Boyle's Buffs Hit Home Stretch Of Pac-12 Season
February 07, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — This week begins the stretch of the Pac-12 schedule that Colorado coach Tad Boyle has been eyeing since the season began.
Seven games remaining and five at home, beginning with Thursday's 8 p.m. matchup against Washington at the Coors Events Center and followed by a 6:30 p.m. Sunday matchup with Washington State.
Of course, the Buffs aren't hitting this point of the season with the kind of record they envisioned when the year began. Four one-possession losses in a seven-game skid have left the Buffs with a 13-11 overall record and a 3-8 Pac-12 mark heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
That's not the stuff of which NCAA Tournament bids are made.
But, as Boyle pointed out after Tuesday's practice, there's still plenty of basketball left to be played — and if the Buffs are going to make a late-season run, it has to start now.
"I know our record is our record," Boyle said. "I know we haven't won as many games as everybody wanted us to up to this point or expected us to up to this point. But with that being said, from this point forward, I like the demeanor of this team, I like the work ethic of this team, I like how they practice. … I believe in this team, I believe in these players, I believe in what we're about."
Both of the Buffs' games this week come against teams that contributed to the gut-wrenching losses, with both coming in overtime. Washington overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to get the win in Seattle; WSU rallied from four points down in overtime to sink the Buffs.
After those back-to-back overtime losses, the Buffs did bounce back to win three straight, including a victory over No. 10 Oregon. That streak, though, came to an end Sunday at Cal when the Bears held on for a 77-66 win.
Now they're aiming to start another streak — and to do so, they'll have to at least contain Washington star Markelle Fultz. The UW freshman, tabbed as a possible top pick in the NBA Draft, hit the Buffs with season-high 37 points in their first meeting.
"We always have to know where he's at," Boyle said. "We've got to do a great job guarding him when he has the ball. The key is when he doesn't have the ball to make him work to catch it, try to deny him as much as we can. We're not going to shut him out, we know that. We just have to make him work for everything he gets and make it be tough jump shots over our hands."
The Buffs have actually climbed above Washington in the conference standings, as the Huskies bring a 9-14 overall record and 2-9 conference mark into the game. Washington State enters the week at 11-12, 4-7.
"There's a lot of basketball left to be played," Boyle said. "We've got to just take advantage of every opportunity when it comes and our next one is Thursday night, 8 o'clock against Washington. I feel good about where this team is going. I feel very good about that."
JOHNSON, GORDON UPDATE: Boyle said the status of seniors Xavier Johnson and Wesley Gordon, who were benched for the Cal game for violating team rules, is still "day to day."
"It's an unfortunate situation for them, for the rest of the team, the coaches, for our program," Boyle said. "I said this after the game and I'll say it again. It's just a case of two really really good kids making a bad decision. I'm not mad at them. I'm disappointed, they're disappointed. We're going to use this as a learning opportunity and we're going to move on from it."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
