Wright Vows Buffs Ready To Rebound
January 08, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — With four days still to go until their next game, it's already been a long week for the Colorado Buffaloes.
But nobody needs to remind the Buffs about what happened in their last outing. Turnovers, missed shots and missed defensive assignments all added up to one very big missed opportunity Sunday when they absorbed a rare conference home loss to Oregon State.
"I was very disappointed," junior point guard McKinley Wright IV said after Wednesday's practice. "Not as much in the team but more in myself. I made a lot of careless reads down the stretch, turned the ball over and they came back, striking at us."
But now, after a heart-to-heart team discussion and film session, the 25th-ranked Buffs are ready to put that loss behind them and concentrate on the future, beginning with Sunday's 4 p.m. home matchup with Utah at the CU Events Center (ESPNU).
"We know what we're capable of," Wright said. "We had a serious conversation as a team in our film room, just about not having the pain of regret toward the end of the season. I think that sparked everybody a little bit more. We know how big these games are come March. We're going to do our best to come out with a lot more energy and do a better job of putting two halves together."
Indeed, while every game technically counts the same, home losses hurt just a little more, simply because it is harder to make up the difference with a road win. With one conference home loss already in the books — and two overall this season — the Buffs (12-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-12) are determined not to let their CU Events Center edge go to waste again.
"We know we have to bounce back," Wright said. "We have to do a better job protecting home court. We've dropped two here this year. Buff Nation comes out and supports us big time and we're appreciative of that. We have to do a better job of having their back and winning games here."
In what was a very rare moment, Wright was certainly not at his best in the final minutes against OSU. While he finished with 14 points and 10 assists, he did not score after hitting a free throw with 7:57 remaining. He also had three of his four total turnovers in the final 7:15 and did not add to his assist total in that stretch.
But he also had plenty of company. The Buffs had six turnovers in the last seven-plus minutes and made just two of their final 11 field goal tries, along with allowing the Beavers to score 24 points.
"I don't put it all on McKinley," coach Tad Boyle said. "When he struggles, some of his teammates need to pick him up. Just like when they struggle, he picks them up. It's got to be a two-way street."
Neither does Boyle expect a repeat performance from the Buffs, beginning — but certainly not ending — with Wright, who has made a habit of coming up with clutch performances in critical situations during his career. Just four nights prior to the OSU game, Wright delivered a masterful 21-point, eight-assist effort that included sparking a decisive 10-2 run down the stretch in a win over fourth-ranked Oregon.
"I think it's an aberration," Boyle said. "I know McKinley Wright and what he's about and what he's made of, and the rest of our guys … I'm not going to make excuses for him and say he played well, because he didn't. But he played well for the first 33 minutes and this program would not be in the position it's in without McKinley Wright, I can promise you that."
The Buffs have had a good week of practice thus far, with three more days to prepare for a visit from the Utes (10-4, 1-1). Utah also split with the Oregon schools last week, defeating Oregon State in the conference opener at home, then losing to Oregon.
This is CU's last "long" week until the final week of the regular season. Beginning next week, the Buffs will have two games per week from now until the first week of March, when they travel to Utah to wrap up the regular season before heading to the conference tournament in Las Vegas (March 11-14).
"This is a critical week for us to improve as a team and get better and hopefully get this taste out of our mouth on Sunday," Boyle said. "There's not going to be a hangover. Now will we play well on Sunday or will we turn the ball over and not execute our defensive game plan? That's yet to be seen."
ROTATION: Over the last three games, Boyle and his coaching staff have started to shrink CU's rotation. Senior guard Shane Gatling has stepped in as a starter in CU's last three games after a solid effort off the bench in CU's win over Dayton in late December, with most of the playing time off the bench going to senior Lucas Siewert, junior Maddox Daniels and sophomore Daylen Kountz.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard Eli Parquet, who started seven games for the Buffs in late November-early December, did not play against either of the Oregon schools. Sophomore center Dallas Walton logged just eight minutes combined last week and junior Alex Strating did not play against Oregon State.
"I've been in those guys' shoes," Boyle said. "I know what those kids are going through. It's not easy, it's not fun. But this is a team game. We said we're going to need some guys to sacrifice for this team to do what we want to do as this season unfolds and those guys right now — Alex and Dallas and Eli — are the ones that are sacrificing. But they also have to be ready to perform when their number is called. That's what true professionals do. That's a lot to ask of young kids and sometimes it's a struggle, but I've got confidence in all three of those guys."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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