No. 3 Ready for Three in Paradise

ST. THOMAS, US Virgin Islands – No. 3 Colorado continues its early season play with three contests against Power 5 schools at the 2023 Paradise Jam Classic. The Buffaloes will open with Cincinnati before taking on Kentucky and No. 10 NC State.

Colorado traveled to St. Thomas late Monday night, arriving on the island Tuesday morning and headed straight to practice. The Buffs practiced Tuesday and Wednesday, before getting a chance to take in the island life with a catamaran trip Wednesday afternoon.

"I think we have a great balance of focus and actually enjoying being on an island and in an exotic, beautiful place," head coach JR Payne explained. "I think our team does a great job of being able to flip a switch and when it's time to be serious, focused and locked in, they are. That's what it's been so far. We had a great practice this morning and then we got to enjoy some island things this afternoon."

Three games in three days isn't common, outside of a conference tournament. The last time CU had a similar scenario in the non-conference season was Dec. 19-21, 2005, playing three straight days as a part of the San Juan Shootout. A more current version of the Buffs played three straight games in the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament.

"The scouts for all three games are done," Payne noted. "Being focused on Cincinnati first and then as soon as that game is over, regardless, you have to be able to go to the next one [game] really quickly. We'll sit down and watch the next game's [scout] and just focus on that. We have a really high IQ team. I think they can learn a scout really quickly in a short amount of time. I think that's a good thing for us, but also continuing to focus on ourselves."

Colorado has leaned on its veteran leadership on the court early this season. That will continue to hold true this week, but Coach Payne has noted that the team will have to lean on its depth to continue to be successful. CU's bench did score 54 points against Le Moyne but has only averaged 15.7 points per game in the other three contests.

"This week is going to be really difficult, no matter what, but we have a very capable deep bench and we need to make sure that we have a plan going in for rotations and lineups," Payne added. "You have to play the game and see how that works out, but the intention is to definitely try to go deeper [in the bench]."

Thursday will be the Buffs first meeting against Cincinnati (2-1). Colorado does have a connection to the Bearcats in the past. Legendary CU coach Ceal Barry was the head coach for Cincinnati from 1979-83, before taking the helm for the Buffs in the 1983-84 season.

Friday's opponent, Kentucky (2-2), also has CU connections. Barry played for Kentucky from 1973-77. Former Buff Jenny (Roulier) Huth is also in her first year as an assistant for the Wildcats. The Buffs are 1-1 all-time against the Wildcats, with the last meeting being a 79-69 win in Boulder in 2016.

The week will wrap with the No. 10 Wolfpack. CU and NC State met for the first and only time back on Feb. 1, 1997, resulting in a 67-62 win for the Buffs.

The last time CU took part in a top-10 matchup was on Dec. 3, 1995. The No. 8 Buffs defeated No. 7 Purdue, 79-64, in the Kona Women's Classic in Hawaii.

All three games for the Buffs are set for 11 a.m. MT starts. ESPN3 will carry every game of the Paradise Jam Classic.

Cory Lopez and Carol Callan will be courtside on the Colorado Radio Network, with pregame coverage starting each day at 10:30 a.m.

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