After Solid Opener, Boyle's Buffs Host Mavericks
November 15, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Even with two expected contributors sitting the bench in Tuesday's  season opener, the Colorado Buffaloes still had nine players see at least 16 minutes of playing time in a 100-71 win over Drake.
The next test for CU coach Tad Boyle will be to see how he adjusts his player rotation Friday when the Buffs play host to Omaha in a 7 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (Pac-12 Mountain).
"We'll see," Boyle said Thursday about his rotation plans. "That's going to be a work in progress. … You just have to understand that you have to make the time that you're on the floor count, and practice time count."
Boyle said sophomore D'Shawn Schwartz and junior Deleon Brown, who both missed the opener, will be available Friday. That could mean less time for some of the Buffs' younger players as CU's coaches continue the task of testing different combinations and lineups.
"It's easier when they're consistent," Boyle said. "It's really difficult when they're not consistent. The other night against Drake, it was easy because everybody played with great energy, everybody played with great effort, everybody was trying to do the right thing. I thought that was as easy a game to coach. We didn't all shoot the ball well, we took maybe some ill-advised shots — but when everybody plays with the energy and effort and trying to do the right things, it's a fun game to coach, a fun game to play."
The Buffs did indeed appear to enjoy themselves in their opener, with four players scoring in double figures, led by senior Namon Wright's 25. The Buffs shot nearly 60 percent from the floor, dominated the boards (44-29) and played solid defense for most of the night.
"I think our players had fun the other night," Boyle said. "Our coaches did, I think our fans did. People who were here are excited about this team. Now the challenge is what are we going to do about it Friday night? That's where our consistency will be tested. Then as we go into the next two road games, what are we going to do there? The challenges are coming. We'll take them as they come."
The 1-2 Mavericks come to Boulder on the heels of a 76-66 loss to Northern Arizona on Wednesday. Boyle said Omaha is similar to Drake — some size in the post and some capable outside shooters. After a slow start defending the 3-point line against Drake, the Buffs stiffened to hold the Bulldogs to 29.7 shooting from beyond the arc (11-for-37).
"Guarding the 3-point line is going to be paramount for us," Boyle said. "They have a 3-man who's a terrific player, a 4-man who's a terrific player. They both can really put up numbers and score."
The Mavs are led by 6-5 guard Zach Jackson, who has scored in double figures all three games this year and is averaging 17 points per game. Inside, they have a capable duo in 6-8 forwards Matt Pile and Mitch Hahn.
"We're going to be challenged a little bit more individually on certain guys than maybe we were against Drake," Boyle said. "They've got some guys that can get hot and they've got some guys that can score the ball in different ways. A lot of the same challenges that we had against Drake."
Along with some expected solid performances from starters — 17 points and six assists from McKinley Wright IV, 14 rebounds and nine points from forward Tyler Bey — the Buffs also had some nice efforts in the opener from freshmen Daylen Kountz and Eli Parquet.
Kountz had nine points, three rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 18 minutes on the floor while Parquet had five points and some good defensive stretches in 16:38 on the floor.
"I thought they both, for their first college games, did a good job," Boyle said.
"The one thing we know Eli can do is really guard well. I thought he did that at times. Daylen we know is really good in the open floor. One of the things I've talked about with our team, outside of McKinley we don't have guys who are making a lot of plays for other players. Daylen had four assists and one turnover — we'll take that every night. He was good, and he's really good in the open floor."
BUFFS BITS: Boyle said the plan is still to redshirt 6-11 freshman Jakub Dombek, unless circumstances would dictate that the Buffs need him this year. Right now, CU has four frontliners in Bey, Evan Battey, Lucas Siewert and Alexander Strating. … The Buffs will hit the road next week for a pair of games, beginning with a Tuesday contest at San Diego (8 p.m., ESPNU), followed by a Saturday game at Air Force (4 p.m., AT&T Sportsnet). … Friday night will mark Boyle's 400th game as a head coach. He is 167-110 all-time at Colorado, and was 56-66 at Northern Colorado prior to taking the CU job.
THE SERIES: This is just the second meeting ever between the two programs. The Buffs beat the Mavs 87-82 in Boulder in 2015.
BROADCAST: Drew Goodman and Casey Jacobsen will handle the Pac-12 Mountain telecast while Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke will handle the KOA radio broadcast.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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