CU looks to put it all together vs. Utah
»It was a win ColoraB OULDER do sorely needed to start a homestand that might dictate the direction of the season.
No one would know it was a win from the somber tone offered by the Buffaloes afterward.
With the Buffs aiming to remain in the hunt for the Pac-12 Conference title, Wednesday’s effort just wasn’t good enough. Yes, the Buffs improved to 13-4 overall, and at 7-3 within the conference, they will remain in the thick of the pack chasing league-leading UCLA when the bulk of the league is through battling on Thursday night.
Yet the Buffs know they might have dodged disaster. Facing Washington State for the second time in five days, CU held a 19point lead after a pair of Evan Battey free throws with 2 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the first half. With nine minutes remaining in the game, that lead wasdowntosix.
CU was able to pull away down the stretch, but it was the third consecutive game in which the Buffs were unable to match their potential for the full 40 minutes. The Buffs could get away with it against a Cougars team missing leading scorer Isaac Bonton. It will be a tough way to win during the remaining four games of the homestand, a run that begins Saturday in another rematch battle against Utah.
“I did sense it in practice the previous two days,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Again, not like the practice was absolutely awful, but it tailed off at the end in terms of our energy level. We didn’t go start to finish. These are the days where guys might be a little bit tired mentally. That’s something we’ve got to talk about as a staff. Maybe talk to Evan and McKinley (Wright) about that.
“I want to keep them on edge. Because I felt like going back-toback with Washington State, such an unusual schedule, I didn’t want our guys to be lackadaisical. And didn’t think we were from the beginning, because we came out ready to play and played very well offensively and defensively in that first half. But the second half, it just fell off. There’s no enthusiasm. There’s no joy.”
The Buffs have struggled to put it all together since completing a home sweep against Cal and Stanford two weeks ago. The three games since, all against the Washington schools, haven’t been abject disasters, as a sweep of the Cougars gave CU a 2-1 mark in those games. But the Buffs haven’t been flashing championship form, either.
In a loss at Washington last week, the Buffs put together a strong game offensively with 80 points and only five turnovers, the program’s lowest mark in eight years. But it also was one of CU’s worst defensive games of the year. At Washington State on Saturday, the Buffs fell behind by 18 points before storming back. Then there was the near-collapse Wednesday in the rematch against the Cougars.
“A win is a win. But we’re not satisfied,” Wright said. “We’re competing for a Pac-12 championship and (Wednesday’s) effort isn’t going to cut it. We’re going to watch film (Thursday). Got to get better in practice (Thursday). Prepare for Utah on Saturday. We’re a lot better than we showcased (against WSU). We’ve just got to be better. If we want to contend for the Pac-12 championship and make a deep run in the tournament, we can’t have performances like (that). We can’t do that. We’ve got to be better.”