Colorado University Athletics
Boyle's Buffs Play Host To SDSU On Friday
December 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — With three losses in their last four games — all on the heels of a 6-0 start to the season — Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes are anxious to get their season back on track.
The next opportunity comes Friday, when the 7-3 Buffs play host to 9-4 South Dakota State in a 6 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center (Pac-12 Network).
The Buffs insist that confidence — or lack thereof — is not an issue, despite the recent skid. But there is also no doubt a solid effort, particularly on the offensive end of the floor, would provide a boost to a team that has not shot the ball well over the last couple of weeks.
"It (confidence) is part of tomorrow's game plan — play with confidence offensively," Boyle said after Thursday's practice. "But confidence is not a commodity. I can't go to the store and buy it for these guys … The only way you get confidence is get in the gym and having a little bit of intestinal fortitude and say, 'Enough's enough, let's play how we're capable of playing and play how we practice.'"
Since an 81-69 win over Air Force in late November, the Buffs' shooting has gone south in the last four games. Even with a 26-for-52 effort against New Mexico — CU's only win in that stretch — Colorado is shooting just 38 percent from the field overall and only 32.5 percent from 3-point range in December.
Virtually everyone on the team has struggled in that period, with senior George King's woes perhaps most representative of the slump. After back-to-back 25-point performances in which he shot nearly 70 percent from the field (18-for-26), King has hit just 30 percent of his field goal tries in the last four games (15-for-50).
The Buffs' slump came to a head in Tuesday's 69-59 loss to San Diego, when CU hit just 14 of its 54 field goal tries (25.9 percent), the lowest percentage by any CU team ever in the Coors Events Center.
Still, Boyle said, the bigger issue for the Buffs is making sure they take care of their core fundamentals — defense and rebounding — when the shots aren't falling.
"We have good shooters, good players that are not playing to their level of capability offensively," Boyle said. "That might happen, you might go through slumps, you might go through ebbs and flows as the season goes on. But what can't ebb and flow is our defense and rebounding. We haven't been good enough to count on that."
The Buffs will need to be at their best in both area against the Jackrabbits. The preseason pick to win the Summit League, SDSU is led by junior Mike Daum, a 6-foot-9 forward who is getting all kinds of attention from NBA scouts — at least five are scheduled to be in the building Friday night. Daum is averaging 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and can score from inside and out, as he leads his team in 3-pointers with 33 already this season.
"He is a matchup nightmare," Boyle said. "He shoots the 3, he drives it. … I'm not an NBA scout, I'm not an NBA GM, but he's an NBA player from what I've seen. Everybody I've talked to who has coached against him or played against him says the same thing."
The key, Boyle said, is making sure Daum earns everything he gets.
"You're not going to eliminate him, you just have to limit it and make everything he gets a situation where he has to work for it," Boyle said. "He's used to every game plan known to man. He's used to double teams, he's used to guys playing in space. He's just a helluva player. I have great respect for him."
Another area in which the Buffs would love to see some improvement is their performance in the first half. Colorado has trailed at intermission in four of its last five games.
"We have to turn it up a notch," freshman point guard McKinley Wright IV said. "We have to have it in both halves. We can't be a one-half team. We have to be aggressive for all 40 minutes, not 20."
But, Wright added, he doesn't believe the Buffs have lost confidence.
"I think this team is still very confident," Wright said. "It comes to defense and guarding the ball. We still have high hopes and we can still do big things, but it comes down to doing little things and taking care of small opportunities. If we do that, then we can get back in the right direction."
MISSING MILLER-STEWART: It is perhaps no coincidence that Colorado was 6-0 with senior Tory Miller-Stewart in the lineup and 1-3 since he went down with a foot injury.
Miller-Stewart was averaging just 6.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game before the injury, but he brought far more to the Buffs in terms of intangibles.
"We miss Tory's physicality," Boyle said. "We miss a senior out there. We miss a guy who's really energetic and plays with great emotion. We miss that, absolutely. But Tory's not here, so I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. The one thing we're not going to do is, we're not going to make excuses for ourselves."
COACH MAC VISITS PRACTICE: Former CU football coach Bill McCartney stopped by the Buffs' practice Thursday morning. McCartney is a regular at CU basketball games, and knows a little about the game — he once coached a state championship high school team in Michigan.
"I love Coach McCartney," Boyle said. "I have unbelievable respect for who he is, what he's done. He's as good a speaker and communicator as I've ever been around. I learn something every time I'm around him. I want our players to appreciate what he's done and what he's done for this university and the role he's played. I think you have to understand history to grow and learn. Coach McCartney is a big part of Colorado athletic history."
BROADCAST: Friday's game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Drew Goodman and Dan Belloumini. KOA 850 AM radio will carry the broadcast with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
