Buffs Face Penn State In Las Vegas Classic Semis

LAS VEGAS — Now it gets serious.

Not that the Colorado basketball schedule hasn't mattered to this point. Tad Boyle's Buffs have already played a top-10 team (Iowa State), they've won on the road at Auburn and Colorado State, they've beaten Air Force and BYU at home and they've won 10 straight games. It's been enough to earn them votes in both top 25 polls and an RPI ranking that's reached as high as No. 15 in the nation.

But beginning Tuesday night in Las Vegas, the stakes get considerably higher. The 10-1 Buffs play Penn State tonight in the Las Vegas Classic semifinals (8:30 p.m. tipoff, no TV), then either 18th-ranked SMU or Kent State on Wednesday in a nationally televised game (Fox Sports 1). After that, it's time for Pac-12 play, when CU opens its conference schedule with a pair of road games — at Cal on Jan. 1 and at Stanford on Jan. 3.

“We've taken care of our business,” Boyle said. “If you ask any coach on our staff, if we were going to Vegas 10-1, would you take that? I think the answer would be yes.”

But, as Boyle also noted, the Buffs can't afford to have more of those sluggish halves that occasionally popped up in their first 11 games. The Buffs have already overcome double-digit deficits four times this year to record a win, something in which they've taken pride.

Such comebacks, though, won't be as easy from here on out.

“Every game from here on in is going to be a big-time opponent with a big-time atmosphere,” Boyle said. “We know our margin for error goes way down, given where we are in our schedule. Our guys rise to the occasion and I think they're ready for this part of the season.”

The 8-3 Nittany Lions have won six of their last seven, with their biggest wins a victory over DePaul and road wins at Boston College and Drexel. As of Monday morning, head coach Patrick Chambers' team was ranked 97th in the NCAA RPI.

The Lions are led by 6-foot-6 senior forward Brandon Taylor, who is PSU's leading scorer (15.6 ppg) and rebounder (6.4 ppg). Guard Shep Garner leads the team in 3-pointers with 27 this season, and he had eight treys in Penn State's 67-58 win over Boston College.

One unknown this week for the Buffs is the status of junior forward Wesley Gordon, who suffered a knee injury in the Buffs' win over Hampton on Saturday. The Buffs got good news when x-rays were negative and he'll continue to be evaluated this week.

If Gordon can't play, it will mean more playing time for sophomore Tory Miller, who has put together a solid three-game stretch heading into the tournament, including a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in CU's win over Hampton. Miller also had three blocks in his season-high 22 minutes against Hampton, and he's averaging 11 points and more than eight rebounds over his last three games.

“The one thing we know Tory brings us is energy and effort every night,” Boyle said. “Recently it's been really positive energy and effort. I think's he's coming into his own. One thing about Tory is he makes things happen out there, he's really active on the boards and has been rebounding the ball unbelievably well. … That's what you like to see from your bench players. Of course you don't want anyone to go down but in the long run this will help Tory. He's playing with a lot of confidence right now.”

If the Buffs win Tuesday night and SMU defeats Kent State, it will set up a meeting between Boyle and Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who returned to the bench this week after serving a nine-game NCAA suspension. Boyle played for Brown for two seasons at Kansas, and has said Brown was a major factor in shaping his coaching philosophy.

That won't, however, be on Boyle's mind if the Buffs do indeed face SMU. Rather, Boyle will be more concerned with a Mustangs team that's currently ranked 18th in the Associated Press poll and had a No. 16 NCAA RPI on Monday morning.

ON THE AIR: Tuesday night's game will be the only Buffs contest this year that won't be televised. The game will be available on 760 AM with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke; as well as on CUBuffs.com.

STREAKING: The Buffs' current 10-game win streak is the longest in the Pac-12 and tied for the third-best active streak in NCAA Division I. It also ties for the fifth-longest streak in team history and fourth-best during one season.

GREAT SCOTT: CU senior Josh Scott, a leading candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, leads the Buffs in scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg) and is shooting 65 percent from the field and 85 percent from the free throw line. He's scored at least 20 points in five straight games and has five of CU's eight double-doubles this season (28 career).

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu