Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Hope To Get Back On Track Vs. Rival Rams
December 08, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — After playing just three home games in their first nine contests of the season, the Colorado Buffaloes will finally get more than a taste of their home floor over the next two weeks with four straight games at the CU Events Center.
The stretch tips off Thursday with a 7 p.m. home matchup with in-state rival Colorado State (ESPN2). The four contests will mark the final non-conference stretch of the year for Colorado.
Thursday's game will be the first between Tad Boyle's 4-5 Buffs and the 6-3 Rams in three years. In an interesting quirk of the rivalry, there isn't a single player on CU's roster that has ever played against Colorado State.
But Boyle isn't worried about his players getting "up" for the game. An expected crowd in the 9,000 to 10,000 range should provide ample juice for both teams.
What Boyle most wants to see is his team put together a full 40-minute game, something that has been rare this season. Colorado has lost its last two games — Arizona State at home and at Washington — and both featured roughly five-minute lulls that made the difference.
The home loss to ASU was particularly difficult for the Buffs to swallow. They led the Sun Devils for most of the game, but were outscored 15-3 in the final five minutes of a 60-59 loss. Against Washington, it was a five-minute stretch over the first and second halves that saw the Huskies outscore the Buffs 19-2 in a 73-63 loss.
The Buffs are, Boyle said, a team that has yet to establish an identity — and he would love that identity to become a defense-first mindset for the entirety of a game.
"You concentrate on what the heck you need to be good at," Boyle said. "Arizona State, we played really good defense for 35 minutes … We played with that identity for 35 minutes at Washington. Thirty-five is better than 20, where we were a few weeks ago. Now we've got to get to 40."
The Buffs have had other areas of inconsistency that have cost them games this year. The team that came within a hair two years ago of setting the NCAA record for free throw percentage is now shooting less than 65 percent from the stripe. Colorado is also averaging more than 15 turnovers per game.
Boyle has been having his players hit 100 free throws each at the end of every practice. He has also been stressing the importance of taking care of the ball and not giving opponents "free" possessions.
But with the Buffs less than a third of the way through the season, he is also stressing that there is plenty of basketball to be played.
"I think just letting our guys know that you're never quite as bad as you think you are when you're losing games," Boyle said. "You're never quite as good as you think you are when you're winning games. So just understand that we have to respect the process and respect every possession. And that's what a lot of college basketball players don't do … Let's win the possession that we're in. I want our guys to focus on that and understand that. We're not that far away."
BUFFS LEADERS: Sophomore guard KJ Simpson leads CU in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game … Junior forward Tristan da Silva is averaging 12.0 points and 4.2 rebounds … Junior J'Vonne Hadley leads Colorado in rebounding, averaging 7.3 boards per game.
ABOUT THE RAMS: The Rams are coming off an 88-83 home loss to Northern Colorado, CSU's third loss in its last five games.
But they are no doubt a quality team, and have gotten better with the return of Isaiah Stevens. The senior guard missed CSU's first seven games with a foot injury but has returned to the lineup and is averaging more than 16 points per game.
One of the Rams' key players has yet to start. Patrick Cartier, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound transfer from Hillsdale College (a DII school), is averaging 12 points and three rebounds per game. He has the ability to score inside and out — he had three 3-pointers in the loss to UNC — and is shooting nearly 59 percent from the floor this season.
The Rams are 20th in the nation in field goal percentage (49.6) and are fifth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76). They are also averaging more than 17 assists per game.
SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 130th meeting between the two programs, with CU holding a 91-38 edge, including a 54-9 record in Boulder. Colorado won the last meeting, a 56-48 decision in Fort Collins on Dec. 13, 2019.
