Colorado University Athletics
Boyle, Buffs Excited To Extend Season In NIT
March 12, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
CU Faces UCF On Wednesday
BOULDER — Less than two hours after the Colorado Buffaloes received their bid to play in the NIT, the Buffs were on the floor Sunday night practicing.
"I think the guys are excited to still have an opportunity to play," head coach Tad Boyle said. "We talked about the history of the NIT and what that tournament means in terms of the history of college basketball. The NCAA is certainly the more prestigious tournament, it's the one everybody wants to be in, ourselves included. (But) the NIT is a great opportunity. We're going to play some good teams if we have the opportunity to advance."
The 19-14 Buffs drew a fifth seed and will open the tournament Wednesday with a 5 p.m. game against fourth seed Central Florida (21-11) in Orlando at CFE Arena. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
The Knights finished fourth this year in the American Athletic Conference, then lost to eventual champion SMU in the AAC tourney semifinals. UCF boasts a huge front line that includes 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall, who finished 18th in the nation in blocked shots with 2.53 per game. Fall is also one reason UCF led the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 36.2 percent from the floor this season.
While the Buffs have faced off against UCF just once in program history — a 2007 win in Boulder — there will be a familiar face on the Knights' bench. Former Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins is now the UCF head coach. Dawkins and Boyle squared off eight times in Pac-12 games, with Boyle winning the last six for a 6-2 edge in their matchups.
"I think the advantage goes to them because I think he's more familiar with our personnel than we are with his personnel," Boyle said. "(But) our coaches do a good job, there's a lot of information out there. We'll just have to do a good job and do the best we can in a very short period of time."
If the Buffs win, they will play the winner of Illinois State and UC-Irvine. Illinois State, one of the last four teams out of the NCAA Tournament, is one of the NIT's No. 1 seeds. The others include Syracuse, Iowa and Cal.
"There's good teams in this tournament," Boyle said. "Syracuse last year was one of the last teams in the NCAA and they go to a Final Four. There's such parity in college basketball, especially this year. There's a handful of elite teams, but even those guys can get beat. That's what makes college basketball exciting to watch this time of year, that's why they call it March Madness.
"We're glad to be playing this time of year. We'd rather be in the NCAAs. OUr players know that, our fans know that, our coaches know that — but this tournament means something."
Perhaps the biggest motivation of the NIT is a chance to play in New York's Madison Square Garden, home of the NIT Final Four. In Boyle's first year in Boulder, the Buffs won three games at the Coors Events Center to earn a trip to New York.
"We say we want to advance to New York, well that's a heck of a lot easier said than done," Boyle said. "Central Florida's the first in line. Johnny's a good coach, they've got good players, good size. It will be a challenge."
Two seasons ago, the Buffs played in the CBI. Boyle said they would not have accepted an invitation to that tournament this year had the Buffs not been invited to the NIT.
"We're excited to be playing," Boyle said. "If they wanted it to end, I'd be a little bit more worried and disappointed in this season. But the fact that they want to continue and are excited to play I think is a good sign — and we're going to need to be excited. We're going to have generate our own energy on the road. We're not going to have the Coors Events Center and our fans behind us."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
