Buffs Aim For Road Trip Split At Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The rule of Pac-12 basketball road trips is a simple one: two is terrific, but one is a must.

With the opportunity to pick up a pair of wins in Oregon now lost, the Colorado Buffaloes find themselves facing one of those “must” situations Saturday when they pay a visit to Oregon State for a 6:30 p.m. contest with the Beavers (Pac-12 Networks) at Gill Coliseum.

The 17-6 Buffs landed in Oregon this week with hopes of vaulting into at least a tie for the top spot in the Pac-12 standings. But after a 76-56 loss at Oregon on Thursday, a defeat that dropped them to 6-4 in conference play and into a tie for fourth in the standings, Tad Boyle's Buffs need a win against the 13-8 Beavers (4-6 Pac-12) simply to make sure they don't slip another rung down the conference ladder.

“Tear the nails out of the floor,” CU senior Josh Scott said after the Oregon game. “Play like we should've played tonight. That's the bottom line. We can't drop two in a row.”

The Buffs will see an Oregon State team currently on a bit of a high. The Beavers had lost five of their last six prior to Thursday, but Wayne Tinkle's team stopped the slide with a wild 71-69 win over Utah. Three free throws from Stephen Thompson Jr. with .01 showing on the clock produced the win.

The Buffs won the first meeting this season between the two teams, taking a 71-54 win in Boulder on Jan. 13. Colorado broke open a tight game at the half — CU led 29-25 at intermission — and pulled away down the stretch. The Buffs' big men dominated the game, with Josh Scott recording a 25-point, 12-rebound double-double and Wesley Gordon adding a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double.

The Beavers are still led by senior Gary Payton II, who had 26 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and three steals in their first meeting. Payton is averaging 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists, and had 20 points and six rebounds in Thursday's win over Utah. Tres Tinkle, son of the head coach, is the Beavers' second-leading scorer, averaging 12.0 points per game.

The Buffs will be looking to shake the issues that led to Thursday night's 20-point loss in Eugene and regain the momentum that produced a three-game win streak heading into the game. It means reducing their turnovers — they committed 14 against Oregon that the Ducks converted into 21 points — and improving their shooting.

It will also mean hitting the Gill Coliseum floor with a renewed sense of purpose.

“We've split every time we've been on the road,” CU sophomore George King said Thursday. “The next game is going to be that much bigger because this game kind of weighs on you a little bit. You never want to go home 0-2 on the road.”

Indeed, the Buffs have yet to return home from a Pac-12 road trip empty-handed. They earned a split on their Bay Area trip with a win at Stanford, then picked up a win on the back end of their Washington foray with a victory at Washington State.

As of Friday morning, the Buffs were still holding on to a top-25 spot in the NCAA RPI. Oregon State, meanwhile, had moved up to No. 55, meaning a win on the Beavers' home court would be a solid boost for the Buffs' resume´.

“We've got to bounce back,” Boyle said. “We've got to be resilient. I love this team, they're a great group of guys to coach. (But) nothing's going to be given to us these next eight games. We're going to eat what we earn. If we don't earn it, we're not going to eat.”

SCOTT NAMED JABBAR FINALIST: CU's Scott moved on to the next round in the selection process for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. Scott was one of 20 players on the original watch list, and he was named to the list of 10 finalists on Friday. Scott is CU's scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg) leader and is second on the team in blocked shots (43) and third in assists (46). He has 11 double-doubles this season and has scored in double figures in all 23 games for CU this season.

ON A ROLL: Buffs sophomore Tory Miller has become an increasingly strong presence in the post over the last month for the Buffs. He had a team-high nine rebounds last Sunday in a win over Cal, pulled down six to go along with 10 points against Oregon, and is averaging 6.7 rebounds per game over his last six games. Miller's improvement also comes at a time when junior Wesley Gordon has been struggling. Gordon did not score against Oregon and finished with just four rebounds in 28 minutes of play. Gordon has also not scored in double figures or finished with double-digit rebounds since the last Oregon State game, a span of six games.

THE SERIES: This will be the 18th meeting between Colorado and Oregon State, with the Buffaloes holding an 12-5 series lead. Colorado has won 6-of-9 since joining the Pac-12, including the last two. OSU holds a 4-2 series edge in Corvallis. Boyle is 7-5 against Oregon State as a head coach while Tinkle is 1-2 against the Buffaloes as a head coach.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu