Woelk: Boyle's Buffs Must Play With Sense Of Urgency For 40 Minutes

BOULDER — In college basketball's big picture, Colorado's double-overtime win at Southern California on Saturday produced barely a ripple.

Tad Boyle's Buffs beat a team that is well below .500 for the season (10-16 overall, 4-11 Pac-12) and mired near the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. The Trojans, picked second in the league in the preseason media poll, have a triple-digit NET ranking and have had a disappointing season by just about every measure.

Thus, strictly from a numbers standpoint, the victory didn't provide a huge boost for Colorado. While it did give the Buffs a much-needed road win and keep them in the hunt for a top four conference finish and first-round conference tourney bye, their NET ranking — a critical metric in the NCAA Selection Committee's process — didn't change, remaining at a precarious 42.

That's the very definition of an NCAA bubble team.

But … but …

The final 20 minutes of Colorado's win might just prove to be the most important 20 minutes of CU's season to this point.

Ten of those minutes were the final 10 in regulation, when CU erased a 16-point deficit to force overtime. Then came the two five-minute extra periods, when the Buffs simply refused to lose.

Instead, they played with a sense of urgency and rewarded themselves with a win, sweet redemption for a team that had fought back in a handful of games in recent weeks only to come up empty at the end.

"Our guys deserved it for all the things we've been through," Boyle said. "All the injuries and just coming up short so many times. Tonight we figured out a way to come out a winner. Sometimes it's not pretty but you find a way to win and our guys did that tonight."

What won't be recorded in the "metrics" of the win is that the Trojans may have played their best game of the season — at least for the first 30 minutes. That was the team the media picked to challenge Arizona for the league championship.

But for the Buffs, those final 20 minutes provided evidence of what kind of team they can be — and it came just in time. With three home games and a pair of road contests remaining before the Pac-12 tournament, there is still an opportunity for Colorado to put together a strong stretch run and develop a resumé clearly worthy of an NCAA tournament bid.

Saturday's win should give them the confidence that such a stretch run is within their grasp.

Some lessons learned from the win?

— When everybody contributes, the Buffs can be a dangerous team. Yes, KJ Simpson was the driving force, with 24 of his 30 points after halftime, including key baskets, free throws, assists and rebounds in the most crucial moments. But virtually every other player who saw the floor against the Trojans had meaningful contributions. From Tristan da Silva to Cody Williams to J'Vonne Hadley to Luke O'Brien, every Buff delivered a critical play at one point in the game.

— The Buffs' small lineup can be a force. Saturday's final box score saw CU big man Eddie Lampkin Jr. finish with just 21 minutes on the floor. That's his lowest total since early in the season, when he was still rounding into shape after missing much of the preseason practice session.

Meanwhile, O'Brien stepped in and had one of his most impactful games as a Buff, playing 30 minutes and delivering nine points, four rebounds and an outstanding defensive effort. Not only did he deliver the bucket that sent the game into overtime (off a beautiful assist from Simpson), he added another big bucket in the first extra period and two key free throws in the second. Meanwhile, his defense down the stretch played a huge role in helping cool what had been a red-hot Trojans offense.

Credit Boyle for sticking with that small lineup in crunch time.

Not that Lampkin isn't a crucial piece to the CU puzzle. He will no doubt be a key for the Buffs as they try to put together a strong finish to the regular season. But when O'Brien was clearly having an impact, Boyle rode the hot hand and it paid dividends.

— But the biggest lesson of all? That sense of urgency we mentioned earlier has to be non-negotiable for every minute the Buffs are on the floor from here on out.

Saturday wasn't the first time Colorado has fought back from a double-digit deficit this year. In fact, they had done it three times previously in the last four weeks — at UCLA, Washington State and Utah. But each time they whittled big deficits down to one-possession games late, they still came up short in the end.

Quite simply, the Buffs need to play with that sense of urgency from the beginning. If they do, they have the opportunity to prove that they are not only an NCAA Tournament team, but one that could make some noise when they get there.

Saturday's win at USC could be the perfect springboard to such a stretch run.