Boyle Says Buffs' Game At OSU Is 'Non-Negotiable'
February 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Tuesday afternoon, Colorado coach Tad Boyle provided a simple assessment of the importance of the Buffs' next game, a 7 p.m. encounter Thursday at Oregon State.
"This game is non-negotiable," Boyle said. "We have got to do whatever it takes to go to Corvallis and figure out how to win. We know we can. We just have to go do it."
Thursday's game in Corvallis is the first of a two-game road trip, with a 1 p.m. game Saturday at No. 7 Oregon wrapping up Colorado's last true road trip of the season.
But despite Oregon State's 4-22 overall record and 13-game losing streak — the Beavers haven't won a conference game this year — Boyle is adamant that his 15-11 Buffs (5-8 Pac-12) won't overlook OSU in anticipation of Saturday's game vs. the Ducks.
"If we were 10-2, absolutely it's a natural (to overlook OSU)," Boyle said. "We're not 10-2. We're 5-8. If we're 11-2, it's a natural thing you're going to guard against. (But) we shouldn't take anything for granted."
The Buffs indeed have no room for such a luxury. Winners of five of their last six, they are still holding onto NCAA Tournament hopes, albeit by the slimmest of threads. But they also know every loss from here on out could be the one that shuts the door for good.
"What we talk to them about is the most important game we have of the year is Oregon State," Boyle said. "It is absolutely critical. Number one, a loss blows you out of the water."
The last time the two teams met, the Buffs ended a seven-game conference skid with an 85-78 win in Boulder, the beginning of a stretch that has seen Colorado win five of its last six games. The Buffs had to hold the Beavers off down the stretch, with OSU pulling to within two with just four minutes to go before Colorado put the game away with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes.
"Look, Oregon State is better," Boyle said. "Their record isn't better but their team is better. Their players have gotten better. I'm sure they're thinking they can get Colorado with our road record and how they played us here."
Two players that will have the Buffs' full attention in Corvallis are sophomores Stephen Thompson Jr. and Drew Eubanks.
Eubanks, a 6-foot-10 forward, scored a career-high 27 points in Boulder in the first meeting to go with 11 rebounds. Thompson added 26 points — up to that point also a career high — to go with six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
The Beavers will almost assuredly see a different starting lineup from the Buffs than the one they saw in Boulder. In that game, Boyle rewarded his reserves and started four players who hadn't started all year, including junior Tory Miller.
The CU big man remembers the game well, particularly Eubanks' performance.
"Eubanks had 27 on us," Miller said. "That was on me and Wes (Gordon), and I started that game, so that was more on me."
Miller has been one of the Buffs' most consistent players in Pac-12 play. He's currently second in the conference in shooting percentage in conference games (40-for-63, 63.5 percent) and he's scored in double figures in the last four games.
He said patience has been the key to his recent shooting accuracy — along with a little social media motivation.
"I remember my freshman and sophomore year I saw a Tweet that said Tory hasn't ever seen a shot he didn't like," Miller said with a laugh. "That's still true. It's just that instead of rushing that shot I haven't seen that I don't like, I just slow down and eventually the shot starts to fall. I think that's what it was, just a matter of slowing down."
NOTES: The Buffs are just 3-7 on the road this season and 1-6 away from home in conference play. Their only Pac-12 road win came two weeks ago at Stanford, 81-74. Colorado has won at least two conference games on the road in every year of the Tad Boyle era … The Buffs are fifth in the conference in shooting percentage in Pac-12 games, hitting 46 percent of their shots. Their best shooting game of the conference season came on the road, when they hit 53.1 percent of their attempts in the win at Stanford.
BROADCAST: Thursday's game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with JB Long and Eldridge Recasner. DenverSports 760 AM will carry the radio broadcast with Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
