Buffs Head To USC Seeking Road Trip Split
January 31, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
LOS ANGELES — When the Colorado Buffaloes left for Los Angeles earlier this week, they had eyes on a Pac-12 road trip sweep.
But after Thursday night's disappointing loss at UCLA, the best the 20th-ranked Buffs (16-5, 5-3) can earn is a split, something they will try to salvage Saturday when they square off with rival USC (17-4, 6-2) in an 8:30 p.m. game (MT) at the Galen Center (FS1).
Thursday's 72-68 defeat dropped the Buffs into third place in the Pac-12 standings, 1.5 games behind league-leading Oregon and a game behind USC. With Saturday's game marking only the halfway point of the conference season, it means the Buffs are still in the hunt for a conference championship.
But after the loss to the Bruins, CU coach Tad Boyle was in no mood to talk title possibilities.
"We can't even think about Pac-12 championships right now," Boyle said. "We have to think about winning the next game."
The Trojans present plenty to think about. After a confounding 72-40 loss at Washington in early January, USC has won five of its last six, with the only loss a narrow defeat at Oregon. Led by big men Nick Rakocevic and Onyeka Okongwu and guard Jonah Mathews, the Trojans are as talented as any team in the conference.
"USC is a better team than UCLA is," Boyle said. "UCLA was good (Thursday). They deserved to win this game. The tougher team won this game … and I think the tougher team wins on Saturday. We just have to be that team, and we'd better find more toughness that we played with tonight."
One thing the Buffs will no doubt have to improve upon is their rebounding. UCLA dominated Colorado on the boards, finishing with a 39-29 edge that included 13 offensive rebounds.
To Boyle's point, the Trojans are probably a better rebounding team than the Bruins. The 6-foot-9 Okongwu, a freshman who is currently being touted as a potential NBA Draft first-round pick, is averaging 17.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Right behind him is 6-11 senior Rakocevic, who is averaging 11.2 rebounds and 8.6 points. Combined, the two have made the Trojans the No. 1 rebounding team in the league in Pac-12 play, with USC averaging nearly 40 boards per game. Throw in 6-3 senior guard Mathews (13.0 ppg) and it is a formidable lineup that gives all the appearances of gelling as the calendar flips to February.
Saturday's game will be the halfway point of CU's conference season, with Colorado facing five of the last nine on the road. If the Buffs want to stay in the conference title hunt — or even maintain strong positioning for a coveted top-four finish and first-round Pac-12 tourney bye — a road trip split would be a boost.
But to accomplish that, the Buffs will have to be more consistent than they were Thursday. After shooting just 8-for-21 in the first half and being outrebounded 20-10, Colorado shot 45 percent after intermission and played the Bruins even on the boards. CU shaved an early second half 15-point deficit down to two with seven minutes to play, but could never completely get over the hump.
One thing they know they will see Saturday is a fired-up USC squad, as there has been some heightened emotion in the series over the last couple years.
Two years ago, USC coach Andy Enfield called a timeout to run a designed play in the final seconds of a game the Trojans had in hand. Last year, CU returned the favor by getting a win on USC's court, then completing a season sweep in Boulder a month later.
Now, there's plenty for both teams riding on Saturday's game.
BUFFS BITS: After hitting double-digit rebounds in five of his first six games of the season, CU junior Tyler Bey has hit double-digits on the boards just twice since (wins over Oregon and Utah) … Buffs junior McKinley Wright IV leads the Pac-12 in assists in conference games, averaging 6.63 per game … CU is still second in the Pac-12 for the season in scoring defense, giving up just 62.2 points per game … Evan Battey leads the Buffs in field goal percentage (.537) and is third in the league in conference games in offensive rebounds (2.8 orpg).
TIPOFF: The game is set to begin at 8:30 p.m. at the Galen Center.
THE SERIES: Colorado holds an 11-7 all-time series lead, including a season sweep last year. CU took a 69-65 win at the Galen Center in early February, then collected a 78-67 win in Boulder in early March.
BROADCAST: The game will be televised by FS1 with Guy Haberman and Casey Jacobsen on the call. The radio broadcast will be carried by 850 AM and 94.1 FM KOA, with Voice of the Buffs Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
UP NEXT:Â The Buffs return home next week for a pair. Colorado hosts Cal on Thursday at the Events Center (6 p.m.), then plays host to Stanford on Saturday, Feb. 8 (4 p.m.).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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