Colorado University Athletics
Boyle's Buffs Return Home For Two Games This Week
January 19, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Minutes after Colorado had absorbed a 75-54 loss to Arizona on Saturday, coach Tad Boyle's message to his Buffaloes was clear:
The teams that improve down the stretch — the teams that get better each week — will be the teams who are contending for the Pac-12 title in late February and early March.
In order for the Buffs to be one of those teams, they will need to take care of business at home. They will have two chances to do that this week when they play host to Washington State on Thursday (8 p.m.) and Washington on Saturday (7 p.m.)
"My challenge to our guys is we have got to continue to improve," Boyle said. "We can't feel like it's just the next game. We have to go back to practice on Monday and say 'OK, what do we have to do to get better?' We have to really concentrate on that. In this league, you'd better be ready every single night."
Indeed, the Pac-12 has the look of a league that could see a half-dozen teams — at least — vying for a top-four finish heading into the final weeks. After just three weeks of play, every team in the league has at least one conference loss — Stanford and USC are 4-1 — and four others have just two league losses.
The Buffs, at 14-4 overall and 3-2 in Pac-12 play, are in that second group. But after their two home games this week, they play seven of their last 11 on the road, including the final three of the regular season.
It makes this week's games critical, beginning with Thursday's night's matchup with the Cougars. Picked to finish 11th in the preseason Pac-12 media poll, the Cougars (12-7, 3-3) turned heads over the weekend with a home sweep of Oregon and Oregon State.
"The Washington State Cougars are not a slouch," Boyle said. "They scheduled very well early and gained some confidence. They beat Oregon. Were going to see a good Cougar team and then a good Huskies team. There's no nights off in league play and our guys understand that."
Prior to Saturday's loss in Tucson, the Buffs looked to be one of those teams on a good trajectory. Aside from a disastrous eight-minute stretch in a home loss against Oregon State, the Buffs had played well over the span of a month, putting together a 7-1 record that included wins over two top-15 teams and a road victory at Arizona State.
But Saturday's loss was no doubt a step back. CU was hammered on the boards (39-25), with the minus-14 margin the worst in a year. The Buffs also struggled offensively and were far from their best on the defensive end.
Still, they came home with a road split, thanks to a win at Arizona State on Thursday. That puts them in good position with two home games immediately ahead, but they can't afford another slip-up like the one that cost them a home win against Oregon State.
The process continues Monday when they return to practice.
"It's about us getting better," Boyle said. "You look at whether it's Arizona or Dana Altman and Oregon, the good teams in this league continually improve as the conference goes on. You don't just go from game to game … That's the challenge we have to lay at our guys' feet. Whether you have a bunch of freshmen or a veteran team, that's what we have to do this week and every week as we go through the rest of this season. You can't become complacent, and we won't."
ON THE BOARDS: While the Buffs are still among the Pac-12 leaders in rebounding — CU is currently second in the league in rebounding margin at plus-6.22 in all games— that number slips to just plus-1.2 in league games.
Of particular concern is the 30 offensive rebounds the Buffs gave up on their Arizona trip.
"That's a little bit of an alarm bell that goes off for me," Boyle said. "We've got to get tougher on the boards."
CU's leading rebounders were ineffective against Arizona, with Tyler Bey collecting only four and Evan Battey just one.Â
AROUND THE PAC-12: At halftime of Saturday's USC-Stanford game, it appeared the Cardinal would remain unbeaten in conference play. Stanford had a 20-point lead at intermission, and pushed the cushion to 21 early in the second half.
But USC then staged a comeback, slowly whittling away at the lead. Stanford still had a five-point lead with 13 seconds remaining, but back-to-back Cardinal turnovers led to five USC points to send the game into overtime, and the Trojans went on to claim an 82-78 win.
The talented but inconsistent Trojans (15-3, 4-1) have now won three in a row since an embarrassing 72-40 loss to Washington and are tied for the league lead with the Cardinal ...
Washington State continues to improve under first-year coach Kyle Smith. The Cougars knocked off No. 8 Oregon on Thursday, 72-61 — their first win over a top-10 team in more than a decade — then followed up with an 89-76 win over Oregon State on Saturday … Washington (12-7, 2-4), however, is struggling since point guard Quade Green, a transfer from Kentucky, was declared academically ineligible in early January. The Huskies are 1-3 since losing Green …Â
Utah's youth appears to be showing. One of the youngest teams in the nation, the Utes (10-7, 1-4) have lost four in a row since opening league play with a win over Oregon State.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
