No. 20 Buffs Turn Attention To Weekend Trip To Desert
January 13, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Minutes after the Colorado Buffaloes had routed visiting Utah on Sunday afternoon, CU sophomore Evan Battey said it best:
"This is Colorado basketball. It's hard to beat us when we're playing like this."
Indeed, when the Buffs are hitting on all cylinders on both ends of the floor — as they were in their 91-52 win over the Utes — they are as good as anyone in the Pac-12. The Buffs were efficient offensively, outstanding on defense and dominant on the boards.
Now, their challenge will be to take that play on the road this week when they travel to the desert for a 7 p.m. game Thursday at Arizona State (ESPN2) and a 12:30 p.m. game Saturday at Arizona (Fox).
Of course, that is a challenge that all teams in the Pac-12 face.
After just two weekends of conference play, only one team — Stanford at 3-0 — remains unbeaten in league play. Meanwhile, we saw Oregon State throttle No. 24 Arizona (which was swept on its Oregon road trip) and Cal knock off Washington, which was a top-25 team just a couple of weeks ago.
It is why CU coach Tad Boyle's mantra on consistency bears repeating.
"The most consistent team is going to win this league," Boyle said last week. "There's a lot of talented teams, there's a lot of teams that have the ability to win this league this year. But the most consistent team is going to do it … You have to be able to win on the road, you have to be able to protect home."
The good news is that aside from a disastrous eight-minute stretch against Oregon State, the Buffs have been a very consistent team over the last month, compiling a 6-1 mark in that stretch that includes wins over No. 13 Dayton and No. 4 Oregon. It's been enough to see them bumped up to No. 20 in the latest Associated Press poll (released Monday) and up to No. 21 in the coaches' poll.Â
Meanwhile, they have also moved up to No. 21 in the latest NET rankings.
But what has also been evident in CU's recent stretch is that for the Buffs to be at their best, they need everyone contributing. In their last five games — beginning with the win over Dayton — here's how Colorado's top four starters have performed:
— Junior point guard McKinley Wright IV has averaged 18.6 points, 7.6 assists and 6.2 rebounds in that stretch, with just 12 total turnovers. That includes a zero turnover game in the win over Utah, the second such game in his career when he played the entire game.
— Junior forward Tyler Bey has averaged 13.9 points and nine rebounds, including a pair of double-doubles.
— Battey has averaged 10.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, including more than four offensive boards per game.
— Junior wing D'Shawn Schwartz has averaged 13 points and 4.2 rebounds, including 20 points vs. Dayton with the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime.
As a team, the Buffs have also been efficient, particularly in their three Pac-12 games. CU leads the league in conference games in scoring (77.67 points per game), field goal percentage (.511) and rebound margin (plus-7.33); and is No. 2 in assists per game (14.6).
But that efficiency will be sorely tested this week on their Arizona trip, a place that has been historically unkind to the Buffs. Since joining the Pac-12, Colorado is 0-7 against the Wildcats in Tucson and 1-6 against ASU in Tempe — with the only win there coming in 2012.
Still, the Buffs know that if they are going to be in contention for a Pac-12 title in March, they need to win road games beginning in January. That becomes even more imperative in the wake of the home loss to Oregon State.
"The way we're going to make up for the Oregon State game is by going on the road and getting some stuff done," Boyle said after Sunday's win. "That opportunity comes on Thursday in Tempe and then we get another shot on Saturday in Tucson. It's a big road trip for us if we want to do what we want to do, which is compete for a conference championship. You have to be able to win on the road to do that and there's no time like the present."
The Buffs have actually faced ASU once already this year, collecting an 81-71 win over the Sun Devils in the season opener in China in a game that did not count in the league standings.
But Arizona State was missing two of its key players in that contest, and Bobby Hurley's team has improved significantly since.
"I think we're a better team than we were in Shanghai but they're a totally different animal than what we saw over there in November," Boyle said. "They're playing well. They beat Oregon State on the road, they gave Oregon all they wanted on the road. They're playing well and they're competitive and they're tough."
PAC-12 IN THE RANKINGS: The conference had just two teams in the AP top 25, with Oregon at No. 8 and Colorado No. 20. Oregon was also eighth in the coaches poll, Colorado was No. 21 and Stanford was No. 25.
But while Stanford appears to be having trouble getting respect in the polls, the Cardinal is the league's highest ranked team in the NET. Stanford checked in at No. 11 in the NET on Monday, followed by Oregon (13), Arizona (18), Colorado (21), Oregon State (45), Washington (51), Arizona State (59), Utah (60), USC (68), Washington State (126), UCLA (149) and Cal (155).
The Buffs have two wins over top-20 NET teams — Oregon (13) and Dayton (8).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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