the floor might have been just as important to the Buffs' cause. King spent much of his evening guarding BYU star Kyle Collinsworth, and while Collinsworth finished with 17 points, he needed a 6-for-18 night from the floor to get there.

“That was my whole main focus, because he's a great player,” King said. “Coach (Tad) Boyle really challenged me and asked me to make him work to catch and don't give him anything easy. If you do that, you'll be happy with it, and that's what I did.”

Collinsworth also had six rebounds and six assists — both below his season average — and was obviously frustrated at times. Boyle called King's defensive effort a “step forward.”

“George did a pretty darn good job against Collinsworth, a good player,” Boyle said. “He did take it on as a challenge. I think Fletch (Tre'Shaun Fletcher) did too, when he came in the game. We wore him down. I thought George was terrific defensively.”

DEPTH ADVANTAGE: Nine Buffs played at least 11 minutes in Saturday's win — and only one, Dominique Collier, played 30 minutes. The Cougars, meanwhile, had three starters who played at least 31 minutes.

It's a strong indicator of the Buffs' depth, something that should continue to serve them as the season progresses.

“Our bench was the difference,” Boyle said. “We wore them down and they got tired. Our bench in the first half played terrific.”

BYU received a huge boost from freshman reserve Zac Seljaas, who came off the bench to score 18 points. But CU's bench still outscored their Cougars counterparts, 22-20, and also held a 10-5 edge in rebounding.

CU sophomore Tory Miller had a solid night off the bench, scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting and collecting five rebounds in 18 minutes. Senior Xavier Talton also had some solid minutes, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to finish with eight points, while also collecting two rebounds and a steal.

"We can go nine deep," Boyle said. "Our depth is going to be a strength for us."

UPCOMING: Colorado hosts Nicholls State on Friday and Hampton on Saturday, with both games set to tip off at 7 p.m. at the Coors Events Center and both to be televised by the Pac-12 Networks. The games are part of the Las Vegas Classic, which will see the Buffs travel to Las Vegas on Dec. 22 to face Penn State at Orleans Arena (8:30 p.m. tipoff). CU will then face either SMU or Kent State the following night.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu