After Month Away, Buffs Finally Return Home For Two Games

BOULDER — It's been a month since the Colorado Buffaloes played a game on their home floor.

It hasn't been a month to remember. Since a home win over Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 8 bumped their record to 7-1, the 9-5 Buffs have lost four of six, including a pair of losses at Arizona and Arizona State last weekend to open their Pac-12 schedule.

But this week, Tad Boyle's Buffs finally get to practice at home and stay there for games. The Buffs host Washington State on Thursday (7 p.m.) before welcoming Washington to the CU Events Center on Saturday for an 8 p.m. contest.

Monday, they set about the task of correcting the problems that have plagued them for much of the last four weeks.

"We came back and here's what we're going to fix," Boyle said after Monday's workout. "We're going to fix our defensive woes. We're going to fix our rebounding woes and we're going to become better in our zone offense. That's what we got out of today's practice."

That is indeed a condensed version of the laundry list of issues that hurt the Buffs in their back-to-back losses in Arizona. In those two games the Buffs were outscored by 50 points in the paint (20 against Arizona and 30 against ASU) while they shot just 34.2 percent from the field and just 25.6 percent from 3-point range.

That last statistic is particularly vexing for Boyle, as Colorado began the season as one of the hottest shooting teams in the nation.

One other issue? Turnovers. In their recent skid — four losses in five games — the Buffs have averaged 15.6 turnovers per game.

"I made a deal with our team after the Arizona game," Boyle said. "I said, 'You guys have to fix our turnovers. I'll fix the bad shots.' I thought against Arizona State our bad shots went down significantly. We took about three or four. But that's a heck of a lot better than the 13 or 14 we took against Arizona, which was a big reason for our woes. Against Arizona State, it was the fact that we couldn't make a shot. I'll take care of the shot selection. I want our players to take care of the turnovers."

Monday morning, the Buffs had a two-hour film session, one Boyle said might have been the longest in his tenure in Boulder.

"Our guys know what they're supposed to do," Boyle said. "Transition defense, rebounding, rotations — you name it. They know. They know what their job is. That's how this team is going to turn the tide and get these losses turned into victories, is by knowing their job and doing their job."

A return home should also help the Buffs regain their collective shooting eye. In six games at the Events Center this year, Colorado his shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. In games away from home, CU is shooting barely 42 percent from the field.

MORE TIME FOR FRESHMEN: Saturday's game at Arizona State saw true freshman Eli Parquet get the first start of his career, and he finished with a career-high 21 minutes. Fellow freshman Daylen Kountz, meanwhile, also logged a career high in minutes, finishing with 25.

That's a trend that is likely to continue, as the Buffs find themselves short-handed at guard. Junior Deleon Brown is out with academic issues while senior Namon Wright has been hampered by a foot injury, which kept him out of the ASU game.

"Both Daylen and Eli get thrust into bigger roles with Del's situation and Namon's foot," Boyle said. "It throws both Eli and Daylen into the mix where they're going to be getting minutes. "

Kountz finished with 10 points and an assist and steal against ASU while Parquet had two points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist and blocked shot. But the two also combined for seven turnovers.

"Whether they start or come off the bench really doesn't matter," Boyle said. "They're in the rotation and we're going to need them to play. We're going to need everybody to play better than they played against Arizona State."

DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS: Points in the paint have seldom been a problem for Boyle-coached teams, but on the Arizona swing, both opponents scored seemingly at will inside against Colorado. Arizona held a 38-18 edge in points in the paint while ASU had a 50-20 cushion inside.

"Their three post players were 18 for 24, which is 75 percent," Boyle said of the ASU game. "That's embarrassing, and a lot of that was against our zone. A zone is designed to keep the ball out of the paint."

One problem for the Buffs inside has been early foul trouble for sophomore forward Tyler Bey, Colorado's best inside defender. At Arizona, Bey left the game early with two fouls and the Wildcats holding a narrow one-point lead. With Bey on the bench, the Wildcats built their cushion to 15 by the half. He also played just six minutes in the first half against ASU because of foul trouble, and the Sun Devils were up by 18 at intermission.

"He has to be more disciplined," Boyle said. "He can't reach. He has to play defense with his feet and his brain. He's got great feet. He knows what he's supposed to do, he has to become a more disciplined defender. He has to understand when he picks up that first foul that he's got to play really, really smart. His foul trouble has definitely hampered us and tied our hands a little bit."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu