Buffs Gear Up For Visit To Kansas, Allen Fieldhouse On Saturday
December 05, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado coach Tad Boyle knows what his Buffaloes are about to encounter Saturday night when they make their foray into Kansas' storied Allen Fieldhouse for a matchup with No. 2 Kansas.
His players don't. While the Buffs annually play in some raucous arenas — Arizona, Oregon and Utah come to mind — they haven't encountered anything like Allen Fieldhouse, a historic old barn that seats 16,300 and seldom has an empty seat.
"That crowd is unlike anything our players have seen," Boyle said Wednesday night, after his 20th-ranked Buffs had beaten Loyola Marymount, 76-64, to improve to 7-0. "(But) we are not going to be afraid. We respect everybody and fear nobody."
Fear and respect aside, the Buffs have historically struggled on the Jayhawks' home floor. Even though Colorado once played at KU on an annual basis when the Buffs were members of the Big Eight and Big 12, successful trips were a rarity.
In fact, Colorado has lost 29 in a row at Allen Fieldhouse, a streak that stretches back 36 years. The last time CU scratched out a win in Lawrence came on Feb. 10, 1983, when the Buffs took a 75-74 win.
Starting at guard that evening for the Jayhawks was Tad Boyle.
"I don't remember it," Boyle said with a laugh Thursday morning. "I can't remember what I had for breakfast."
Boyle, a Colorado prep standout at Greeley Central, does have fond memories of his days at Kansas. But while he spent four years there as a player, there is no doubt his blood runs pure black and gold today.
"I spent four years of my life in Lawrence and I've spent 10 years of my life here in Boulder as the coach and another eight years as an investment advisor. I'm a Colorado guy," he said. "I played at Kansas and I'm proud that I did. Some of my closest friends to this day are guys I played basketball with. It was a good experience — but I'm a Colorado guy."
But Boyle will have precious little time to reminisce Saturday when the Buffs tip it off in their 5 p.m. matchup (ESPN2). While Kansas (6-1) has historically been good at Allen Fieldhouse, they have been nearly unbeatable in the building under current head coach Bill Self, now in his 17th season there. Under his direction, the Jayhawks are a mind-boggling 253-13 on their home floor, meaning they have accumulated more conference titles (14) in his tenure than they have home losses.
Boyle just began the process of scouting the Jayhawks after Wednesday night's win. By Thursday morning, he had a good idea of what the Buffs will be facing.Â
"The biggest thing we have to do in order to have a chance in that building is you have to control the tempo of the game," Boyle said. "If you let them control the tempo of the game, you're in the danger zone. We have to control the tempo. That doesn't mean we don't run, it doesn't mean we don't attack, it's just we decide when we do it, when we don't."
That will require excellent communication on the floor, something that is not easy in a building renowned for its deafening crowd.
"It's gonna be a great challenge," Boyle said. "I think the biggest thing is limiting their runs. And, our guys are going to have to communicate with themselves on the floor because communicating from the sideline in that building when it's rocking is nearly impossible."
EXTRA AND EMPTY POSSESSIONS: One thing the Buffs can't afford to do is continue their recent trend of turnovers. CU has had 18 and 19 in its last two games. One of those kinds of nights at Kansas will ignite the crowd into a frenzy.
CU currently has just two players — McKinley Wright and D'Shawn Schwartz — with positive assist-to-turnover ratios.
"We have to have seven or eight for us to be efficient and be as good offensively as we can be," Boyle said
One trend he would like to continue is offensive rebounding. The Buffs had 15 offensive boards against LMU, which they converted into 19 second-chance points.Â
"Offensive rebounds are a second possession," Boyle said. "Just like a turnover never gets you a shot, offensive rebounds get you another shot."
SELF ON BOYLE: Kansas' Self was actually playing for Oklahoma State at the same time Boyle was playing at Kansas.
But while Boyle pursued an investment advisor career out of college before turning to coaching later in life, Self took a graduate assistant's job at Kansas under Larry Brown before returning to OSU to continue his coaching career.
 "Tad and I were the two slowest guards In the Big Eight Conference from 1981-85," Self said at his Thursday press conference. "I say that in all seriousness to be honest, but Tad graduated in 1985 and I did too, and he did not want to go into being a grad assistant or coaching at that moment. I was able to sneak in and get that position. In many ways I probably owe Tad a lot."Â
LAST GAME: Boyle has made one trip to KU with his team since taking over at Colorado, a 90-54 loss in 2012. But a year later, the Buffs collected a win in Boulder when Askia Booker hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 75-72 CU victory in the last meeting between the programs.
Self was reminded about the game Thursday.
"Was that the one where Booker made the shot?" Self said. "I remember we tied it … there was about four seconds left, or three, and they had three-quarter court and Booker got inside half court, we kind of backed off of him and he threw one in. So, the last time we played Colorado, they beat us and I do remember that."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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