Buffs Head To ASU Searching For Consistency, Road Win
January 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
TEMPE, Ariz. — Minutes after the Colorado Buffaloes dropped a 76-60 decision to Utah in their Pac-12 opener, Buffs coach Tad Boyle didn't hide his feelings.
"Disappointing" popped into his assessment more than once.
But Boyle also recognizes that one game — particularly the conference opener — does not determine a season.
"It's not the end of the world," Boyle said. "We're going to bounce back."
His 10-4 Buffs will get that chance Thursday night at Arizona State when they meet Bobby Hurley's 8-7 Sun Devils (1-1 Pac-12) in a 7 p.m. game at Wells Fargo Arena (Pac-12 Networks). It is the second contest in a three-game road trip — Colorado plays at Arizona on Saturday — and the latest chance for the Buffs to end a six-game conference road skid that stretches back to last January.
The Buffs, who are spending the week in Arizona because school isn't in session yet, didn't take with them many positives from the Utah loss. Colorado didn't shoot well in the game (40 percent), didn't defend well (the Utes shot 52 percent) and only came out even in the rebounding column (33-33).
At first glance, Tempe doesn't seem to be the perfect place for a bounce-back performance. Colorado holds just a 1-5 all-time record at ASU, including a 1-3 mark since joining the Pac-12, with the last three trips ending in a loss.
The Sun Devils have been putting up some big numbers on the offensive end this season, averaging 82.3 points per game — third-best in the Pac-12. But they've also been giving up points at virtually the same rate, yielding 82.4 points per contest, last in the conference.
If the Buffs are going to find a cure for the offensive ills that hit them in Utah, it may be provided at ASU.
The Buffs are averaging a solid 74.1 points per game while giving up 67.4. But their 60 points at Utah was their second-lowest total of the season, only ahead of the 58 they scored in a loss to Colorado State.
Boyle, doesn't believe the Buffs are taking bad shots. Rather, he said, it's a matter of the ball not going in — and Colorado players then allowing that to affect their defensive effort.
"When you got open shots and you can't make them, you put pressure on your defense, and if your defense isn't good enough, then you're going to lose games," Boyle said. "That's the bottom line."
What the Buffs might need most, however, is some consistency. Boyle has juggled his rotation all season, trying to find a combination that can be productive on both ends of the floor for a long stretch.
Thus far, one of the few consistencies has been senior Derrick White, who leads CU in scoring (15.0 ppg), field goal percentage ( .519), assists (4.1 apg) and steals (1.1 spg).
But after White, it depends on the night. Senior Xavier Johnson is shooting 49 percent from the field and junior George King is hitting 45.6 percent of his shots. But King, who last year led the conference in 3-point shooting at 45.6 percent, has missed more than twice as many 3-pointers as he's made, connecting on just 15 of his 49 attempts from beyond the arc.
As a team, the Buffs are hitting just 33.8 percent of their 3-pointers after leading the Pac-12 a year ago by hitting nearly 39 percent of their tries.
The Buffs are also struggling in the one area in which Boyle's teams have almost always excelled — on the boards. CU has outrebounded its opponent just once in its last three games, and has a meager 3.7 edge in rebound differential — a far cry from the plus-8 Boyle is accustomed to seeing from his team.
And, the Buffs have also had their issues with foul trouble, with big man Wesley Gordon limited to just 18 minutes against Utah because of foul woes and King to just 22.
It all added up to a game in Utah in which 10 Buffs played at least double-digit minutes, but only White was truly effective for most of his time on the floor.
"Everybody had an opportunity to impact the game," Boyle said. "With this team, when you're as inconsistent as we are, it makes it really, really hard to know who to play and how much to play them because you don't know what you're going to get."
SUN DEVIL SCOUTING REPORT: Arizona State is 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12 after opening conference play with a 98-93 win at Stanford before falling at California, 81-65. ASU sports the third ranked scoring offense in the Pac-12 at 82.3 points per game, but also gives up a league-worst 82.4 points per contest. Five times this season, Arizona State has given up at least 90 points and twice opponents have hit the century mark. The Sun Devils average just under 10 3-pointers made per game, ranking second in the Pac-12 and 14th in the nation. Guard Torian Graham leads ASU in scoring at 18.3 ppg, followed by Tra Holder at 17.1 ppg.
GOOD FORTUNE? One Buff who might be looking forward to playing the Sun Devils is senior Josh Fortune. In his only game against ASU in his career, Fortune scored 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting in last year's 79-69 CU win in Boulder.
BROADCAST: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Daron Sutton and Mike Montgomery while Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke will handle the radio call on DenverSports 760 AM.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
