Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Gear Up For Second Half Of Pac-12 Season
January 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — One day after having a chance to review the film, Tad Boyle's assessment of Colorado's 74-65 win over No. 10 Oregon hadn't changed.
The difference was defense.
The Buffs didn't shoot particularly well against the Ducks, hitting just 42 percent of their field goal tries (25-for-59). They didn't have a big edge on the boards, outrebounding Oregon just 41-38. They even experienced another difficult night from the free throw line, hitting just 16 of their 26 free shots.
In fact, Boyle said, the only real offensive anomaly was the fact that CU committed just one turnover in the second half.
But there was one major difference between the Buffs of Saturday night and the Buffs that took the floor for the first eight games of the Pac-12 season: "Just an edge defensively that we haven't had since we started conference play," Boyle said. "We had a lot of deflections, we got a lot of hands on balls. Just the alertness and energy defensively was really good. Oregon's a good team, but our defense is what Colorado is supposed to be."
What was perhaps most noticeable about the Buffs' effort against Oregon were the number of "hustle" plays — those that don't necessarily show up in the box score, but still make a difference. It's a trait that has been consistent for some of Boyle's best teams in previous years, and one he finally saw from the Buffs in their last two wins.
"Diving on the floor for a loose ball and coming up with it type stuff," Boyle said. "Those are the things that have to be a constant. That should be every single night, every day in practice, a mentality that we haven't had, but we had it Saturday night and it allowed to beat a really good team."
Of course, such efforts can't be bottled and used again. Thus, as Boyle pointed out, the question is whether the 12-10 Buffs (2-7 Pac-12) can take that defense with them this week when they hit the Bay Area for a Thursday game at Stanford (9 p.m.) and a Sunday game at Cal (2:30 p.m.).
If they can, there's still plenty of season left for the Buffs to make some noise.
"Half the conference schedule is done, but the other half is in front of us," Boyle said. "I'm looking at it through the windshield, not through the rearview mirror. We know what's happened and we know why it's happened. Now we've got to move forward and we've got to do something about it."
UNSUNG EFFORT: One important contributor in both of CU's wins last week was senior guard Josh Fortune, who had a combined seven points, eight rebounds, five assists and just one turnover in 25 minutes on the floor against Oregon State and Oregon.
"Another guy that not many people are talking about that gave us great minutes the last two games," Boyle said. "Just another example of a guy who had started the first 16 games, now he's coming off the bench, but he's handled it like a pro. He hasn't pouted. It hasn't been easy for him, but he's handled it really well and he's given us good minutes. That's the beauty of this team — we've got a lot of capable guys, but we've got to bring it every night."
SIEWERT GETTING COMFORTABLE: Freshman big man Lucas Siewert had back-to-back solid games in the weekend sweep of the Oregon teams. Siewert had three points and five rebounds in nine minutes in his first career start in the win over OSU; then followed it up with five points, two rebounds and an assist against Oregon in 12 minutes.
Boyle said the 6-foot-10 freshman is getting more comfortable and more confident at this level.
"We've seen that from Lucas over the last two to three weeks of practice," Boyle said. "Now we're starting to see it on game, which obviously is the most important part, is when the lights come on. But it starts in practice and it started for him a couple of weeks ago and he's now translated that to games and I'm really proud of him. … I'm really proud of what he's been able to do over the last two or three weeks."
BAD MEMORIES: While the win over Oregon no doubt buoyed the Buffs' spirits, there's also no doubt it also resurrected memories of how close they were to more victories in their seven-game losing streak.
Asked what has stood out in the Pac-12 in the first half of the season, Boyle didn't hesitate with his answer.
"Just the fine line between winning and losing — the fact that we're four possessions away from being 6-3," Boyle said. "That's the fine line. We always talk about it as coaches, but this team has experienced it. Those close games — especially when you've been ahead all four of those contests with a minute to go."
RISING TO THE TOP: Boyle said he thought No. 5 Arizona (20-2, 9-0) and No. 13 Oregon (19-3, 8-1) have separated themselves from the pack in the conference.
"They've separated themselves by the consistency they've played with, the fact that offensively they're both very efficient, very consistent; and defensively they're both very efficient and both very consistent," Boyle said. "They've separated themselves above everybody else. Then you've got UCLA, I think one of the most talented offensive teams in the country, if not the most. USC is talented, Cal is talented. You look at the standings, it shakes itself out."
Indeed, the standings so far are a decent reflection of the preseason media poll, which picked Oregon, Arizona and UCLA as the top three teams.
Thus far, the biggest difference in the preseason poll might be the predictions for Utah and Colorado. At 6-3, the Utes — picked to finish eighth — are tied for third. Colorado, meanwhile was picked to finish fifth but is now tied for 10th.
ON TELEVISION: Thursday's game at Stanford (9 p.m. tipoff) will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. Sunday's game at Cal (2:30 p.m. tipoff) will be carried by ESPNU.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
