Colorado coach Tad Boyle understands beating a conference opponent at home is one thing. Beating them on the road, well, that’s a different beast entirely.
The Buffaloes rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat visiting Utah 81-76 Saturday in Pacific-12 Conference play. Now they have three road games in five days ahead, starting Tuesday night with a makeup game against Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore.
“We figured out a way to win. We’ve done that again and again this year,” Boyle said after the Utah victory. “But we have to figure out a way to get better if we’re going to give ourselves a chance on the road (this) week.”
The Buffaloes (15-9, 7-7 Pac-12) were originally scheduled to play the Beavers Jan. 1, but it was postponed because of coronavirus concerns in Colorado’s program.
The teams met Feb. 5 in Boulder, Colo., with the Buffs prevailing 86-63 in a rematch of last season’s Pac-12 Tournament title game. Keeshawn Barthelemy scored 16 points and Jabari Walker had a double-double with had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Oregon State freshman Glenn Taylor Jr. made his first start and scored a career-high 15 points.
Boyle returned to the bench that day after missing a game because of COVID-19 protocol, and Colorado snapped a three-game skid.
“This team needed this,” Boyle said of that game. “We needed it emotionally and we needed it mentally. We caught a wounded duck at home and it’s what we needed.”
The Beavers (3-19, 1-11) have struggled mightily since winning the Pac-12 tourney and reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last spring. They’ve lost nine games in a row, seven by double digits. That includes a 76-65 defeat Saturday against visiting Stanford.
“We got off page a little bit, a little too much 1-on-1,” Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said. “I don’t know if we just stopped moving … or if we just tried to put it on our own shoulders to go make a play. We don’t have a super selfish group offensively, so we’ll have to watch the film and learn from that.”
–Field Level Media
