Colorado University Athletics
Wright, Buffs Look For Another Pac-12 'Bounce Back' Game As They Begin Road Trip
February 25, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — While the sting from Saturday's 70-63 loss to UCLA has by no means worn off, the No. 21/20 Colorado Buffaloes don't have time to wallow in their misery.
Rather, the Buffs (21-7 overall, 10-5 Pac-12) must turn their attention to a three game road trip to end the regular season, beginning with this week's two-game stop in the Bay Area. Colorado squares off with Cal on Thursday (7 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Network), then heads across the bay Sunday for a 4 p.m. game at Stanford (ESPNU). After that, CU wraps up its regular season on Saturday, March 7, with a 12:30 p.m. game at Utah.
The loss to UCLA was painful in many ways. It knocked the Buffs out of first place in the Pac-12 standings, it eliminated their chance to guarantee themselves of at least a share of the conference title by winning out, and it dropped them several spots in both national polls as well as the NET rankings.
Now, the Buffs are a half-game out of first place and will need some help to finish at the top of the standings. CU is part of a five-game group at the top of the standings separated by just one game.
Meanwhile, the Buffs must use the loss to the Bruins as fuel — and if their previous losses this season are any indication, they will do just that.
Colorado has won five games after a loss this season, with the Buffs' only back-to-back losses coming to Kansas and Northern Iowa in late December.
In those five wins after losses, CU has won by an average of 22.4 points per game. In conference play, the Buffs rebounded from their first four Pac-12 losses with wins by an average margin of more than 26 points per game.
Thursday's game at Cal will give them a chance to make it five wins after five conference losses.
"We know we shouldn't be losing those games in the first place," CU point guard McKinley Wright IV said after Tuesday's practice. "We're competing for a conference championship and we know we have to win games. So we're ready to bounce back after an 'L,' especially ones we shouldn't have lost."
There are several games on that list, as the Buffs held second-half leads in three of their five conference losses. Now, Wright says it is on his shoulders to up his game and help give the Buffs an "edge" over these last three games and make sure there are no more late-game slip-ups.
"I have to be better down the stretch," Wright said. "I have to get guys in the right position, score the ball, defend better, rebound the ball. I have to take my game up a little bit more."
Actually, Wright has taken his game up throughout Pac-12 play, as he has improved his scoring by two points per game in conference play, his assists by nearly two per game, as well as his rebounding. He first in the league in conference games in assists (6.07 apg), 12th in scoring (14.8 ppg), 18th in rebounding (5.53 rpg) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.98).
But Wright, who firmly believes the Buffs follow his lead when it comes to energy and effort in the clutch, wants to make sure Colorado plays with an increased "edge" down the home stretch.
"We have to be as mean as we can be," Wright said. "No team's going to give us wins. Everybody's seen that over the course of the season. We just have to be mean. We have to come in with a different attitude, be locked in and win games."
In their first meeting with the Bears (11-16, 5-9) this year, the Buffs broke away from a 28-28 tie at the half to take a 71-65 win. It was not among CU's sharpest performances this season, and the Buffs know they will have to have a better effort to get a road win, as the Bears are a respectable 10-5 at home this season.
"We obviously want to win the outright first place conference championship," Wright said. "We have to win our next three games and we need a couple more teams to make some stuff happen for us. But you can't look at that. You have to take it game-by-game. Cal's a good team at home. It's not going to be easy."
REMAINING SCHEDULE: Here are the remaining schedules for all five teams currently at the top of the standings:
ARIZONA STATE (10-4 Pac-12)
at UCLA, Thursday
at USC, Saturday
vs. Washington, March 5
vs. Washington State, March 7
COLORADO (10-5)
at Cal, Thursday
at Stanford, Sunday
at Utah, March 7
UCLA (10-5)
vs. ASU, Thursday
vs. Arizona, Saturday
at USC, March 7
OREGON (10-5)
vs. Oregon State, Thursday
vs. Cal, March 5
vs. Stanford, March 7
ARIZONA (9-5)
at USC, Thursday
at UCLA, Saturday
vs. Washington State, March 5
vs. Washington, March 7
RANKINGS: The Buffs dropped three spots in this week's polls, down to No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and No. 20 in the coaches' poll. But they were No. 18 in Tuesday's latest NET rankings — and with three road games remaining, they have a chance to pick up at least one Quadrant 1 win (Utah).
Colorado is currently 11-6 in Q1-Q2 games and 10-1 in Q3-Q4 games, with the home loss to UCLA the only blemish on bottom half games. CU's best Q1 wins remain a neutral floor victory over Dayton (No. 4 in the NET) and a home win over No. 20 Oregon. CU's other Q1 wins include two over Arizona State (one neutral, one road), a road win at USC and a road win at Oregon State.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
