Stanford, Buffs in cluttered space
Here is a quick rundown of what has transpired in the Pac-12 over the past nine days.
First, Colorado ended a threegame losing streak by defeating Utah at home on Feb. 2.
Utah clearly recovered by Thursday night in a rout of Stanford, which visits the Coors Events Center on Sunday for its only matchup of the regular season against CU. Stanford was coming off a 35-point dismantling of Oregon that was the worst defeat in coach Dana Altman’s eight seasons leading the Ducks. Oregon, of course, turned around and routed Washington on Thursday, less than a week after the Huskies’ dramatic buzzer-beating win against league front-runner and nationally ranked Arizona.
Got all that?
In short, the middle-of-the-pack in the Pac-12 is a cluttered logjam, with Stanford (13-12, 7-5) and the Buffs (14-10, 6-6) among five teams at 7-5 or 6-6 heading into Saturday night’s Pac-12 action.
With only three regular-season home games remaining, Sunday’s battle presents a chance for the Buffs to pick up what eventually could be a critical tie-breaking result against the Cardinal once the league tournament arrives in Las Vegas.
“It’s a wide-open deal,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “We’re right in the middle of the pack here. If we want to separate ourselves, it’s time to do it. This is a huge game from that standpoint.
“I look at Utah when they came in here, they didn’t play their Agame. They were a totally different team (against Stanford). Stanford has been playing as well as anyone in the league, and against Utah they weren’t at their best. Cal came in here and we weren’t at our best. That’s why every game is an opportunity to separate ourselves from the pack. And the only way you separate yourself is by winning.”
Tops among CU’S priorities will be slowing down Stanford forward Reid Travis. One of just two players in the league who ranks in the top five in both scoring and rebounding (along with Arizona’s Deandre Ayton), Travis brings averages of 19.4 points and 7.8 rebounds to the Coors Events Center.
“If we win this we’ll be 7-6 and if Stanford loses, they’ll be 7-6. So we’ll have the tiebreaker too if it comes to that for Vegas,” CU senior guard Dom Collier said. “And it’s obviously a big game because we’ll be on the road. If we win (Sunday) it will be good momentum going into Washington and those schools. Everyone is aware of how big this game is due to where we want to be in Vegas.”