Buffs Square Off With Washington, Seek Road Split
February 22, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
SEATTLE — When Colorado and Washington met for the first time this season back in early January in Boulder, the Buffs put forth one of their "bad half, good half" games.
The result was a 77-70 Washington win, a game in which the Buffs gave up 48 points in the first half and just 29 after halftime. CU trailed by as much as 15 points early in the second half before rallying to cut the deficit to one with seven minutes left to go, but that was as close as the Buffs could come.
It was also the game in which CU point guard McKinley Wright IV suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first half. The injury forced him to miss Colorado's next game, the first and still only game he has missed as a Buff.
Saturday, the two teams will meet again at 8:30 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena, the last regular season road game of the season for the Buffs (16-10 overall, 7-7 Pac-12). Still in the hunt for a top-four Pac-12 finish, the Buffs need a win Saturday against the league-leading Huskies (21-5, 12-1) to salvage a road trip split.
"We need our second-half defense for 40 minutes," CU head coach Tad Boyle said after Friday's practice. "It's hard to score on Washington. The best way to score on them is to get stops so you can get some buckets and looks in transition. Defense against them is going to be critical."
What the Buffs won't see in the Huskies is any surprises. Jim Hopkins' squad plays a 2-3 zone for 40 minutes, and plays it well. Washington leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing just 63.9 points per game.
On the defensive end, the Huskies are led by Matisse Thybulle, who has 90 steals this season — more than twice as many as any other player in the conference. Thybulle is also second in the league in blocked shots.
Offensively, the Buffs must contend with player of the year candidate Jaylen Nowell. The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard is averaging 16.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game, while shooting 50.8 percent from the field, including 44 percent from 3-point range. Nowell had 19 points in UW's win earlier this year.
"We have to do a great job on Nowell," Boyle said. "We didn't do a very good job on him, especially down the stretch. He made some really tough shots and tough plays, but he's a good player."
The Buffs are coming off a tough 76-74 loss at Washington State on Wednesday, a see-saw affair that saw Colorado lead by as much as six in the second half before faltering down the stretch. The loss ended a five-game Buffs win streak, and came on a night when CU shot poorly (37.9 percent from the field), including a 9-for-29 effort from 3-point range.
The 29 3-point attempts tied a season high for the Buffs, but the last time they shot that many, they made 14 in a 93-56 win at Air Force.
"We have to understand that we have to get paint touches," Boyle said. "It's no different against a zone than it is against man. It's more tempting to take 3s against a zone because that's the shot they want you to take, and they want certain guys to take them. We can't fall into the trap of settling for the shots they want us to take."
The Buffs must also do a better job on the boards than they did in their first meeting with Washington, when the Huskies had a 31-29 rebound edge. And, while CU did have a slight rebound edge against WSU on Wednesday, they lost the battle down the stretch. One game after having nine rebounds against Arizona, 6-10 forward Lucas Siewert did not have a rebound against the Cougars.
"He was really, really good against Arizona," Boyle said. "But you can't play 24 minutes and not get a rebound. That's the part I've talked to him about."
Overall, Boyle said, the Buffs need to recreate their second-half defense from their first meeting for an entire game, and they must take care of the ball and limit Washington to just one shot.
THE SERIES: Washington holds a 15-11 all-time lead in the series, including three straight wins and four of the last five. Washington leads the series 8-5 since Colorado joined the Pac-12, and has a 10-2 edge in Seattle. CU's last win on the Huskies' home floor was a 64-47 victory in 2015.
BROADCAST: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Ted Robinson and Ben Braun. KOA will carry the radio broadcast with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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