After emotional win over ASU, Colorado facing even tougher test as Wildcats come calling

By Bruce Pascoe / Arizona Daily Star

BOULDER, Colo. — Stretched over the entire top half of Friday’s Denver Post sports section is a photo of giddy fans packed on the Coors Events Center floor, with one engulfed enthusiast managing to wave around a cowboy hat so high it nearly muzzled the wide-open grin of 7-foot Buff center Dallas Walton.

It was a moment the Buffs and their fans may never forget: A 90-81 overtime win over fourth-ranked ASU.

It was also a moment they need to forget Saturday. Just 39 hours after that celebration Thursday night, the Buffs will host Arizona at Coors Events Center.

“It’s gonna be a challenge,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said.

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Physically, and mentally. With an average experience level of just 1.2 seasons, CU has the kind of youth that suggests getting off that cloud won’t be easy.

But they’re trying. Even freshman guard McKinley Wright, the sudden leader of the rebuilding team, is saying all the right things.

“It was something we enjoyed last night but we had to move on this morning, knowing we had another top 25 team coming in,” Wright said after the Buffs practiced Friday at Coors Events Center. “It was time to move on by the time we got to practice. So we’re over that. We’re gonna remember that at the end of the year but right now we’re not worried about it.”

The mental challenge for the young Buffs is only one of several potential factors that could affect Saturday’s game. While UA coach Sean Miller and his players were unavailable for comment Friday in Boulder, here’s how Boyle looked at it:

Colorado actually won three games in three days to capture the Paradise Jam title in November, beating Quinnipiac, Drake and Mercer in successive games.

“We have a little bit of experience with the quick turnarounds, which hopefully will serve us well,” Boyle said.

Arizona also played three games in three days in November, and while that was against considerably tougher competition in the Battle 4 Atlantis, we all know how that went.

Not only will the Buffs have to put their emotional night behind them, but they also have to prepare for Arizona’s combination of size and power just after facing a more perimeter-oriented and more uptempo attack from ASU.

“Totally different style and totally different system,” Boyle said. “I feel comfortable with it because I’ve coached against them for seven years and I think maybe our veterans — George (King) and Dom (Collier) feel more comfortable because they’ve seen them before but nobody else has.”

CU beat ASU by holding the Sun Devils to 27.3-percent shooting and outrebounding them 47-42, two things that may be hard to replicate on Saturday because of how Arizona plays.

“Arizona State really relies on the three-ball and they missed some shots. But guess what? Arizona does not,” Boyle said. “Arizona plays inside out. They play through their post guys. That’s why they’re the most consistent team in our league -- because they’ve got great post players, they play through them, they get to the foul line, they make open shots.

“Their perimeter players get shots because of their bigs, and Arizona State’s players get shots because they’re small, quick and fast.”

Arizona’s size also means a serious threat to what is historically a strong point of Boyle’s Colorado teams.

One major reason UA held off Utah despite the Utes’ 9-for-14 3-point shooting in the second half Thursday was the Wildcats’ crushing 46-23 rebounding edge. UA had 14 offensive rebounds and collected 14 more second-chance points off them than Utah scored off its four offensive rebounds, enough for the 12-point margin of victory.

“Rebounding is huge,” Boyle said. “Rebounding against Arizona State is a different animal than rebounding against Arizona. That’s what our players need to understand. Rebounding is always important to us. But against Arizona it becomes even more paramount. Because if you don’t rebound, you don’t win.”

The Buffs will try to match that interior presence with inexperienced forwards and centers: The 7-foot Walton plus 6-7 freshman Tyler Bey, a former three-star recruit from Southern Californian, and Brazilian 6-10 sophomore Lucas Siewert, who averaged 11.5 minutes last season.

“I’m encouraged by Dallas Walton,” Boyle said. “We’re throwing him in the fire, both he and Lucas, so to speak. Tyler Bey is a guy we’re just throwing in there. Here he is playing big-time minutes against big-time competition in a big-time league. It's baptism by fire for the Buffaloes.”

Not only do the Buffs have to contend with UA's capable big men but one of them happens to be the possible No. 1 pick in next June’s NBA Draft. Deandre Ayton had 24 points and 14 rebounds against Utah on Thursday to collect his 11th double-double and the odds are he will tie the UA freshman double-double record of 12 on Saturday.

Boyle can only hope to slow that train down a bit.

“Limit his touches down low and keep him off the offensive glass is a good place to start,” Boyle said. “He’s capable of making jump shots and facing the basket and scoring in transition but to me it’s gotta be limit those post touches and keep him off the glass. It’s much, much easier said than done.”

After losing four starters and two key role players off last season’s team, the Buffaloes have been scrambling to rebuild their rotation and confidence level.

Beating ASU might have pushed that confidence to another level.

“I think it shows them what they’re capable of,” Boyle said. “Your players have to believe they can do it before they do it.”

They just might need to make sure that confidence doesn’t become overconfidence.