Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Set For California Road Trip, Face USC In Opener
February 16, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LOS ANGELES — Tad Boyle's Buffaloes will attempt to do something Wednesday night that no other college basketball team has managed to do this season: beat Southern California at the Galen Center.
Thus far this year, the Trojans are a perfect 14-0 on their home floor. Teams that have tried and failed to win at USC include Arizona, Washington and UCLA. Boyle has called the Trojans — picked to finish 10th in the league in the preseason media poll — the Pac-12's most improved team, and their numbers back that up. USC sported a No. 22 NCAA RPI on Tuesday, and has been ranked among the nation's top 25 teams in the AP poll at two different junctures this season.
Wednesday's 9 p.m. matchup (ESPNU) will be the first and only regular-season meeting between the two squads this season. Colorado will then complete its Los Angeles trip Saturday with a 9 p.m. game at UCLA (Fox Sports 1).
Colorado, currently tied for third in the Pac-12 standings, brings a 19-7 overall record (8-5 Pac-12) into the game while USC is 18-7, 7-5.
Last year, Colorado swept a pair from the Trojans, taking an 86-65 win in Boulder before claiming a 98-94, triple-overtime victory in Los Angeles. Those victories pushed Boyle's record to 7-0 all time vs. USC.
But these, Boyle stressed, are not last year's Trojans.
“They're extremely talented in the backcourt,” Boyle said. “They all shoot the ball well from three. They don't have any weaknesses, that's what makes them so dangerous. They've got a lot of guys that can hurt you.”
Indeed, the Trojans don't have a specific “star.” They don't have a single player among the Pac-12's top 20 scorers, and no one among the league's top 10 rebounders.
But what they do have is balance — amazing balance. Despite not having any of the league's top scorers, USC still has the second-highest scoring team in the conference (83.1 points per game) thanks to six players all averaging double-digit scoring. That includes five starters who average from between 12.0 and 12.7 points per game.
“There's not one or two key guys that you key on,” Boyle said. “There's multiple guys.”
The key to stopping USC, according to Boyle, is to slow down the Trojans' transition game. Under coach Andy Enfield, Southern California has become a fast-paced, up-and-down team that makes a living off of quick baskets and attacking the rim with numbers.
“We've to take them out of their transition, especially at home, because they feed off of dunks and layups and getting their juices flowing,” Boyle said. “We've got to take away easy baskets. We've got to make sure we're keeping the ball in front of us and we're making sure they're making jump shots. They're capable of making jump shots, but we've got to make them make jump shots over our hands.”
The Trojans have two very solid guards in Jordan McLaughlin (12.7 ppg) and Julian Jacobs (12.2 ppg), who are averaging more than 10 assists per game combined. Big guard Katin Reinhardt (12.2 ppg) dropped 35 on the Buffs in last year's game at the Galen Center while 6-11 forward Nikola Jovanovic — who had 30 points and nine rebounds in last year's 3 OT game — is averaging 12.6 points and 7.4 rebounds.
Boyle called Jovanovic one of the Pac-12's more overlooked players. “He can put the ball on the floor, he's a good defender, he can shoot the ball from 15 to 17 feet,” Boyle said.
For the Buffs to have a shot at ending USC's home-court streak, they'll need another big game from forward Wesley Gordon — with or without the services of Josh Scott. Gordon has recorded three consecutive double-doubles with Scott on the bench nursing an ankle injury. Boyle said Scott's availability will be a game-day decision, but either way, the Buffs will need Gordon to continue his recent hot streak.
Overall, the Buffs' recipe for ending the Trojans' homecourt win streak is no secret. CU has lost three of its last four road games, and they've averaged 18 turnovers per game in those contests. The turnover bug also very nearly cost them a game at home last week, when they committed 22 in a narrow 81-80 win over Washington.
“Mental toughness is the most key component you have to have as a group when you go on the road,” Boyle said. “Most teams aren't mentally tough. The ones that do go on the road and win consistently have the mental toughness.”
BROADCAST: ESPNU will carry the telecast of Wednesday's game with Roy Philpott and Adrian Branch. The radio broadcast will be carried by 760 AM with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
