Buffs Host Bruins Sunday In Regular Season Home Finale

BOULDER — The last time Colorado and UCLA met this season, the Buffs came away with their first-ever win on the Bruins' home floor and what looked to be the chance for some big-time momentum in Pac-12 play.

But that momentum never quite materialized, as they won their next game before dropping three in a row.

Sunday, the Buffs meet UCLA again in their regular season home finale in a 2 p.m. game at the CU Events Center — and they are again looking for a win to provide a little momentum, this time as they prepare for the upcoming Pac-12 tournament.

"I used to be in the investment business and the prospectuses said, 'Any performance in the past does not indicate future returns,'" Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said earlier this week. "That's kind of how our basketball team is. Just because we played really well against UCLA doesn't mean that we're going to play well in the next game. … We're a capable team on any given night, certainly good enough on any given possession, to play well. But we're also that team that can really not play well. So consistency is really what it gets back to."

Indeed, the Buffs have been an up-and-down team throughout Pac-12 play. Along with the victory over UCLA, they also own wins over Arizona, Stanford, Utah and Arizona State — all teams currently ahead of Colorado in the conference standings.

But they have also had some clunkers, such as their recent loss at Washington State, the beginning of their current three-game losing streak.

That is something they would love to end today, especially on Senior Day, when they honor CU seniors George King, Dominique Collier, Josh Repine and Tory Miller-Stewart.

The Buffs, currently in ninth place in the conference, bring a 15-13 overall mark and a 7-9 Pac-12 record into the game and need a win to bolster their postseason resume. The Bruins, who had won six of their last seven before falling at Utah on Thursday, are third in the Pac-12 (19-9, 10-6) and are still in the hunt for an NCAA at-large bid.

Colorado's 68-59 win at UCLA in mid-January might have been one of the Buffs' best overall performances of the season, especially considering it occurred on the road. CU shot 43 percent from the field, held the Bruins to 37 percent shooting, and shot 50 percent — 11-for-22 — from 3-point range. The Buffs also outrebounded the Bruins, 33-31, while committing just 12 turnovers (and giving up just five points off of those miscues).

Individually, King may have played his best game of the season, finishing with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double that included a 6-for-10 night from 3-point range.

"We shot the ball well, they did not shoot the ball well," Boyle said. "Sometimes when you shoot the ball well — George King makes six threes — that covers up a lot of warts. That's what happened that night. We didn't play perfect, but we certainly played well and we shot the ball well."

The Buffs also did a solid job on UCLA standout point guard Aaron Holiday. The Buffs held the junior to just 10 points — barely half his season average — on 4-for-13 shooting while also forcing six Holiday turnovers.

To produce another win Sunday, the Buffs will have to replicate their January effort, which means keeping turnovers to a minimum and not allowing UCLA to get out in transition.

"We did a great job of taking them out of transition at their place," Boyle said. "I think they had six fastbreak points and five points off of our turnovers. They weren't the pick-sixes, the live ball turnovers. They were turnovers that were dead-ball turnovers that they couldn't convert into points. If you turn it over in a live ball, they're going to convert that thing. They're very, very good in transition. They're very athletic, they have great instincts, they have great shooters."

Along with Holiday, the Bruins have a solid big man in 7-0 Thomas Welsh (13.1 points, 10.6 rebounds per game) and capable scorers in guards Kris Wilkes (13.5 ppg) and Jaylen Hands (10.7 ppg).

SERIES: UCLA holds an 11-3 all-time edge, with Colorado's win in January halting a three-game skid to the Bruins. UCLA has won seven of nine against Colorado since the Buffs joined the Pac-12 in the 2011-12 season and CU is 2-3 against UCLA in Boulder. Colorado's last home win over the Bruins was a 62-57 victory on Jan. 2, 2015.

BROADCAST: The game will be televised by ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Corey Williams on the call. KOA 850 AM radio will broadcast the game with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.

UP NEXT: CU finishes the regular season next Saturday with a 5 p.m. game at Utah.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu