MEN: UNM AT COLORADO
CU Events Center (Boulder, Colorado), 4:30 p.m. TV: Pac-12 Network (Comcast 284; Dish 409). Radio: 610 AM/95.9 FM (Jeff Siembieda and Hunter Greene). Line: CU by 17
What you need to know about the Lobos:
UNM’s defense allowed 1.227 points per possession to Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, not a number the Lobos can allow often and expect to win games. Colorado hasn’t lost a game when scoring 1.2 point per possession since an 86-69 loss at Texas A&M on Jan. 12, 2008. CU shot 37 free throws (hitting 27) in its opening win over Montana State. Considering the foul rate of Lobos who played the 5-spot on Wednesday, that could be a huge part of Saturday’s game. UNM will have to adjust its defense drastically to protect the big men, potentially leaving more space on the perimeter. CU had 13 offensive rebounds in its opener, and UNM allowed 17 offensive boards to FAU but escaped with minimal damage at just 19 secondchance points allowed. UNM seems to have offensive balance, even with one player (House) scoring 30 and putting up 19 shots. Five Lobos scored in double figures in the opener.
What you need to know about the Buffaloes:
Walker, the son of former NBA player Samaki Walker, is one of 20 players on the preseason Julius Erving Award watch list for the nation’s top small forward. He and Battey, the only player on either roster to have played in the Dec. 6, 2017, game with the Lobos in Boulder, is CU’s active leader in career points (915) and rebounds (518). Though they got a surprising wakeup call in an overtime win Tuesday against Montana State, Boyle has a track record of getting his team ready early in the season. CU has the best record in college basketball in November since the 2017-18 season at 19-1 ( .950 win percentage). second place is Duke and Gonzaga, each at 24-2 (.923). CU played slow last year, ranking 276th in adjusted tempo with 66.1 possessions per game. Buffaloes opponents a season ago had an average possession length of 18.4 seconds, ranked as 340th longest per possession out of 347 teams.