Colorado University Athletics
Boyle's Buffs Set For Rematch With Utes
March 04, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — With plenty to gain and little to lose, the Colorado Buffaloes head to Utah on Saturday for their regular season finale.
Currently in fifth place in the Pac-12 standings, the 21-9 Buffs (10-7 Pac-12) could finish as high as third or as low as sixth.
A top-four finish would give Tad Boyle's squad a day off in next week's conference tournament and not see them start play until Thursday. Fifth or sixth, however, would result in the Buffs playing on Wednesday in the tourney's opening round.
But there's more at stake than “just” tournament seeding. A win over the 23-7 and 13th-ranked Utes (12-5 Pac-12) would be CU's 22nd victory of the regular season — the most by any team in Colorado's 115-year basketball history.
“Twenty-two wins would be huge,” CU sophomore wing George King said. “For us, this collection of guys, to get to 22 wins — that would put us above the guys that Cliff Meely played with, guys that played with Chauncey, guys that played with Alec Burks and Andre Roberson. That would be pretty special — and what better place to do it than against the only team that beat us at home this year.”
Indeed, if there's one loss that has gnawed at the Buffs this year, it is the Utes' 56-54 win in Boulder in early January. A buzzer-beating layup from Lorenzo Bonham sent Utah home with the win, and in the end, was the only blemish on Colorado's 16-1 home record.
“It's a game that's kind of stung me all through conference play,” CU senior Josh Scott said. “I think it's one that all of us want. All of us are looking forward to this chance.”
But winning on the Utes' home floor won't be easy. Utah officials are expecting a capacity crowd for the final home game of the year, which will also mark Senior Day for several Ute players, including starters Brandon Taylor and Jordan Loveridge.
Larry Krystkowiak's team is also on a roll. The Utes have won six in a row, a streak that includes a home win over Arizona and road wins at USC and UCLA.
“It's their senior night and they're going to be ready to play,” Boyle said “They're going to be emotional, their crowd is going to be into it and they've been good at home all year.”
Utah is 15-1 at the Huntsman Center this season, with the only loss coming at the hands of Oregon early in the Pac-12 season.
The marquee matchup will be the battle in the post between CU's Josh Scott and Utah's Jakob Poeltl, two finalists for the national Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.
But those two were not the decisive factors in their first meeting, when CU shot just 39 percent from the field and allowed the Utes to put together an 11-2 run over the final minutes. CU led by seven, 52-45, with just under six minutes to play, but made just one more basket and committed three costly turnovers in the final minutes.
“The bottom line is to beat Utah we're going to have to play well,” Boyle said. “We're going to have to guard, we're going to have to rebound and we're going to have to take care of the basketball.”
The Utes are by no means a rapid-fire, up-tempo team, but they do feed off their crowd. If the Buffs allow the Utes to put together some transition baskets — or allow more than one-shot possessions — it could be a long night.
“We can't let them have more than one shot every possession,” King said. “If we do, we're playing defense too long. We need to make sure we're contesting shots and hitting the boards.”
Poeltl, touted as a possible NBA lottery pick, is no doubt the Utes' leader, averaging 17.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. But the Utes are also getting 11.9 points per game from Loveridge and 11.1 from junior forward Kyle Kuzma.
“They're much improved from the last time we played and they're playing well right now,” Boyle said. “We've got a lot to gain and very little to lose. We've got to be ready to play well.”
BROADCAST: ESPNU will carry the telecast with Eric Rothman and Corey Williams. KOA 850 AM will carry the radio broadcast with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
THE SERIES: This will be the 45th all-time meeting between the two programs, with CU holding a 26-18 lead. Utah, however, has won the last four and five of the last seven. The series is 5-5 since the two teams joined the Pac-12 in the 2011-12 season. Boyle is 5-5 in his career against Utah; Krystkowiak is 5-5 against Colorado.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
