Buffs looking to take advantage as favorable stretch begins
CU seeking third consecutive regular season sweep of Southern California
It Cer tainly won’t Be An easy road for Colorado. Yet the Current Configuration of the final two weeks of the PAC-12 Conference men’s Basketball might prove Advantageous for the Buf faloes once the Conference tournament tips of f.
Among the top five teams in the PAC-12, only the Buf fs And Stanford Are scheduled to play just three games over the final two weeks. Oregon Began A stretch of six games in 14 days with Monday’s loss At USC. For the Trojans, Monday’s win Began A stretch of five games in A span of 13 days. When Arizona State visits CU for the MARCH 4 regular season finale, it will Be the Sun Devils’ fifth game in 10 days.
After that ASU game, the Buf fs Are in line to enjoy A full week off Before tipping off in LAS Vegas for the PAC-12 tournament. Of Course, that’s A favorable schedule in regard to the format. Taking Advantage of it will Be more Challenging on the floor, As the
Buffs Begin their regular seasonending three-game homestand on Thursday Against 19th-ranked USC.
“I think (USC) has Cranked their defense up to Another level,” CU point guard Mckinley Wright IV said. “Having (guard) Ethan Anderson BACK is A Big key to their defensive scheme And what they like to do. Evan Mobley is playing At A high level. We gave them some Bunnies that he missed At USC. We don’t expect him to Continue to miss. It’s going to Be A Collective effort. It’s going to Be A fun one, But I have ever y Bit of Confidence that we CAN Come out with A win.”
The Buf fs put together one of their most impressive wins of the season on Dec. 31 at USC, shackling Trojans all-everything freshman Evan Mobley while holding USC to a .383 mark, which remains its lowest in Pac-12 play and the second-lowest of the season.
USC, though, has been the hottest team in the Pac-12 since, going 14-2 and strengthening its grasp on the top spot in the conference with a thorough dismantling of Oregon on Monday. The Trojans played that first matchup against CU without Anderson, who has averaged 5.9 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds in 15 games, mostly of f the bench.
The Buffs played without 7-footer Dallas Walton, who likely will play a big role in tr ying to slow down Mobley. Over the course of the Pac-12 schedule, the 7-foot freshman has shown why he is a probable top-five pick in the 2021 NBA draft, entering Thursday’s game in Boulder leading the league in Pac-12 games in rebounding (8.5) and blocked shots (2.9), while ranking third in field goal percentage (.584) and sixth in scoring (16.4).
“I think they’ve grown up. They’ve grown up a lot,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “That (first matchup) was their first Pac-12 game and we jumped on them pretty good. We had great energy and effort that night, and I think they had some young guys. They had some guys that were new to our conference and new to the Pac-12 and maybe didn’t know quite what to expect. Maybe we punched them in the mouth a little bit and they didn’t quite react.
“Since then, the improvement that USC made has been dramatic. Evan Mobley just keeps getting better and better and better. They’ve got great personnel.”