Colorado Basketball – March, 2020

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Colorado Basketball – March, 2020

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March 31st

… CU in the Arena … 

Tad Boyle: “I don’t think Tyler Bey is going to be coming back to school”

From the Daily Camera … When the college basketball season met its abrupt and unprecedented end, Tyler Bey still wasn’t certain what the future held.

While at this point the same can be said for the bulk of the country on lockdown due to fears of the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, Bey has at least settled on a path for his professional future. And, according to Colorado coach Tad Boyle, that future does not include a return to CU.

On Sunday night, Bey announced via his Twitter account that he would be entering the NBA draft. The announcement hardly was unexpected, yet one nuance that was conspicuously absent — and one that was included in a similar Twitter announcement made by teammate McKinley Wright IV days earlier — was any notion that Bey would keep his options open about a possible return to college basketball.

On Monday, Boyle confirmed that, while there could be a late change of mind, Bey likely has played his final game for the Buffaloes.

“From my standpoint, I don’t think Tyler is going to be coming back to school,” Boyle said. “That’s where he’s at mentally in conversations with him. Those things change. It’s a pretty fluid situation. But from my standpoint and in my conversations with him, I don’t expect him back.

“It’s evolved. It’s fluid, as all of our minds are right now. His is no different. I do think in terms of where his mind is, he’s wanting to turn to professional basketball.”

… Continue reading story here …

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March 28th

… CU in the Arena …

Jon Wilner: Arizona’s Sean Miller won’t survive HBO documentary 

From the San Jose Mercury News … It seems we have a potential twist in the ongoing saga of Sean Miller/Arizona basketball/University of Arizona/Tucson metropolitan area vs. the FBI/NCAA/college basketball fans and media/free world.

And it comes from an unlikely source:

Could HBO have done what a multi-year FBI investigation, complete with wiretaps and undercover agents, and two federal corruption trials could not do?

Could a two-hour documentary scheduled to air on March 31 mean the end of Miller’s tenure at Arizona?

The Hotline watched an advance copy Wednesday night.

To be clear — and as we wrote last week in a review of other reviews — the documentary presents no hard evidence against Miller.

He never accepts money, never admits to paying players, never agrees to pay players … he’s much savvier than LSU coach Will “strong-ass offer” Wade.

In that regard, nothing has changed in a scandal that began in the fall of 2017 and, as we’ll detail below, likely has many months remaining.

But in another regard, everything has changed with the release of the documentary.

For the first time, we hear Miller’s voice in wiretapped exchanges with Christian Dawkins, the would-be agent at the center of the FBI investigation and the film itself.

And that audio … Miller’s own voice … now becomes an energy source for the storm.

It is one thing to read a transcript of the exchanges.

Or to hear others recount the exchanges.

It is another altogether to hear from Miller directly. He’s careful with his choice of words but also comfortable and unfiltered with Dawkins.

… Because as of March 31, that conversation will be out there. And it will stalk Miller and his program as long as he’s in charge.

Which brings us to the focus of this column:

How Miller can possibly remain Arizona’s coach through next season?

Put another way: How long can this go on?

… Continue reading story here …

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March 27th

… CU in the Arena … 

McKinley Wright declares for NBA Draft (while keeping his eligibility)

McKinley Wright’s posting on Twitter …

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March 25th

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs picked to finish fourth in 2020-21 campaign

From the San Jose Mercury News … Early-spring projections for the following late-winter standings are typically fraught with uncertainty.

That goes quadruple this year.

And yet, we plow ahead.

We plow ahead with our best guesses for NBA Draft decisions and graduate transfer maneuverings, even though both processes have been impacted by COVID-19.

The Pac-12 will get hit hard by draft departures. Of that, we have little doubt:

At least eight top talents are expected to leave school.

The difference this spring compared to most — in addition to the, um, global pandemic — is the lack of will-he-stay-or-will-he-go situations.

Colorado has two in Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright, but the conference-wide total of fence sitters appears limited.

The projections below include our guesses for draft decisions and will be updated once the process gains clarity later this spring.

The picks …

• 1. UCLA
• 2. Arizona State
• Stanford

4. Colorado (10-8/5th)
No team has a greater range of likely placement in 2021 because no team has more uncertainty with regard to the NBA Draft. If Wright and Bey return to school, the Buffaloes warrant a spot on the top tier. If both depart, Tad Boyle and Co. start over. If one of them leaves, then mediocrity takes hold. At this point, we’re forecasting that both return — and that CU produces a solid season — because disruption to the draft process will work against borderline prospects like Bey and Wright.

• 5. Oregon
• 6. Utah
• 7. USC
• 8. Arizona
• 9. Cal
• 10. Washington State
• 11. Washington
• 12. Oregon State

… Read full story …

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March 23rd

… CU in the Arena …

Sitting down? ESPN Way-Too-Early Top 25: CU at No. 21

From ESPN … We’re entering an offseason of uncertainty in college basketball. Not only is there trepidation on the part of potential NBA draft early-entrants and athletic directors looking into making coaching changes, but it’s also impossible for coaches to go out and recruit the final players in the 2020 class. Moreover, we could see transfer eligibility rules changing in the near future.

In other words, rosters could look dramatically different a few months from now — or there could be much less turnover than we’re used to.

Either way, here’s our first guess at the landscape of the 2020-21 season. We’re going to constantly update this throughout the offseason as players declare for the draft and transfers and recruits make decisions. The most likely outcome in terms of early-entry players is factored into the rankings.

It’s only 232 days until the 2020 Champions Classic …

From the Pac-12 … 

21. Colorado Buffaloes

The continuity of Tad Boyle’s starting lineup has been remarkably consistent the past two seasons, with McKinley Wright, Tyler Bey, D’Shawn Schwartz and Evan Battey all starting at least 40 games in 2018-19 and 2019-20 combined. Wright and Bey have been starters since their freshman seasons. Next season should be the year it culminates with an NCAA tournament appearance — and even a couple of wins in the dance. The Buffs lost five in a row to end this season, and there were issues at both ends of the floor. On paper, though, Colorado has all the pieces, assuming Wright and Bey return to Boulder. There is one spot open in the starting lineup, and I’d keep an eye on incoming freshman Dominique Clifford to play an extended role quickly.

23. Oregon Ducks

Oregon has been relatively inactive recruiting the 2020 class, but we said something similar entering last spring and Dana Altman went out and reeled in several players to bolster the roster. He shouldn’t have to do the same this time around. The Ducks already have ESPN 100 point guard Jalen Terry wrapped up to replace Payton Pritchard, and transfers Eric Williams (14.0 PPG, 7.6 RPG) and Eugene Omoruyi (13.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG) are eligible after sitting out last season. Plus, Altman brings back starting guards Will Richardson and Chris Duarte and has a quartet of rising sophomores ready to take on bigger roles. As mentioned earlier, the Ducks also always have something up their sleeve for the spring and summer in terms of adding players. If they were to hit the transfer or reclassification market, more guard depth should be atop the list.

Next in line:

Arizona State Sun Devils

UCLA Bruins

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McKinley Wright; Tyler Bey named to NABC All-District teams

From CUBuffs.com … University of Colorado junior guard McKinley Wright IV was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 19 First Team while classmate Tyler Bey was a second team selection, the organization announced on Monday.

A total of 10 individuals were honored on the two five-player All-District 19 teams which encompasses the Pac-12 Conference. Wright is Colorado’s first NABC All-District First Team member since Alec Burks in 2010-11. Five Buffaloes in the Pac-12 era had previously been honored on second team squads, most recently Derrick White in 2016-17.

A two-time All-Pac-12 First Team selection, Wright led Colorado at 14.4 points and 5.0 assists per game this past season. He led the Pac-12 in assists during conference play at 5.7 per game. His 103 assists during league contests matches his own school record, set last season.

On the overall Pac-12 charts, Wright was fourth in assists, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7), 12th in free throw percentage (.792), 13th in defensive rebounds (4.5 drpg) and 15th in scoring and overall rebounding (5.7 rpg). His six double-doubles are the most by a Pac-12 point guard.

Wright was also one of 10 players named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District VIII Team earlier this month. The USBWA District VIII includes NCAA Division I players from the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada and Montana.

Bey, the 2019-20 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, led the conference in rebounding at 9.0 per game while ranking fifth in steals (1.6 spg) and seventh in blocks (1.2 bpg). He was second on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game while shooting 53 percent from the field.

Colorado finished the 2019-20 season with a record of 21-11, tying for fifth in the Pac-12 at 10-8.

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March 22nd

... CU in the Arena …

Sunshine pumper Dan Rooney: “future bright for CU basketball”

From the Daily Camera … Right now, there’s not much more to do but look ahead.

Eventually (hopefully), we’ll be able to leave our homes again. Eventually (hopefully) we’ll again be able to gather at arenas to back our favorite teams. And if your favorite team happens to be the Colorado men’s basketball squad, the future remains bright.

Entering the mass quarantine due to the ongoing fears of the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) forced CU hoops fans to stew a little bit deeper in their misery. A Buffs team that had an opportunity to be remembered as perhaps the best in program history stumbled big-time down the stretch, suffering a season-ending five-game losing streak that culminated with a loss against Washington State in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament — the Buffs’ first first-round ouster at a league tournament in coach Tad Boyle’s 10 years at the helm.

No doubt, it was a brutal finish compounded by the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament, which would have at least offered the reeling Buffs a shot at redemption. Yet even with the news that Jakub Dombek and Daylen Kountz are entering the transfer portal, the 2020-21 season, assuming we all get to October and November happy and healthy, should be another strong one for the Buffs.

… Read full story here …

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March 21st

… CU in the Arena … 

Daylen Kountz and Jakub Dombek leaving Buffs, entering Transfer Portal

From the Daily Camera … Hours after Jakub Dombek entered the NCAA transfer portal, Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle said “there might be one more” roster defection from his squad this spring.

That additional player turned out to be Daylen Kountz, and the homestate recruit has indeed opted to leave the Buffaloes.

On Friday night, the sophomore guard announced via his Twitter account his intention to transfer after two seasons at CU. Kountz’s departure, along with Dombek’s, gives Boyle two open scholarships to work with during the spring recruiting period.

Among the many in-state recruits landed by Boyle during his 10-year tenure at CU, Kountz becomes the first to transfer out of the Buffs program. The former Denver East standout stirred enthusiasm with a strong finish to his freshman season a year ago, but his announcement Friday night capped a 2019-20 campaign in which Kountz struggled from the opening tip.

… Continue reading story here …

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March 17th

… CU in the Arena … 

Mock Draft from The Athletic: Tyler Bey a late second round pick

From The Athletic … Welcome to the coronavirus reality of the NBA Draft, where the only certainty right now is uncertainty.

Simply put, sources at every level of the pre-draft process are unclear on everything. Will the NBA Draft take place at its current date? That depends on what the NBA does with the season itself. There will be no draft determination until there is a season determination. Will there be an NBA Draft Combine? Currently, it’s slated for May 21, the first week after the current CDC recommendation ends of halting events exceeding 50 people. But there is an expectation that the combine will be moved. Will teams have workouts for prospects? Right now, there is skepticism. There is even some concern about the NBA Draft Lottery and when that will occur.

… At this point, the mock draft is almost entirely about what I’m hearing from sources about draft ranges on specific players, as opposed to it more being about where I am on players. I’ll have an updated top-100 big board ranking later this month that will be more about me. But this mock draft comes as a result of me having spoken to dozens of sources across the landscape of basketball, including NBA executives, scouts, agents and college coaches. In that vein, as you’ll note below, there are fewer young underclassmen declaring in this draft than what I’ve previously projected. With the uncertainty surrounding the draft, sources across the spectrum expect fewer players to fully declare for the draft in this cycle as early entrants.

49. Philadelphia 76ers

Tyler Bey | 6-6 wing | 21 years old, junior | Colorado

Bey is one of the more polarizing draft prospects this year. Analytically inclined organizations are fans, as he averaged 13.8 points and nine rebounds from the wing along with 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. His nose for the ball is undeniable, and he makes plays happen. However, when you watch him on tape, you come away thinking the sum is a bit less than the parts. He doesn’t have much in the way of ball skills offensively, and while his shooting percentage from 3 is high, those come on wide open looks because teams just don’t really guard him out there. And defensively, he’s a gambler who doesn’t always hold up on-ball. I’m a bit on the lower end with Bey, but I think he gets picked.

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Will Tad Boyle receive $105,000 bonus for “participating in the first round” of the NCAA tournament?

From the San Jose Mercury News … Earlier this week, Oregon announced that coach Dana Altman would be paid his $25,000 performance bonus for reaching an NCAA Tournament that doesn’t exist.

But the Ducks were a lock, and athletic director Rob Mullens decided to honor Altman’s bonus, according to Oregonlive, in order to “fulfill the intent of the contract.”

Will other Pac-12 schools do the same?

Seven teams were in contention for, or expected to receive NCAA bids at the time March Madness was canceled due to coronavirus: Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, USC and Stanford.

The head coaches and assistants on those staffs have contracts loaded with postseason bonuses — in best-case scenarios, the combined payouts would be well in excess of $1 million.

What’s a school to do under unprecedented circumstances?

“It’s interesting, because if you look at it through the legal lens, you could argue (the bonuses) aren’t binding,” said Joshua Gordon, a Woodard Family Foundation Fellow and senior instructor of Sports Business at Oregon.

“But from a relationship lens, it’s a short-term investment in a long-term relationship, and that could be smart.”

… Thus far, Oregon is the only school in the conference to have publicly announced a decision.

The other six coaches who were in contention for NCAA berths:

— Arizona’s Sean Miller, whose contract calls for escalating bonus payments for each March Madness victory.

— Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley, who reportedly receives $75,000 for reaching the round of 32.

— Colorado coach Tad Boyle, whose contract calls for a $105,000 bonus for participating in the first round.

Athletic director Rick George told reporters Tuesday that he and Boyle hadn’t addressed the situation.

— UCLA coach Mick Cronin, whose deal reportedly includes a $25,000 bonus for reaching the round of 64.

… Read full story here …

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March 16th

… CU in the Arena … 

Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright not rated highly on NBA Draft boards

From the Daily Camera … Players have 10 days from after the draft combine, which concludes May 24 in Chicago, to return to school while retaining their eligibility. However, if the NBA remains on hiatus and pre-draft workouts are scuttled, the underclassmen who are less guaranteed a draft spot might essentially be forced to return to school.

McKinley Wright would fall into that category. A three-year starter for the Buffs at point guard, Wright’s name does not come up on the most reputable mock drafts. His height (6-foot) and pedestrian career assist-to-turnover rate (1.68), seemingly would work against him in next-level evaluations, as would an average 3-point percentage of .337.

However, Wright is considered a superb perimeter defender, twice earning honorable mention Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors before landing on the first team last week. His 501 assists ranks second all-time at CU, and his career average of 5.1 assists per game is tied for third all-time. Wright also is a plus rebounder, averaging a career-best 5.7 this past season and 5.1 in his career.

Tyler Bey, on the other hand, is projected as a mid-to-late second round pick in most mock drafts. An explosive leaper, the 6-foot-8 Bey was named the Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year after posting a career-high 48 steals along with 36 blocked shots. His 102 career blocked shots ranks 10th all-time at CU, and he finished his junior season with exactly 800 career rebounds, ranking eighth all-time.

… Continue reading story here …

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NCAA built up a $400 million reserve fund as a hedge against calamity – and then spent it

From USA Today … The NCAA saw this coming more than 15 years ago.

Not the outbreak of a deadly virus that would become a global pandemic and force the association to cancel its Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

But the NCAA did have the foresight to begin planning for an unknown catastrophic event that would threaten its biggest and most lucrative event.

By 2014, the association had accumulated a nearly $400 million cushion as a hedge against a massive loss of revenue from the tournament. However, at the direction of its governing board of college presidents, the NCAA distributed that money to schools to help them with increasing costs and spent it on their behalf in other ways, including a $208.7 million legal settlement.

The NCAA depends on the basketball tournament for nearly all of its annual revenue, more than half of which gets distributed directly to Division I schools and conferences. The money comes mostly from a multi-billion-dollar media and marketing contract with CBS and Turner, but it also comes from ticket and merchandise sales.

The NCAA had $1.12 billion in revenue for a fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2019, according to its newly released audited financial statement. Of that amount, $804 million came from the CBS/Turner deal. Another $170 million was attributed to “championships and NIT tournaments,” with a sizable portion of that likely coming from the men’s basketball tournament.

The full financial implications for the NCAA — and, thus, for member schools and conferences — of canceling this year’s tournament are difficult to assess because the CBS/Turner deal and various other event-related contracts are not public, and it is likely that the association has some form of insurance.

… Continue reading story here …

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March 15th

... CU in the Arena … 

McKinley Wright and Tyler Bey enter names in NBA pre-draft process

From the Colorado Springs Gazette … Not even World War II stopped the NCAA Tournament. But the coronavirus did.

Yes, there are bigger issues at hand than playing college basketball games. We’re not out of toilet paper, yet, and mostly we’re healthy, relatively speaking. And prayers go up to all the good folks personally impacted by COVID-19.

That thing’s the worst.

The exit conversations Boyle had Saturday — that a bunch of coaches had Saturday — were some level of the worst, too. He met with Buffs seniors Lucas Siewert, the first four-year player of the Boyle era to never play in the NCAA Tournament, and Shane Gatling. CU was 21-11 overall, 10-8 in the Pac-12, a lock for an at-large bid to the Big Dance. Then the music stopped.

“I just told them, ‘I’m sorry. I really am.’ I said, ‘If you take nothing else from this, you’ve made a lot of great friends, you’re getting a degree from a world-renowned university, you were part of a really good team,’” Boyle said. “And that’s a helluva college career.”

His next message hit home: “I told them, if you’re fortunate enough to play pro ball, which you will be, you have to understand that every time you step on the floor, it could be your last. This is proof. Nobody on our team — coaches, players, managers — felt like the game against Washington State (in the Pac-12 tournament) was our last opportunity to play. We all thought we’d have another chance. It’s a great life lesson. I have to learn from that as a coach. Take advantage of it, man. Life’s not a given.”

… Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright IV will enter their names in the NBA predraft process, Boyle said, however that process looks in the age of COVID-19. Both are juniors eligible to return to CU.

Without a bracket, we’re left to debate how it would’ve ended. SiriusXM host and Colorado resident Brad Evans pegged CU as a 9 seed in his expert bracket. How long could the Buffs stick around? Well, the national champ was coming from Gonzaga, Dayton or Kansas — the three elite teams this Top 25 voter saw last season. CU beat one (Dayton), got rock-chalked by one (Kansas) and, if the 8-9 seed prognostications came true, was trending toward potentially playing one (No. 1 seed Gonzaga) in Round 2. The Buffs were the 2019-20 college season as a whole — awesome one day, awful the next, always worth watching.

… Continue reading story here …

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CBS tournament simulation – Dayton wins the national championship

… Colorado is a No. 9 seed in the CBS bracketology, taking on No. 8 seed Houston in Spokane. The Buffs projected to win the first round game against the Cougars, but would fall to home-standing No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the second round … 

From CBS Sports … Seven different teams graced the No. 1 spot in the AP college basketball rankings this season.

That’s tied for the most since 1983.

t’s a testament to just how topsy-turvy college basketball was this season. And, most of all, it served as a baromoter for just how good — no, just how great — March Madness would have been. Should have been.

During the glorious regular season, we saw Evansville take down No. 1 Kentucky as 24.5 point underdogs … at Rupp Arena. We saw Stephen F. Austin stun No. 1 Duke at the buzzer as 28 point underdogs … inside Cameron Indoor. Oh, and did I mention Evansville took down Kentucky? That’s certainly worth mentioning in this space here.

This was going to be the year of the wide-open title race before the NCAA championships were canceled this week over fears of the coronavirus pandemic. The season was predictable only in that everything was wholly unpredictable. And in March Madness — where upsets are the norm and volatility is a staple — we were going to have it in spades. We were expecting it to be March Madness on steroids, but if those steroids had also been juiced with HGH.

Now we’ll never know what might’ve happened.

Simulate the season on a computer like the SportsLine folks did, and Dayton wins it all. Use statistical metrics like KenPom or Bart Torvik, and Kansas from top to bottom is considered the best team. Draw a name out of a hat, and well, who the heck knows?

… Continue reading story here …

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March 12th

… CU in the Arena … 

Pac-12 conference (among others) has canceled the remainder of its tournament

Press release from the Pac-12 … The Pac-12 Conference has made the decision to cancel the remainder of the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament and all Pac-12 sport competitions and Pac-12 Championship events, effective immediately, until further notice.  This decision has been made in consultation with our member universities in an effort to limit the spread of the virus and in the interest of the health and safety of our student-athletes, campus personnel, working and event personnel, and all those who attend Pac-12 events.

From CBS Sports … Major conferences around the country, including the AAC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Atlantic 10 (among others) canceled their league basketball tournaments on Thursday amid growing concern over the coronavirus (COVID-19). In some cases, such as with the Big Ten, players had already begun warming up for their games before the decisions were made.

One major conference continued playing Thursday, however, even as the sports landscape around the country shifted. The Big East Tournament’s quarterfinal round began with St. John’s and Creighton tipping off just after noon at Madison Square Garden in New York City without the general public in attendance

The wave of conference tournament cancellations comes as the NBA has suspended play after two Utah Jazz players tested positive for coronavirus. The NCAA, as of 12:30 ET on Thursday, had not issued a public update about the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, without fans in attendance.

But individual conferences were quickly taking action before their first wave of tournament games began Thursday. All the major conferences had already closed their events to the general public, following the lead of the NCAA, which announced Wednesday that the NCAA Tournament will be played without fans amid concern over the coronavirus. But the step of canceling the conference tournaments altogether constituted another unprecedented step in the national effort to prevent spread of the virus.

Conferences, including the ACC and SEC, announced that their regular-season champions will be awarded the automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament that are usually awarded to the conference tournament champions.

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March 11th – Pac-12 Tournament – Round 1

… CU in the Arena …

Buffs fall to Cougars in first round of Pac-12 tournament

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado’s hopes for a reboot in the Pac-12 tournament instead turned into more of the same Wednesday night, as the Buffaloes dropped an 82-68 first-round decision to Washington State at T-Mobile Arena.

The loss, CU’s fifth in a row, dropped Colorado to 21-11 and leaves the Buffs at the mercy of the NCAA Selection Committee’s decision Sunday afternoon. WSU, the first team this season to score 80 points on the Buffs, improved to 16-16 and will face Arizona State in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

The loss was also the first for the Buffs in a Pac-12 tournament opener after winning their tourney opener the last nine years in a row (including one season in the Big 12). It was Washington State’s first conference tournament win since 2009.

McKinley Wright IV led CU with 21 points and 9 rebounds and Tyler Bey added 19 points and 8 rebounds.

CJ Elleby led Washington State with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

The Buffs struggled almost from the outset, as WSU led by as much as 14 midway through the first half and by 10 at intermission, 35-25. WSU then pushed the margin to 21 midway through the second half before a 9-0 Colorado run cut the deficit back to 12, 57-45, with 10:25 still to play.

But that was as close as the Buffs could come, as WSU rebuilt the lead into the 20s down the stretch.

Colorado struggled from the floor all night, missing its first 12 3-point shots before Wright finally connected in the second half. The Buffs finished just 21-for-57 from the floor, including 4-for-21 from 3-point range. The Cougars shot 27-for-55 (10-for-21 from long range), and held a 37-34 rebound edge.

CU also finished with a season-low four assists, with two of those coming in the final minutes.

“Our team right now has lost its identity,” an obviously disappointed CU coach Tad Boyle said. “We’ve lost our fight, we’ve lost our toughness, that we’ve got to get back. And thank goodness we played really, really well the first 27 games of the season to put ourselves in a position, I think, to be in the postseason. But nothing is guaranteed until we see our name pop up on Sunday.”

… Continue reading story here …

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McKinley Wright: “We all believe in each other and we know that we can get this thing turned back around”

… Related … “Chance to start anew the mission for CU Buffs at Pac-12 Conference tournament” … from the Daily Camera

From CUBuffs.com …  It’s a basketball maxim that “defense travels.”

On a day when Colorado’s Tyler Bey was named the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year and teammate McKinley Wright IV was named to the conference’s all-defensive team, the Buffaloes began preparations for this week’s conference tournament in Las Vegas — and they vowed to take their defense with them.

The 21-10 Buffs, the tourney’s sixth seed, face 11th-seeded Washington State (15-16) on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. (MT) at T-Mobile Arena.

Defense has always been a cornerstone of Tad Boyle‘s CU teams, and this year was no different for the vast majority of the season. After 14 conference games, Colorado led the Pac-12 in scoring defense, giving up just 64.0 points per game.

But that defense hit a rough spot down the stretch, one very big reason CU finished the regular season with a four-game losing streak, dropping from the top to the middle of the standings in just two weeks. In those four losses, CU yielded an average of 73 points per game.

Wright, who was also named first team all-conference for the second year in a row, said the Buffs have to regain that defensive edge in Las Vegas.

“Starting with us two, we have to turn it up,” Wright said after Monday’s practice. “I made the defensive team, (Bey) won defensive player of the year. We’re going to go out and showcase that we can defend at a high level and get the other guys to go with us.”

… Continue reading story here …

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GAME NOTES … Colorado is in its ninth Pac-12 Tournament, holding an overall record of 13-7 in the championship. Colorado is the only school to have won at least one game in each year of the Pac-12 Tournament since the league expanded in 2011-12. The Buffaloes are 8-0 all-time in Pac-12 first round games.

This will be the second time Colorado has been the No. 6 seed for the Pac-12 Tournament. The other? The Buffaloes took a historic route to the 2012 Pac-12 Championship, winning four games in four days at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2012.

Colorado is 7-0 in the championship as the higher seeded team, 6-7 as the lower seed. Five of Colorado’s seven Pac-12 Tournament losses have come to the top two seeds.

Colorado is 26-42 all-time in conference tournaments. The Buffaloes were 4-20 in the Big Eight Tournament between 1977-96 and 9-15 in the Big 12 Championship between 1997-2011. Head coach Tad Boyle owns more than half of Colorado’s all-time conference Tournament wins. He is 15-8 in conference tournament action, including a 2-1 mark in Colorado’s final year of the Big 12.

Boyle is 9-0 as Colorado’s head coach in first round conference tournament games.

ABOUT THE COUGARS: Washington State is 14-16 overall, placing 11th in the Pac-12 at 6-12. Conference. The Cougars have lost seven of nine down the stretch, with both wins coming against in-state rival Washington. WSU averages 69.5 points while shooting 39.5 percent from the field. The Cougars are second in the Pac-12 in free throw shooting (.744) and rank third in 3-pointers made at 7.3 per game. Defensively, Washington State allows 69.7 points while opponents shoot 45.2 percent. The Cougars own the second-best turnover margin in the Pac-12 (+2.8).

Sophomore forward CJ Elleby leads Washington State at 18.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Elleby also has a team-best 68 3-point field goals. Junior guard Isaac Bonton tops the Cougars in assists (3.9 apg) while averaging 15.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Jeff Pollard averages 8.8 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 51.0 percent.

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 20th meeting between Colorado and Washington State with the Buffaloes holding a commanding 14-5 series lead. Colorado won the only regular season meeting, a 78-56 decision in Boulder on Jan. 23. The Buffaloes hold a 2-1 advantage on a neutral court, both wins coming in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament in 2016 and 2017.

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March 9th

… CU in the Arena … 

Pac-12 Tournament odds – CU third choice (?)

From BetOnline … Odds to win the Pac-12 Conference tournament

Oregon +125
Arizona +300
Colorado +400
UCLA +900
Arizona State +1000
USC +1000
Stanford +1600
California +8000
Oregon State +8000
Utah +8000
Washington State +8000
Washington +10000

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Tyler Bey named Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year

From CUBuffs.com … University of Colorado junior forward Tyler Bey was named the 2019-20 Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year while classmate McKinley Wright IV was tabbed first team all-conference for the second time by a vote of league coaches the conference announced on Monday.

In addition, Bey was selected to the All-Pac-12 Second Team while joining Wright on the Pac-12’s five-member All-Defensive squad.

Bey is Colorado’s second Defensive Player of the Year in any conference, joining Andre Roberson who earned the Pac-12’s honor in 2012-13. He’s the first Buffalo to win two different major conference player of the year type awards. Bey was the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player of the Year in 2018-19.

Wright is Colorado’s third two-time All-Pac-12 First Team honoree, joining Josh Scott (2013-14, ’15-16) and Andre Roberson (2011-12, & ’12-13) and the 13^th Buffalo to achieve multiple first team all-league selections.

Colorado has had a first or second team All-Conference performer in all nine seasons as a member of the Pac-12. Bey is the fourth Buffalo to be named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team.

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Bracketology: Buffs down to a No. 8 seed at CBS Sports; No. 7 seed according to ESPN

Bracketology by Jerry Palm at CBS Sports … CU is down to a No. 8 seed (after losing its fourth straight game to close out the regular season)

The Pac-12 (seven teams in bracket) … Oregon: No. 4 seed (same as last week); USC: No. 7 seed (up one from last week); Colorado: No. 8 seed (down one from last week); Arizona State: No. 8 seed (up from being outside the bracket last week); Arizona: No. 9 seed (down one seed from last week); Stanford: No. 11 seed (down one seed from last week); UCLA: No. 11 seed (same as last week)

CU’s first round opponent … v. No. 9 seed Florida (game to be played in Cleveland)

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Bracketology by Joe Lunardi at ESPN … CU down to a No. 7 seed (down two from last week)

The Pac-12 (seven teams in bracket) … Oregon: No. 4 seed (same as from last week); Colorado: No. 7 seed (down two from last week); Arizona: No. 6 seed (down two from last week): Arizona State: No. 10 seed (same as last week); USC: No. 9 seed (up two from last week) ; Stanford: No. 11 seed (same as last week); UCLA: No. 11 seed (up one from last week)

CU’s first round opponent … v. No. 10 Texas Tech (game to be played in Sacramento)

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Team Rankings.com … CU chances of making NCAA tournament: 99.2% (after being at 100% two weeks ago) … Most likely seed: No. 7 (down one from last week) … 22.9% chance of making the Sweet Sixteen (down from 26.5% last week; 34.1% two weeks ago; 40.3% three weeks ago) … 3.6% chance of making the Final Four (down from 4.2% last week; 5.7% two weeks ago; 7.3% three weeks ago week) …

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Boyle: “We have to hit the reset button and get back to who we know we can be”

From CUBuffs.com … New season.

That’s the attitude the Colorado Buffaloes will be taking this week when they head to the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, and for good reason — the last stretch of the regular season is not one they want to remember, or replicate.

After spending most of the first two months of Pac-12 play contending for a conference title and ranked in the nation’s top 25, Tad Boyle‘s Buffs stumbled over the final two weeks, losing their last four and ending up in a tie for fifth. Now, the 21-10 and sixth-seeded Buffs open conference tournament play Wednesday with a 9:30 p.m. (MT) game against 11th-seeded Washington State (15-16) at T-Mobile Arena.

“We have to hit the reset button and get back to who we know we can be,” Boyle said after Saturday’s regular season-ending 74-72 overtime loss at Utah. “No more road games, no more home games. Everything’s on a neutral floor from here on out and we’ve got to be the tougher team and the better executing team when we go to Las Vegas.”

The idea of a neutral floor should actually appeal to Colorado. The Buffs were 4-0 on neutral courts this year, with wins over Arizona State, Wyoming, Clemson and Dayton.

And, while the task of winning four straight games to win a tournament title is daunting, it is by no means unheard of. The Buffs did it in 2012, and Oregon repeated the feat last year.

But the Buffs aren’t going to return to work Monday with an eye on winning four in a row. They will be much more focused on just getting a win against the Cougars and putting a halt to their longest losing streak in more than two years.

… Continue reading story here …

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March 8th

… CU in the Arena … 

Pat Rooney: It’s March Madness – Buffs still have chance at a special season

From the Daily Camera … This was a team that set out to make Colorado basketball history.

And perhaps, when it’s all said and done, the Buffaloes will do just that. Much crazier things have happened in college basketball than watching a team stumble down the stretch of the regular season, only to light it up in the postseason. There is a reason it’s called March Madness.

Yet as strange as it seems to say about a team that matched the program record for wins in the regular season, and spent more weeks in the AP top 25 than any CU team in history, and that still has a chance to be even better in the 2020-21 season, one gets the sense this is a program at a crossroads. And head coach Tad Boyle needs to find a way to press the right buttons to pull his club out of its late tailspin before all the good vibes generated this winter are completely washed away by an ugly finish.

CU’s 74-72 overtime loss at Utah Saturday afternoon was its fourth in a row to finish the regular season. The Buffs were knocked out of the AP top 25 earlier in the week, and the eighth straight loss at Utah’s Huntsman Center gave the Buffs a four-game losing streak to end the year — the program’s longest since Lucas Siewert, CU’s only four-year senior, was a freshman. It also knocked the Buffs out of the Pac-12 Conference’s top four and left CU without the accompanying first-round bye for the league tournament next week in Las Vegas, another program milestone the Buffs were aiming to achieve this season.

… Continue reading story here …

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March 7th – Game Day!

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs lose fourth straight, falling in overtime to Utah, 74-72

… Related … “Controversial finish stuns CU, pushes Buffs out of Pac-12’s top four” … From the Daily Camera

... Note … Buffs finish as the No. 6 seed for Pac-12 tournament, will face No. 11 seed Washington State in the first round on Wednesday night (9:30 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks) … Tournament bracket can be found here …

… Note … Not to get too conspiratorial here, but does the end of the basketball season feel a whole lot like the end of football seasons under Mike MacIntyre? The Buffs had four chances to post a school-record 22nd regular season win, and a first-ever Pac-12 tournament bye, but went 0-4.

Or, worse yet … the story that Karl Dorrell was going to be named as CU’s head coach came out during the CU/UCLA basketball game February 22nd. The Buffs blew a nine-point second half lead at home to the Bruins that afternoon … and haven’t won since. CU is just not meant to have nice things, I guess … 

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado’s hopes for a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament were crushed in the final seconds here Saturday when Utah stole a 74-72 overtime victory at the Huntsman Center.

CU’s fourth straight loss to end the regular season dropped the Buffs to 21-10 overall and 10-8 in Pac-12 play while Utah improved to 16-14, 7-11.

Colorado thus finished in a tie for fifth in the final Pac-12 standings with Arizona, but lost the tiebreaker with the Wildcats and dropped to the sixth seed in next week’s Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Buffs will open play Wednesday against No. 11 seed Washington State (15-16, 6-12) in a 9:30 p.m. (MT) game. If they win their opener, they will face No. 3 seed Arizona State on Thursday.

Colorado led for more than 37 minutes of the game, but saw Utah’s Both Gach hit a basket at the end of regulation to force overtime, then saw Gach hit three free throws with :00.6 on the clock in overtime to hand CU the loss. Gach’s free throws came after Colorado’s McKinley Wright IV was called for a questionable foul as Gach attempted a desperation 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

The Buffs needed a win to guarantee a top-four finish and first-round bye in next week’s Pac-12 tournament.

Wright led CU with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Tyler Bey had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double for Colorado, his 12th of the season, and Evan Battey had 15 points for CU.

Gach had a career-high 28 points for Utah.

Along with letting a first-round bye slip away — something the Buffs have never had in conference tournament play — CU also missed out on a school-record 22nd regular season win.

“A really disappointing loss because this was an opportunity for us to do something that had never been done in Colorado basketball,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “We had four opportunities to do it, so it wasn’t just tonight … But tonight was the one that stings the most because we had a lead at the end, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Buffs can finish 3rd to 7th depending on Utah results 

… Related … “Buffs eye first top-four finish since joining Pac-12” … from the Daily Camera

From CUBuffs.com … Without playing a game this week, the Colorado Buffaloes managed to improve their chances at a top-four Pac-12 finish.

Saturday, they can clinch one of those spots — and the first-round conference tournament bye that goes with it — by collecting a win in their 12:30 p.m. game at Utah (Pac-12 Networks).

The Buffs (21-9 overall, 10-7 Pac-12) had control of their fortunes returned to their hands Thursday when Arizona State lost to Washington and Stanford fell at Oregon State. That means if the Buffs beat the Utes (15-14, 6-11) on their home court, they are guaranteed of no worse than a No. 4 seed — and a possible No. 3 seed — next week in Las Vegas.

The flip side, of course, is that a fourth straight loss could drop the Buffs as far as the seventh seed and force them to play Wednesday instead of opening Thursday.

“We were done some favors, there’s no doubt about it,” CU coach Tad Boyle said just before the Buffs departed for Salt Lake City on Friday. “Now we control our own destiny. We have an opportunity to do two things that have never been done in the history of Colorado basketball — that’s get a bye in the first round of the conference and win 22 regular season games.”

… Continue reading story here …

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GAME NOTES 

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado is 21-9 overall and in a four-way tie for third place in the Pac-12 Conference at 10-7 along with Arizona, Arizona State and USC. The Buffaloes control their own destiny in clinching one of the top four seeds, and a first round bye, in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament.

The No. 3 seed would be the highest Colorado could claim and would achieve that if all four third place teams won on Saturday, among other scenarios. The Buffaloes’ 3-1 record against that group would win out (UA 3-2, ASU 2-3, USC 2-4).

Despite dropping three straight for the first time since late in the 2017-18 season, the Buffaloes have won seven of their last 12 and 14 of their last 21. Colorado is 33-13 over its last 46 games. Colorado is ending the regular season with three road games for the first time since 2013-14, when the Buffaloes faced the same three programs they’ll battle during this stretch (at Utah, then at Stanford
and California in 2014).

It’s the sixth time in 10 seasons the Buffaloes have 10 or more conference wins. CU’s Pac-12 best is 11, in 2011-12 (11-7). Colorado’s 21 regular season wins ties for the best in program history, achieved three other times: 1996-97, 2013-14 and 2015-16. Overall, it ties for the seventh-most wins counting postseason (see page 5).

ABOUT THE UTES: Utah is 15-14 overall and tied with Oregon State and Washington State for ninth in the Pac-12 at 6-11. The Utes have lost two straight and five of their last six. Traditionally a great home team, Utah has lived up to that billing in 2019-20 going 11-2 at Huntsman with its only losses to Pac-12 co-leaders Oregon and UCLA. Utah is averaging 70.9 points while shooting 45.0 percent from the field. Defensively, the Utes are allowing 70.2 points per game while opponents shoot 44 percent.

Sophomore forward Timmy Allen leads Utah at 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Both Gach is second on the team in scoring, at 10.3 points per game. Freshman guard Rylan Jones averages 9.6 points while leading the Utes in 3-point shooting at 38.6 percent and in assists (125).

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 53rd meeting between Colorado and Utah with the Buffaloes holding a 29-23 advantage. The home team has won the last five games in the series, including Colorado’s 91-52 win in Boulder on Jan. 12th. Prior to that, the Utes had reeled off eight-straight wins, the longest stretch by either team in the series that dates back to 1914. Utah has a 16-8 series lead in Salt Lake City and has won the last seven. Colorado’s last win at Utah was a 55-48 decision on Feb. 18, 2012.

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March 6th

… CU in the Arena … 

CU gets Thursday night help: Buffs can now clinch first-ever first round bye with win over Utah

From CUBuffs.com … The Colorado Buffaloes entered the week needing some help to pick up a top-four finish in the Pac-12 standings and the first-round conference tournament bye that goes with it.

They got that help Thursday night.

Now, the Buffs (21-9 overall, 10-7 Pac-12) are once again in control of their fortunes. While the Buffs were idle, Arizona State was losing at home to Washington and Stanford was losing at Oregon State.

That dropped ASU into a tie with the Buffs in the standings at 10-7 and dropped Stanford to 9-8. If the Buffs can get a win at Utah on Saturday (12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), they will finish with no worse than the fourth seed in next week’s tournament in Las Vegas and earn the first-round bye.

CU actually still has a chance at the No. 3 seed if they end up in a tie with Arizona State, Arizona and USC. But if USC falls out of the equation, CU would drop to No. 4 in a three-way tie with UA and ASU. CU would win a head-to-head tiebreaker with ASU, but lose a head-to-head with Arizona.

USC plays host to UCLA on Saturday while Arizona hosts Washington and Arizona State hosts Washington State.

The Pac-12 tournament begins Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena. If the Buffs do earn a bye, they won’t play until Thursday.

Colorado has never had a first-round Pac-12 tourney bye — but the Buffs are also the only team in the league to win at least one game in every Pac-12 tournament.

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March 5th

… CU in the Arena … 

Tad Boyle not watching Thursday Pac-12 games: “You control what you can control”

… Related … “Pac-12’s Thursday night slate could aid fortunes of CU Buffs” … from the Daily Camera

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado coach Tad Boyle says there’s nothing wrong with the Buffaloes that a win or two won’t fix.

But, Boyle stressed Wednesday, the Buffs do have to correct those issues in a hurry. CU has just one regular season game remaining — a 12:30 p.m. game Saturday at Utah (Pac-12 Networks) — followed by next week’s Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, then what Colorado hopes will be an NCAA Tournament appearance.

It means the stakes and stage get bigger every game from here on out.

“The margin for error gets razor thin (in March),” Boyle said. “We’re to the point now where it’s win, you stay alive, lose you go home … That’s why they call it madness.”

The Buffs are currently shouldering the burden of a three-game losing streak, their longest in more than two years. Still, with a 21-9 overall record and a 10-7 Pac-12 mark, they are being considered as a solid bet for an NCAA berth — but they could no doubt improve that outlook with a road win Saturday, then a strong showing in the conference tournament.

CU’s current skid has put the Buffs in precarious position for even claiming a top-four spot and the first-round Pac-12 tourney bye that goes with it. Even with a win Saturday against Utah, Colorado needs two of three teams — Arizona, ASU and Stanford — to lose at least one game this week to ensure a top-four finish.

But Boyle said he won’t be spending much time worrying about what other teams do.

“I’m just concerned about getting this team right Saturday at 12:30,” Boyle said. “The other stuff … what will happen will happen. I have no control over it so I don’t really worry about it. You control what you can control.”

… Continue reading story here …

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March 4th

… CU in the Arena … 

Tad Boyle: “We’re not playing for each other, and trust. We lost trust in each other”

From the Daily Camera … Fine-tuning the Xs and Os certainly will be on the agenda for the struggling Colorado men’s basketball team this week in hopes of reversing its sudden and dramatic downturn of momentum.

Still, some remedial chemistry lessons might prove far more critical to the Buffaloes as they begin workouts ahead of Saturday’s regular season finale at Utah (12:30 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Networks).

Following Sunday’s loss at Stanford, CU’s third in a row, and again on Tuesday, several Buffs players repeated the idea that they have not been playing for one another during their recent slide. For a team that has counted its chemistry as one of the its most readily-identifiable strengths throughout the season, having some selfishness creep into the equation is something head coach Tad Boyle knows must get corrected before the Pac-12 Conference tournament next week in Las Vegas.

“We showed selfishness against Stanford. And selfishness is unacceptable in our program,” Boyle said. “The problem that we have right now is when things go bad, we worry about ourselves. We don’t worry about our teammates. We don’t worry about each other. We worry about ourselves. Our attitude us not what it needs to be. Our effort is not what it needs to be. Certainly our execution is not what it needs to be. Our toughness, our discipline. All the things that go into winning games this time of year. We’re falling short in a lot of those categories.”

… Continue reading story here …

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March 3rd

... CU in the Arena … 

Buffs looking to regroup – “There’s a lot of people laughing at us right now … We’ve got to figure something out”

From the Daily Camera … On one hand, a slower week ahead of the regular-season finale means the reeling Colorado men’s basketball team has fewer opportunities to work themselves out of the funk that has marred their play during the stretch run.

Yet the Buffaloes had ample opportunity to make a run at the Pac-12 Conference championship, as well as cementing a spot in the league’s top four, which comes with a first round bye for the conference tournament next week in Las Vegas. Those opportunities are gone. So if there is a silver lining to having an entire work week to prepare for the regular-season finale on Saturday at Utah (12:30 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Networks), it’s that the Buffs will have several days to focus inward.

Buffs fans hope it’s exactly the sort of remedy the team needs to erase the sting of a three-game losing streak that has changed CU from a league title contender to a squad that needs a win plus help around the league just to land one of those top four spots.

“We need as much time as we can get right now. We need to figure this stuff out and get back to who we were,” CU point guard McKinley Wright IV said. “I was talking to the guys, there’s a lot of people laughing at us right now. People are happy we’re losing. We thought we were a good team early on and here we are, we’ve lost three in a row, the tables have turned. We’ve got to figure something out.”

… Continue reading story here …

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March 2nd

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs fall out of the Top 25 (No. 32 overall); Down to a No. 7 seed at CBS (still a No. 5 seed for ESPN)

From CBS Sports … Kansas is the unanimous No. 1 team in the latest AP Top 25 college basketball rankings updated Monday, one of only two unchanged teams in a reshuffled top-five. Gonzaga moved up one spot to No. 2 and Dayton jumped one spot to No. 3 while Baylor fell from No. 2 to No. 4. San Diego State held firm at No. 5.

Dayton may have the most to celebrate among those inside the top 10, with its No. 3 ranking the highest for the program since the 1955-56 season when it climbed as high as No. 2. The Flyers have an 18-game winning streak — tied for the longest in the country with New Mexico State — and are poised to be a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday, according to Jerry Palm’s updated Bracketology projections.

The AP Top 25: 

Others receiving votes: Butler 68, UCLA 54, Stephen F. Austin 47, East Tennessee State 31, West Virginia 22, Providence 17, Colorado 13, Marquette 12, Arizona 9, Texas Tech 9, Northern Iowa 4, Oklahoma 4, Stanford 4, Arizona State 4, Wichita State 2, Saint Mary’s 2, LSU 2, New Mexico State 2, USC 1, Belmont 1, Vermont 1

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Bracketology: Down to a 99.7% of making the tournament 

Bracketology by Jerry Palm at CBS Sports … CU is down to a No. 7 seed (after losing on the road to both of the Bay area schools)

The Pac-12 (six teams in bracket) … Oregon: No. 4 seed (same as last week); Colorado: No. 7 seed (down two from last week); Arizona: No. 8 seed (down one from last week); USC: No. 8 seed (up two from last week); Stanford: No. 10 seed (up one seed from last week); UCLA: No. 11 seed (not ranked last week)

CU’s first round opponent … v. No. 10 seed Virginia (game to be played in Greensboro, North Carolina)

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Bracketology by Joe Lunardi at ESPN … CU remains a No. 5 seed (same as last week)

The Pac-12 (seven teams in bracket) … Oregon: No. 4 seed (up one from last week); Colorado: No. 5 seed (same as last week); Arizona: No. 6 seed (same as last week): Arizona State: No. 10 seed (down one from last week); USC: No. 11 seed (up one from last week) ; Stanford: No. 11 seed (same as last week); UCLA: No. 12 seed (not in the field last week)

CU’s first round opponent … v. No. 12 Liberty (game to be played in Sacramento)

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Team Rankings.com … CU chances of making NCAA tournament: 99.7% (after being at 100% the last two weeks) … Most likely seed: No. 6 (down one from last week) … 26.5% chance of making the Sweet Sixteen (down from 34.1 last week; 40.3% two weeks ago) … 4.2% chance of making the Final Four (down from 5.7% last week; 7.3% two weeks ago week) …

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March 1st – Game Day!

… CU in the Arena … 

Buffs’ comeback falls short … again, losing to Stanford, 72-64

… Related … “Late swoon continues for CU Buffs at Stanford” … from the Daily Camera

From CUBuffs.com … Colorado rallied to cut a 15-point deficit down to three here Sunday in the final minutes, but that was as close as the Buffaloes could come as they dropped a 72-64 decision to Stanford at Maples Pavilion.

The Buffs’ third straight loss — their longest losing streak of the season — dropped No. 21/20 CU to 21-9 overall and 10-7 in Pac-12 play. Stanford improved to 20-9, 9-7.

The Buffs trailed by as much as 15 in the first half and again in the second half before cutting the deficit 65-62 with 3:46 still to play. But CU went cold again down the stretch and the Cardinal held on for the win.

Tyler Bey led Colorado with 17 points and seven rebounds and McKinley Wright IV had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Buffs, his sixth of the year and 11th of his career. D’Shawn Schwartz added 14 points for CU.

The Cardinal had four players in double figures, led by Bryce Wills with 19 points —  17 coming in the second half.

The loss drops CU into a tie with USC for fourth place in the Pac-12, and a half-game behind Arizona State and a half-game ahead of Arizona. The Buffs own the tiebreaker over USC and ASU, but would lose a tiebreaker with Arizona.

Stanford shot 52.5 percent from the floor in the game, the second straight opponent to shoot better than 50 percent against CU and the fourth to shoot at least 45 percent. CU is 1-3 in that stretch.

The Buffs shot 42.6 percent, but hit just five of their 20 3-point field goal tries.

The biggest difference came in the paint, where Stanford held a dominating 56-34 edge as the Cardinal drove to the bucket almost at will all night long.

“Our defense right now is not good enough to win a game on the road,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “Our defense was not good enough to win a close game at home against UCLA. Our defense failed in the second half. Until we get that back,  it’s gonna be like this. We have a week to figure it out. I have to do better job as a coach, obviously, and we’d better figure it out.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Buffs looking to rebound against a tough Stanford defense 

Related … “Stanford a tough place for CU Buffs to try to get right” … from the Daily Camera 

From CUBuffs.com … Basketball coaches and players are fond of saying “defense travels.”

But for whatever reason, the No. 21/20 Colorado Buffaloes didn’t have defense in their travel bags for their last outing, a 76-62 loss at Cal on Thursday.

Now the Buffs (21-8 overall, 10-6 Pac-12) need to make sure they pack their defense for Sunday’s 4 p.m. game at Stanford (19-9, 8-7), where they are in need of a win not only to end a two-game skid, but also remain in the hunt for a top-four Pac-12 finish.

The game will be televised by ESPNU and broadcast by 760 AM and 93.7 FM KOA.

Defense has always been a foundational cornerstone for Tad Boyle‘s Buffaloes. But over the last three games, the Buffs have allowed each opponent to shoot at least 45 percent from the floor, something that has happened only once previously this season.

The result in both three-game stretches has been a 1-2 record.

Stanford is not a particularly high-scoring team, currently just fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring in league games (68.53 points per game). But the Cardinal is also the league’s top defensive team, allowing just 64.07 points per Pac-12 game, and the conference’s best shooting team, hitting .460 from the floor.

“They run their offense at a pace that’s unlike a lot of offenses,” CU’s Boyle said Saturday. “They really, really move the ball and they move their bodies at a high rate. We have to be dialed in and locked in to our game plan and our execution of that game plan.”

… Continue reading story here …

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GAME NOTES 

From CUBuffs.com … No. 21 (AP)/20 (Coaches) ranked Colorado is 21-8 overall and in fourth place in the Pac-12 Conference at 10-6; one game behind league leaders Oregon and UCLA (11-5). The Buffaloes fell out of a tie for first following at 76-62 setback at California on Feb. 27.

Despite dropping two straight for the first time in league play, and only the second time all season, the Buffaloes have won seven of their last 11 and 14 of their last 20. Colorado is 33-12 over its last 45 games.

Colorado is ending the regular season with three road games for the first time since 2013-14, when the Buffaloes faced the same three
programs they’ll battle during this stretch (at Utah, then at Stanford and California in 2014).

It’s the sixth time in 10 seasons the Buffaloes have 10 or more conference wins. CU’s Pac-12 best is 11, in 2011-12 (11-7).

ABOUT THE CARDINAL: Stanford is 19-9 overall and in seventh place in the Pac-12 at 8-7. The Cardinal have won three in a row
including a 70-62 decision over Utah on Feb. 26. Stanford averages 70.3 points while shooting 47.3 percent from the field. The Cardinal led the conference in field goal percentage (.473) and scoring defense (61.6 ppg). Opponents are shooting just 39 percent against Stanford, ranking third in the Pac-12.

Junior forward Oscar da Silva leads Stanford at 16.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 58.5 percent from the field. Freshman guard Tyrell Terry averages 15.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game, ranking second on the team in all four categories. Freshman forward Spencer Jones averages 9.1 points and leads the Cardinal in 3-pointers made (74) and 3-point percentage (.430). Junior guard Daejon Davis leads Stanford in assists (97) and steals (46) while averaging 8.3 points per game.

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the 24th meeting between Colorado and Stanford with the Buffaloes holding a 13-10 series edge. Colorado won the meeting in Boulder, 81-74, on Feb. 8. The Buffaloes have won 10 of the last 11 over the Cardinal, the one Stanford win coming in last season’s game at Maples, 75-62, on Jan. 26, 2019. The Cardinal hold a 5-4 series edge at home.

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February 29th

… CU in the Arena … 

Wright calls out teammates: “We have to step up … and have some pride in our defense”

From the Daily Camera …  It was a relatively long postgame gathering in the Colorado Buffaloes’ locker room Thursday night.

The Buffs had just trudged down into the bowels of Cal’s Haas Pavilion on the heels of their second consecutive loss — the first time since early December the 21st-ranked Buffs have dropped back-to-back games.

Unlike CU’s two most recent losses at home against UCLA and at Oregon, Thursday’s debacle was not an instance of the Buffs playing well for most of the contest, only to let a win slip away down the stretch. The Buffs led a Bears team that had lost five of its previous six games only briefly in the first half before Cal once again took control. This was the sort of drubbing the Buffs endured at Kansas and at Arizona, except this time it occurred against a team that entered the contest fighting to stay out of the Pac-12 Conference basement.

… “I called them out individually, man to man, and I told them to not take it personal, but we have to step up as an individual and be able to guard our matchup and take that personal and have some pride in our defense,” Wright said. “Credit to Cal. They made a lot of tough shots. We’ve just got to be better on the defensive end.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Tags: D'Shawn Schwartz, Dallas Walton, Daylen Kountz, Evan Battey, Jakub Dombek, Jeriah Horne, Lucas Siewert, McKinley Wright, McKinley Wright IV, Shane Gatling, Tad Boyle, Tyler Bey
This post, about the Colorado Basketball game, from the 2019 Season, is filed under Article.
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