No. 24 Buffs Aim To Extend Win Streak As Stanford Visits Saturday
February 07, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado coach Tad Boyle has stressed time and again that consistency will be imperative down the home stretch of Pac-12 play.
Thus far, Boyle's 24th-ranked Buffaloes (18-5 overall, 7-3 Pac-12) haven't exactly hit the mark in that department. While CU is currently tied with Oregon for the Pac-12 lead, Colorado has yet to win three conference games in a row, something they'll need to do if they want to make a strong stretch run.
The Buffs have a chance to do just that Saturday when they host Stanford (16-6, 5-4) in a 4 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (Pac-12 Network).
Boyle, however, has never been one to be too worried about streaks. He is far more concerned with simply making sure the Buffs protect their home floor.
"My thing is I just want to win the next game," he said. "If we win the next game, we'll win three in a row at some point. I don't worry about streaks. Every game's a new game. I just know for us to compete for a league championship, this is a must win."
The Cardinal is also a team with an eye on a high finish in the Pac-12, although a recent slump has dimmed those hopes a bit. Stanford opened the season 15-2, a start that included four straight wins to open Pac-12 play. But since then, the Cardinal has lost four of five, including a 64-56 overtime loss Thursday at Utah.
Still, coach Jerod Haase (like Boyle, a former Kansas player) has his team playing solid defense. Stanford is holding opponents to 61.6 points per game in conference play — best in the Pac-12 — and 59.9 points for the season, eighth-best in the nation.Â
We're going to have to take what they give us," Boyle said. "They're going to double our post guys every time they catch it down there. We know that, we've practiced it, we've prepared for it. Now we have to handle it. We have to make the plays. But they're going to double our posts, they're going to ice our ball screens. We know what they're going to do defensively and we have to counteract that with our offense."
In Thursday's loss at Utah, Stanford held the Utes without a field goal for the final 10 minutes of the first half, but still trailed 28-22 at intermission.
"Utah found a way to not let it get them down," Boyle said. "You have to do other things to score, and you'd better be locking in defensively."
On that end of the floor, the Buffs will have to contend with 6-foot-9, 225-pound junior forward Oscar da Silva, a versatile big man who is averaging 16.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, both team highs.
"Da Silva is a really key matchup," Boyle said. "He can play inside and score inside but he can also shoot threes and he can put the ball on the floor really, really well for a big man. I'm not saying he's (Dayton star) Obi Toppin, but Obi Toppin is the same kind of guy — he can shoot threes, put the ball on the floor, he can score on the block. Da Silva is a lot the same way."
But the Cardinal is no means a one-man show. Stanford also has pair of outstanding freshmen in 6-2 guard Tyrell Terry (15.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and 6-7 forward Spencer Jones (9.2 ppg and 3.8 rpg), along with veteran guard Daejon Davis (8.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg).
"Tyrell Terry is a poised, confident playmaking point guard," Boyle said. "As good a freshman point guard as I've seen in this league since McKinley (Wright)."
Winners of two in a row, the Buffs are coming off a 71-65 home win Thursday over Cal. Colorado overcame a rough first half to collect the win, but as Boyle said after the game, "We better be better against Stanford than we were today."
If this year's pattern is any indication, the Buffs will be just that against the Cardinal. After all three losses in conference play, the Buffs have bounced back with quality efforts — a 39-point blowout of Utah after a loss to Oregon State; a 22-point win over Washington State after a loss at Arizona; and a 21-point decision over USC after a loss at UCLA. Even though Thursday's result was a win, it was a sub-par effort the Buffs know they can't afford against the Cardinal.
But they would no doubt like their big three — forward Tyler Bey and guards Wright and D'Shawn Schwartz — to deliver another game like they produced Thursday. While CU's normally productive bench was struggling, the trio combined for 52 points and 19 rebounds, including a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double from Bey.
WRIGHT STUFF: Oregon point guard Payton Pritchard is being touted as a Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate, and rightfully so. The Ducks senior has had an outstanding career in Eugene, averaging 12.9 points, 4.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds in his four years.
But Colorado's McKinley Wright IV is actually on pace to surpass all of Pritchard's career numbers. Wright is currently averaging 13.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds for his career, putting him on pace to possibly hit more than 1,800 points, 700 assists and well over 600 rebounds for four years.
TIPOFF: Saturday's game is set to begin at 4 p.m. at the CU Events Center.
THE SERIES: Colorado holds an all-time 12-10 series edge, but the Cardinal won last year's only meeting, a 75-62 decision on the Cardinal's home court. That loss snapped a nine-game win streak for CU in the series. The Buffs have an 8-3 lead over Stanford in Boulder, with five straight wins.
BROADCAST: The game will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson and Eddie House 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: The Buffs hit the road for a pair next week, beginning with a Thursday game at Oregon that could feature the co-leaders in the Pac-12, followed by a Saturday game at Oregon State.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Â
