Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Aim To Get Back On Track Tuesday Vs. Toreros
December 11, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Almost without warning, crunch time has arrived for the Colorado basketball team.
Tad Boyle's Buffs now have just three games remaining before they open Pac-12 play, with two of those on tap this week at home: Tuesday's 6 p.m. matchup with San Diego and Friday's 6 p.m. tilt with South Dakota State (both televised by the Pac-12 Network).
Those will be the Buffs' last home games before their Jan. 4 conference home opener against Arizona State.
"We have to take care of these," Boyle said after Monday morning's practice. " These opportunities are really important. San Diego is a big game for us. These are the games if you don't take care of business can come back and haunt you. … These two home games are critical."
After this week, the Buffs wrap up their non-conference schedule with a Dec. 22 game vs. Iowa in Sioux Falls, S.D. — a game that comes at the end of finals week at CU.
"It's a big two weeks for our team," Boyle said. "Academically it's a big two weeks. It's crunch time for these guys in a lot of different areas, and for a young team, they have to understand that."
Now 7-2 after a 96-69 drubbing Saturday at the hands of No. 13 Xavier, the Buffs are in no position to take anyone lightly, in particular a veteran USD team that has already compiled a 3-1 record on the road.
"San Diego has won three true road games, Colorado has won zero," Boyle said. "We'd better be ready for these guys. They've gone on the road and won. Very good team, veteran team, they run their stuff well."
The Toreros own a modest two-game win streak, including a 65-60 win at New Mexico State last week. They are averaging just 68 points per game, but are making their living on defense — especially around the 3-point arc. USD has allowed opponents to connect on just 22.4 percent of their 3-point tries, the nation's leading percentage.
Overall, they are yielding just 59.7 points per game, seventh-best in the nation.
"We just have to run our stuff and execute our stuff," Boyle said. "That's the biggest takeaway from Xavier. Xavier is an execution team and Colorado right now is not an execution team. We're far from it. We were not good in any phase of the game — transition, sets, motion. Offensively we were pathetic."
After a 6-0 start that included a three-game run through the Paradise Jam tournament, the Buffs have lost two of their last three. In both losses, they have shot less than 40 percent from the field overall, including a combined 16-for-53 (30 percent) from 3-point range.
That's a number Boyle would quite obviously like to see improve in a hurry.
"Some of our guys still think they're shooters," Boyle said. "We don't have a shooter on the team right now by Xavier standards. We have some guys that are capable. George King is capable, Dom (Collier) is capable. But capable doesn't mean anything. What means something is that ball goes through the basket when you shoot it. That's what a shooter does."
The Buffs have just one player — King — shooting better than 38 percent from 3-point range (13-for-34).
"You have shot takers and you have shot makers," Boyle said. "The percentages tell you who's who."
Boyle's Buffs also need to improve their 3-point defense. Colorado is currently allowing opponents to connect on 34 percent of their long-distance tries, but watched Xavier hit 9-of-14 from beyond the arc.
USD CONNECTION: Colorado assistant coach Bill Grier served as the Toreros' head coach for eight seasons (2007-2015), a stretch that included a WCC tourney title in 2008 and a first-round NCAA Tournament win over UConn.
Boyle said the game "obviously means a lot" to Grier, but the CU assistant played down the meeting, saying it was just another game.
The contest will be the first in a "two for one" deal for Colorado, meaning the Buffs will go to San Diego next season before the Toreros return for another game in Boulder in the 2019-20 season.
THE SERIES: The Buffs lead the all-time series with the Toreros, 3-1, including a 2-0 mark in Boulder, but this will be the first meeting between the two programs since a 71-63 Colorado win in January 1992 in Boulder.
BROADCAST: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Ted Robinson and Bill Walton. KOA 850 AM radio will carry the broadcast with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
