Last week, when the Buffs fell flat at Tennessee in an ice cold shooting display chock-full of turnovers coupled with the near complete shutdown of McKinley Wright IV, the Buffs certainly laid out a blueprint for other teams to study.
The title of that blueprint? How to Beat Colorado in 2020-2021.
Yet in a pleasing reversal of course, if the Buffaloes' home-opening win Monday night against Northern Colorado showed anything, it was the opposite: how dangerous this team can be if it fires on all cylinders in both the offensive and defensive zone.
Wright IV led the way with 19 points, seven dimes and five boards, while the Buffs had multiple helping hands behind him contributing in meaningful ways.
As this season has got underway, Tad Boyle has sought to emphasize his bigs within Colorado's offensive structure.
Evan Battey and Dallas Walton have started all four games of the year together, but had failed to collectively deal damage to an extent that Boyle would like to see on a nightly basis.
The two combined for 15 points against South Dakota on 7-of-14 shooting but regressed to 12 points (3-of-8 shooting) vs. K-State and then just eight points (3-of-7) vs. Tennessee last week.
Given those numbers, Battey finishing with 14 points, shooting a 5-of-7 clip, and Walton's 12 points coming via a 4-of-6 night from the floor must have been a welcomed sight.
“Overall, (it was) an efficient game," Boyle said "Our two starting post guys, which, we’ve tried to establish them at the beginning of every game — South Dakota, K-State and then Tennessee — but to have them be 9-of-13 combined (from the floor), when that happens, we’re going to be good offensively.”
Battey in particular was glad to get himself going in the offensive zone, having scored just five points against Kansas State and four against the Volunteers.
“It’s about time I start making some shots, but I felt like we played really unselfish (Monday), looked inside and played for each other," Battey said. "When that comes, when the ball has that kinetic energy, it’s hard to miss shots.”
On the defensive side of things, Battey also led the team with eight boards.
On the night, Colorado shot 60% from the floor and scored 44 points in the paint. Whereas the Buffs were largely sound in all aspects of the game, the visiting Bears had trouble on both sides of the ball, shooting just 27% from the floor and getting outmuscled on the glass, 40-28.
CU forced 21 turnovers, scoring 24 points off them, and also managed 16 points on the fast break, compared to the Bears' six.
“I thought we were really efficient tonight, both offensively — we shot over 50 percent; I don’t think we’ve done that all year — and defensively," Boyle said after the game. "I thought we did a good job with our ball screen coverage. Northern Colorado is a good ball screen team. They're a good driving team, they’re a good three-point shooting team and I thought we did a really good job defensively against them because they create some problems.”
For Walton's part, he added three blocks, a steal and four rebounds in the win. Boyle in particular liked what he saw from an offensive shot selection standpoint, even with respect to some attempts that didn't fall.
"I thought Dallas — that trail three he hit in the second half was a great shot — I want him taking that shot," Boyle said. "He took a tough shot before that on the baseline was rushed and hurried and wasn’t in the flow of things but it didn’t go in. It’s funny how that happens — when you take good shots and you’re a good shooter, they usually go in.”
The 3-1 Buffaloes will conduct a light practice today in Boulder ahead of a mid-afternoon tipoff tomorrow at 3 p.m. MST vs. Nebraska Omaha.
For all the positives seen against UNC, after 14 turnovers vs. the Bears, Boyle wants his guys shoring up in the ball security department.
"We can still get better," Boyle said. "10 turnovers in the second half is a little bit of carelessness that we've got to clean up — we can't have that and we cant get careless with the ball. We only had four (turnovers) in the first half. This should have been a single (digit) turnover game, but that's something we can talk about and get better at."
The Buffaloes and Mavericks' game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Boyle, Battey and Walton postgame interviews below:
The title of that blueprint? How to Beat Colorado in 2020-2021.
Yet in a pleasing reversal of course, if the Buffaloes' home-opening win Monday night against Northern Colorado showed anything, it was the opposite: how dangerous this team can be if it fires on all cylinders in both the offensive and defensive zone.
Wright IV led the way with 19 points, seven dimes and five boards, while the Buffs had multiple helping hands behind him contributing in meaningful ways.
As this season has got underway, Tad Boyle has sought to emphasize his bigs within Colorado's offensive structure.
Evan Battey and Dallas Walton have started all four games of the year together, but had failed to collectively deal damage to an extent that Boyle would like to see on a nightly basis.
The two combined for 15 points against South Dakota on 7-of-14 shooting but regressed to 12 points (3-of-8 shooting) vs. K-State and then just eight points (3-of-7) vs. Tennessee last week.
Given those numbers, Battey finishing with 14 points, shooting a 5-of-7 clip, and Walton's 12 points coming via a 4-of-6 night from the floor must have been a welcomed sight.
“Overall, (it was) an efficient game," Boyle said "Our two starting post guys, which, we’ve tried to establish them at the beginning of every game — South Dakota, K-State and then Tennessee — but to have them be 9-of-13 combined (from the floor), when that happens, we’re going to be good offensively.”
Battey in particular was glad to get himself going in the offensive zone, having scored just five points against Kansas State and four against the Volunteers.
“It’s about time I start making some shots, but I felt like we played really unselfish (Monday), looked inside and played for each other," Battey said. "When that comes, when the ball has that kinetic energy, it’s hard to miss shots.”
On the defensive side of things, Battey also led the team with eight boards.
On the night, Colorado shot 60% from the floor and scored 44 points in the paint. Whereas the Buffs were largely sound in all aspects of the game, the visiting Bears had trouble on both sides of the ball, shooting just 27% from the floor and getting outmuscled on the glass, 40-28.
CU forced 21 turnovers, scoring 24 points off them, and also managed 16 points on the fast break, compared to the Bears' six.
“I thought we were really efficient tonight, both offensively — we shot over 50 percent; I don’t think we’ve done that all year — and defensively," Boyle said after the game. "I thought we did a good job with our ball screen coverage. Northern Colorado is a good ball screen team. They're a good driving team, they’re a good three-point shooting team and I thought we did a really good job defensively against them because they create some problems.”
For Walton's part, he added three blocks, a steal and four rebounds in the win. Boyle in particular liked what he saw from an offensive shot selection standpoint, even with respect to some attempts that didn't fall.
"I thought Dallas — that trail three he hit in the second half was a great shot — I want him taking that shot," Boyle said. "He took a tough shot before that on the baseline was rushed and hurried and wasn’t in the flow of things but it didn’t go in. It’s funny how that happens — when you take good shots and you’re a good shooter, they usually go in.”
The 3-1 Buffaloes will conduct a light practice today in Boulder ahead of a mid-afternoon tipoff tomorrow at 3 p.m. MST vs. Nebraska Omaha.
For all the positives seen against UNC, after 14 turnovers vs. the Bears, Boyle wants his guys shoring up in the ball security department.
"We can still get better," Boyle said. "10 turnovers in the second half is a little bit of carelessness that we've got to clean up — we can't have that and we cant get careless with the ball. We only had four (turnovers) in the first half. This should have been a single (digit) turnover game, but that's something we can talk about and get better at."
The Buffaloes and Mavericks' game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Boyle, Battey and Walton postgame interviews below:
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