Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Begin Preparations For Friday Matchup With Colorado State
December 11, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Wednesday morning's film session for Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes didn't offer any newfound revelations.
It only confirmed what the Buffs knew in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday night's 79-76 home loss to Northern Iowa — the visiting Panthers beat the Buffs at their own game. Northern Iowa shot 14-for-26 from 3-point range, came up with critical defensive stops when most necessary and outrebounded the Buffs, leading to the first time this year Colorado has been outscored in second-chance points.
"The reality is Northern Iowa out-executed us," Boyle said. "A lot of the same actions offensively that they run, we run … We watched a lot of both offensive and defensive clips where we need to get better. Execution is the No. 1 thing and communication is the other. We gave up way, way too many easy looks by good shooters. I told them it's like we failed an open book test. The answers were given to them before the game was even played."
But the Buffs won't have much time to lick the wounds from a rare non-conference home loss. Directly ahead is a Friday night matchup at Colorado State (6 p.m., CBSSN) at Moby Arena. While the Rams are just 7-5 this year, the rivalry aspect of the matchup and CSU's home-court advantage makes it another difficult test for Colorado.
Throw in the fact that the No. 24 Buffs have now lost two in a row after a 7-0 start and it means sense of urgency will be a requirement, not an option.
"Every game is a priority," Boyle said. "If we beat Northern Iowa and somehow sneak away with a win, the Colorado State game is just as big. But now we're going to be tested — our toughness and our character. We failed the test (Tuesday) and we'll see if we pass or fail on Friday."
One thing Boyle has stressed to his Buffs over the last couple of weeks is that they need everyone contributing.
"The whole thing about our team is we don't have one guy that can do it by himself," Boyle said. "We just don't have that guy. The whole beauty of this team is we have a lot of different weapons … We've got a lot of weapons on this team offensively. But we can't feel like we have to do it by ourselves. We have to play more together on offense."
The Buffs did play well offensively in spurts against the Panthers. Their 76 points tied their second-highest total of the season, and they shot a respectable 47.2 percent from the field, including 55.6 after halftime, when they erased a double-digit deficit. Their night included a career-high 21 points from Lucas Siewert on 7-for-11 shooting (5-for-7 from 3-point range), 16 points from McKinley Wright and 14 from Tyler Bey.Â
But the Buffs also need to find a way to get Bey back in the offensive flow. While he did score in double digits for the eighth time in nine games, he had just four field goal attempts — the third time in the last four games he has had four or fewer attempts.
CU must also regain some offensive consistency. The Buffs had several long scoring droughts that led to big UNI runs, including an 8-0 surge to end the half and an 11-0 burst to start the second half that ended up putting the Buffs in a 12-point hole. Northern Iowa also finished with a 6-0 run while CU went scoreless in the last 1:35.
Meanwhile, CU's 29 rebounds were a season low, and it was the third straight game when an opponent has shot at least 46 percent from the field.
It all adds up to the Buffs needing to get back to the basic fundamentals.
"We have to get better," Boyle said. "It's no different when we were eking out wins with offensive inefficiency. It's no different than losing a tough game at home. We played well enough offensively and we didn't get it done. So we have to get better. That's what November and December are all about. The frustrating thing for me, and I'm sure for our fans, and is this is a veteran group. The growing pains that most teams go through, this team shouldn't go through. But we are. And so I think sometimes maybe our guys are thinking about the wrong things."
FIRST LOOK CSU: The Rams improved to 7-5 after a 72-68 win over South Dakota State at home Tuesday. Big man Nico Carvacho, who has been a thorn in CU's side for the last three years, leads the team in scoring (13.3 points) and rebounds (9.9). The Rams are also getting double-digit scoring from freshman guard Isaiah Stevens (11.0 ppg) … Colorado has a 90-38 all-time edge in the series, including an 86-80 victory at home last year. The Rams, however, have won three of the last five. CU owns a 36-28 edge in Fort Collins.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
