Boyle's Buffs Host Prairie View A&M On Thursday
December 18, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes have spent the last three days working on fundamentals, trying to correct some of the issues that have hounded them thus far this season.
Thursday night, the 8-2 Buffs will have a chance to see if that work has paid dividends when Prairie View A&M (3-7) pays a 6:30 p.m. visit to the CU Events Center (Pac-12 Networks).
One of the issues the Buffs have spent plenty of time addressing is turnovers. Colorado is averaging 15.5 miscues per game, including a season-high 21 in last week's 56-48 win at Colorado State.
The Panthers, who have been forcing an average of 17.5 turnovers per game, should offer a good measuring stick in that regard.
"It's going to be a great test with Prairie View coming here tomorrow night," Boyle said after Wednesday's practice. "Number one, they play extremely hard, and they're very active defensively. They really try to get their hands on a lot of balls, they play passing lanes, they'll double the post, they'll double the ball handler, they'll throw a lot of different things at you defensively. It should be a great test for us."
The Panthers were an NCAA Tournament team last season after winning the SWAC regular season and tournament titles, but graduated the heart of that team.
Still, despite their 3-7 record, they are a team that can cause problems. They have spent the vast majority of their season on the road thus far — their only home game was their season opener — and they have played well against Power 5 teams. They lost by just four, 54-50, at Cal in mid-November, then dropped an 88-79 decision at Arizona State last week. The Panthers were within seven of ASU with just less than three minutes to play in a game in which the two teams combined to shoot 84 free throws.
PVAMU features three starters averaging double-digit scoring, led by 6-5 guard Gerard Andrus at 13.6 points per game.
"They're road road warriors," Boyle said. "They're not afraid of anybody. They play extremely hard. They're going to play for 40 minutes and they play a lot of guys. So it will be a good test as we as we prepare to head to Chicago on Saturday."
While Boyle never likes to look ahead, there's also no doubt he and his players are at least thinking about Saturday's game against No. 13 Dayton at the United Center. That's a game that no doubt will serve as a major barometer for the Buffs as they prepare for their Jan. 2 conference opener at home against Oregon.
But they must first make sure to take care of business against Prairie View. After several days of working on their fundamentals — something they haven't had the opportunity to do for a couple of weeks — Boyle is anxious to see how that work pays off in a game situation.
"I feel like we've had good practices," he said. "We've worked on a lot of fundamentals, passing and catching and dribbling and making simple plays. We've really tried to emphasize just make simple plays, don't make home run plays. We'll see if it translates."
MAGIC NUMBERS: After holding Colorado State to 29 percent shooting and collecting a 44-32 edge on the boards last Friday, CU is now 63-5 all-time under Boyle when holding a team under 40 percent shooting and having at least a plus-8 rebound advantage.
HOLIDAY BREAK: After Saturday's game in Chicago, most of CU's players will head home for a three-day holiday break before returning to Boulder to prepare for a Dec. 29 home game against Iona. After that, it's the Pac-12 opener against Oregon at the Events Center.
THE SERIES: This will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams. Colorado won the only previous matchup, a 72-47 decision in Boulder on Dec. 19, 2008. Colorado is 12-0 all-time against teams from the SWAC.
BROADCAST: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Drew Goodman and former Cal head coach Wyking Jones. The radio broadcast will be carried by 850 AM and 94.1 FM KOA, with Voice of the Buffs Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
UP NEXT: The Buffs travel to Chicago on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. matchup with No. 13 Dayton at the United Center (CBS Sports Network).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu