Buffs Gear For Visit From Oregon State

BOULDER — The points of emphasis for the Colorado Buffaloes this week will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the team's fortunes thus far this season:

Every possession counts, and "finish."

The former because both of the Buffs' last two games have come down to end-of-game possessions, with the Buffs emerging from those contests with a 1-1 record. The latter because in both games, the Buffs had the opportunity to put their opponent away in the waning minutes, only to see both contests stretched to the final buzzer.

Finishing has actually been an issue for the 12-4 Buffs (1-2 Pac-12) for longer than their last two contests. In their last five games — in which CU has posted just a 2-3 record — they have allowed opponents to outscore them down the stretch in four of them (the only exception being a loss at Cal, when they trailed by double digits for the entire second half).

Wednesday, the Buffs will attempt to start — and finish — the task of winning a Pac-12 home game when they play host to Oregon State in a 9 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center (ESPNU).

The art of finishing, Boyle noted, isn't a matter of doing something different down the stretch if you get to that point with the lead in hand.

"We don't have to do things differently than we are doing in the other 34 minutes of the game," Boyle said. "We have to make plays, take care of the ball … we can't think of it like 'OK, there's five minutes to go, let's change what we're doing.' Let's just keep doing what has been successful and not get tentative and not get scared. Be in attack mode, and defensively we've got to get stops."

CU senior Josh Scott said there's no secret sauce involved in changing the late-game struggles.

"Don't turn the ball over, get stops and you probably win the game, especially if you're up," Scott said. "In terms of offense, we have to note what got us ahead and keep doing that."

The task of stopping the 11-3 Beavers (2-1 Pac-12) begins with at least containing do-everything guard Gary Payton II, who leads OSU in scoring (17.1 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg), assists (5.4) and steals (2.5). After Payton, the Beavers' next-leading scorers are freshmen coming off the bench, Tres Tinkle and Stephen Thompson Jr. Tinkle, son of head coach Wayne Tinkle, is averaging 12 per game while Thompson is scoring just less than 10.

"The two freshman guards are very, very capable players," Boyle said. "They come off the bench as freshmen but really they're kind of playing starters' minutes."

The Beavers are in their second year under Wayne Tinkle, and while OSU hasn't had a winning conference record since CU joined the Pac-12, they did finish ahead of the Buffs in the standings last year, putting together a 17-14 overall record and an 8-10 conference finish.

Boyle coached against Tinkle in the Big Sky Conference, when Boyle was at Northern Colorado and Tinkle at Montana. Last year, the two squads split a pair of games, with OSU winning the only regular season meeting, 72-58 in Corvallis, and the Buffs taking a 78-71 win in the first round of the Pac-12 tourney.

"They've recruited well and they've got some good talented guys from last year's team," Boyle said. "He's done a good job in a very short period of time."

The 9 p.m. tipoff is the latest the Buffs will see on their home schedule this year, one dictated by television. Boyle said the team will stick to its same game-day routine as much as possible, with the only difference being the players will have time for an early afternoon nap after classes.

"It's definitely a long day," Boyle said. "(But) we both play at 9 o'clock, that's the way I look at it."

With a 1-2 conference record — and one of those defeats a home loss — the Buffs can ill-afford to drop another home game, especially this early in the conference season. But Boyle said the long term isn't a concern.

"I don't worry about the big picture," Boyle said. "It's what do we have to do to try to beat Oregon State. That's what we're going to focus on, that's what we're going to concentrate on. In terms of what our record will be if we win or what our record will be if we lose … we've just got to worry about the things that are at hand."

BACK ON TARGET: While the Buffs have shot better than 40 percent from the field just once in their last five games, sophomore George King broke out of a shooting slump against Utah, finishing with 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting. King, who had been averaging barely 10 points per game over the previous five contests, is expected to start against OSU, with Josh Fortune at the other wing.

GREAT SCOTT: Scott continues to lead CU in scoring (17.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg), and has eight of the team's 11 double-doubles this season, including two in a row and three in the last four games. He's currently second in the conference in scoring and fourth in rebounding.

UP NEXT: The Buffs finish out their three-game homestand Sunday with a 5 p.m. game against Oregon (Pac-12 Networks).

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu