Strong Second-Half Efforts Have Fueled Buffs' Three-Game Win Streak
February 11, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — There are myriad reasons behind the Colorado men's basketball team's recent surge.
Better shooting, better rebounding, balanced scoring, more consistent defense — all those things have contributed to the Buffs' recent three-game win streak that included a pair of road victories. Colorado will look to extend that streak this week with a pair of home games at the CU Events Center, beginning with an 8:30 p.m. matchup Wednesday with Arizona State, followed by a 6 p.m. game Sunday against Arizona.
Through the three-game win streak, the Buffs have been up and down in some areas — hot one game from 3-point range, ice-cold the next. But the constants throughout the winning streak have been stellar defense and rebounding, particularly in the second half.
Figure this: in the two games prior to their current win streak (losses to Stanford and Oregon State), Colorado let halftime leads slip away on both occasions. In those games, opponents shot a combined 64 percent from the field (32-for-50) after intermission, while also holding a five-rebound edge combined in the two games.
But in their last three wins, the Buffs have held opponents to 43 percent shooting after halftime (40-for-93). That was enough to overcome a pair of poor shooting games from 3-point range, when the Buffs were just 3-for-20 from beyond the arc against Oregon and just 4-for-20 from long distance against USC.
Colorado also won the second-half rebounding battle in all three of the wins, with a combined plus-10 over that stretch. That includes a strong second half against UCLA, when the Buffs overcame a 13-rebound deficit at one point to finish just three down for the game.
"It's not like it's some magic halftime speech," CU head coach Tad Boyle said of Colorado's newfound second-half consistency. "It's just a matter of challenging our guys to play for 40 minutes. They've answered the bell since that Oregon State game. … The bottom line is the reason we've won three games in a row is we've guarded and we've rebounded. That's the bottom line."
That is showing up in conference play. While the Buffs are just ninth in scoring in Pac-12 games (70.7), they are third in defense (69.2). Colorado is also fourth in rebound margin, averaging 3.2 more boards per game than its opponents.
No doubt it helps when CU's offense is clicking. Even with the poor 3-point shooting in two of Colorado's recent wins, the Buffs have overall shot well from the floor, with the second half again making the difference.
In the losses to Stanford and Oregon State, Colorado shot just 20-for-53 (37.7 percent) after halftime. In their recent three wins, CU shot a combined 41-for-76 (53.9 percent) in the second half.
The biggest difference, Boyle said, has been a healthy dose of mental toughness. After allowing halftime leads to slip away in back-to-back losses, the Buffs stayed steady in the second half in their three wins. That includes coming back from second-half deficits in the two Los Angeles wins.
"It (mental toughness) is hard to quantify — but you know it when you see it," Boyle said. "You see it on defense. It's not that we shut anybody out. We're not going to shut anybody out defensively. We're not going to hold people to zero offensive rebounds. The ball's going to bounce into their hands some. We know that. But you know toughness when you see it and we've seen it."
Now 14-9 overall and 5-6 in Pac-12 play, the Buffs are still very much in contention for a top-four conference finish — important because it would mean a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Currently in a four-way tie for seventh in the Pac-12 standings (with Arizona, Stanford and UCLA), Colorado is just two games away from the three teams currently tied for second with 7-4 conference marks (Arizona State, Oregon State and Utah).
Perhaps most importantly, the Buffs are finally entering a stretch of the schedule that favors them. After playing seven of its first 11 conference games on the road, Colorado gets five of its last seven at home.
"We knew this was coming, now we have to take advantage of that," Boyle said. "But again, just because we're home doesn't mean we're going to win. We learned that against Oregon State and against Washington. This isn't just a gimme. You have to play well and you have to play with toughness."
BUFFS NOTES: Wednesday's game against Arizona State will be televised by FSI, with Sunday's game against Arizona carried by ESPNU. Both games, of course, will also be carried by KOA radio. … CU's Tyler Bey is fourth in the conference in rebounding in Pac-12 games, averaging 8.7 boards. While the Buffs don't have anyone in the top 20 in scoring in Pac-12 games, they have three bunched in the No. 22 through 24 spots — Shane Gatling (12.7 ppg), Bey (12.5) and McKinley Wright IV (12.2).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
