CU RETURNS HOME
Buffs look to turn confidence into corrections
For the first time since the start of Pac-12 Conference play, the Colorado men’s basketball team is returning to its home floor on the immediate heels of a road victory.
It was a much-needed confidence boost the Buffaloes received on Saturday, as they outlasted USC for a 93-89 doubleovertime, comeback victory. Turning that newly-recovered confidence into the results the Buffs still need, however, remains another matter.
CU was off on Monday with a slower-paced week ahead before taking on Utah on Saturday at the CU Events Center (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
It was a stirring comeback at USC, where the Buffs trailed by 16 points with 9 minutes, 52 seconds remaining before rallying, but hardly a flawless one.
The season-long habit of balancing a strong defensive half with a sub-par one occurred again, as the Trojans hovered above 50% for much of the game before CU’S late charge. Any hope of making a late run over the final five regular seasongames, however, might hinge largely on the Buffs’ ability to begin curtailing their turnovers.
CU has been generous with turnovers all season, averaging 13.5 per game. Yet during a sixgame stretch between a Jan. 13 loss at California and a Jan. 27 loss at Washington State, CU averaged just 10 per game, producing its four lowest turnover totals of the season during that run. In the five games since that brief turnaround the pendulum has swung dramatically back the other way, with the Buffs averaging 15.6 per game.
“I told the team in the locker room (after the USC win) that everyone can play better,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “We got the win and we’re proud of that. Our guys were happy and it was so nice to see joy in that locker room because it’s been despondent. It’s been heads down just because they want to win so bad. But everybody that played can play better. They understand that. They know that. It’s nice to have that turn out in our favor.”
Rankings update
Arizona moved up one spot to No. 4 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, but for the first time since the Buffs stood at No. 18 in Week 3, another Pac12 team has joined the Wildcats in the top 25.
In this week’s poll released on Monday, Washington State made its debut at No. 21 for the program’s first AP top 25 spot since 2008. The Cougars have won seven consecutive games and 10 of their past 11, setting up a huge first-place showdown against Arizona in Tucson on Thursday night (7 p.m., FS1). The Cougars already defeated Arizona at home as part of that run on Jan. 13.
No other Pac-12 team received a vote in this week’s poll. The NET rankings for the league on Monday were led by Arizona (3), followed by Washington State (31), CU (42), Utah (50), Oregon (61), Washington (72), Stanford (103), UCLA (105), USC (108), Cal (120), Arizona State (135), Oregon State (173).
Honors
Surging WSU swept the Pac12’s weekly honors, with forward
Isaac Jones winning the Player of the Week honor and Myles Rice landing the Freshman of the Week award.
Jones averaged 18 points as the Cougars posted a home sweep of the Bay Area schools, going a combined 14-for-19 from the field while also averaging 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Rice won the Freshman of the Week honor for the fourth consecutive week and the seventh time this season after averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the two wins.