Colorado (21-10, 10-8 Pac-12) rides a four-game losing streak into Wednesday (9:30 p.m. MST) evening's first-round Pac-12 Conference Tournament matchup with Washington State from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Buffaloes were a lone victory away from setting a program record for most regular season wins in 2019-20, while the less than ideal finish certainly has left a bad taste in the mouths of players, coaches and fans alike who collectively can agree a Pac-12 regular season title slipped away from this team.
With all that being said, Tad Boyle and his Buffs have no choice but to look ahead to the basketball that's yet to be played. That's exactly what he and the players plan to do.
If there was one thing that Boyle and players emphasized after practice on Monday, the final one the Buffaloes conducted in Boulder before departing for Las Vegas, it was that effective Wednesday afternoon, when the Pac-12 Tournament kicks off, regular season records disappear.
“I told (the players) that it’s like hitting that restart button on your computer," Boyle said. "We’ve all had to do it when things aren’t maybe functioning the way they should. That’s what we have to do as a basketball team — hit the restart button. We don’t have to reset. We’ve done some good things this year, have some good players and are a very capable team."
"Everybody's 0-0. If you’re 21-10, it doesn’t mean anything. If you’re 10-21, it doesn’t mean anything. All that matters is that we’ve got an opportunity ahead of us and we have to make the most of it.”
McKinley Wright IV similarly stressed how the Pac-12 Tournament presents the Buffs with a new opportunity to leave the recent rough patch of results in the past. Colorado takes the No. 6 seed into the tournament, facing off against 11th-seeded WSU.
“We’re 0-0 and everybody has a fresh start," he said. "We still believe that we’re the best team in this conference and nothing is going to change our mind about that. We’re happy to go out in Vegas and we’ve got a good bracket. It sets up perfect for us the way we like it, but we can’t look forward. We’ve got to go in (Tuesday), get in a good practice and shootaround and be ready Wednesday for the Cougars.”
Wright IV took a few minutes after Monday's practice to soak in some individual accolades. He was named first team All-Pac-12 Conference for the second consecutive year and also earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team.
His 5.1 assists per game led the Pac-12, while he put up an average of 14.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
“It means a lot and it’s a testament to my teammates to be able to put me in a position to be first team," he said. "It’s a credit to all my hard work, believing in myself and my teammates believing in me.”
Tyler Bey took home Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the league in rebounding (9.0 per game) during the regular season while placing fifth in steals and sixth in blocks per game.
While doubtless happy for his guys, Boyle was confident to speak on their behalf and detail accolades and goals that matter more to them than on the individual side of things.
“I think the best thing about conference honors are that they’re voted on by your peers," Boyle said. "I don’t get to vote for our own guys so that’s from the other 11 coaches in the Pac-12. Any time you get honored by your peers or the people you're competing against, it means more than if your (own) coach says you’re first team all-league or you’re an all-defensive player or whatever."
"It’s a tremendous testament to them, the years they’ve had and the players they are. I’m happy for both of them. But knowing both of those kids the way that I do, they would trade either one of those honors for a Pac-12 regular season championship, or certainly the one in Vegas.”
Heading into this year's Pac-12 Tournament, the Buffaloes do boast a pair of victories under their belts at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Earlier in the season, Colorado defeated Wyoming (albeit not in the most robust manner) and then Clemson (in comeback fashion) in late November, emerging victorious in the MGM Main Event.
The mini tournament win away from home as well as the fact that the Buffs have never been bounced in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament are two precedents that could make a positive impact for the team this week.
“Those games are in the past and I think that the fact we’ve never lost a first round game doesn’t mean a whole lot to these guys," Boyle said. "To our staff it certainly does and it’s something we take pride in...I guess it means a little something but it doesn’t mean anything to Washington State, I can tell you that.
"This is a new tournament, a new deal, but I’m confident and I think our players are confident about the new opportunity and the new season. That’s how we’re looking at it. We’re not dwelling on the past. Hopefully we’ll learn from the past."
Looking ahead to Washington State, the last time the two teams met, on Jan. 23 in Boulder, Colorado won, 78-56.
The Cougs had a less-than-spectacular end to their own regular season, dropping six of their final seven contests.
However, it's exactly on the note of all teams getting a fresh start and regular season results ultimately not mattering that makes them a viable threat in Boyle's eyes.
"If they’re making threes and they’re getting the ball into the lane and to the rim they're in almost every game they play," he said. "They haven’t gotten blown out of a lot of games. They’re certainly a dangerous team. If you look at the last seven games they’ve played, they have one win."
"We’ve lost four out of five and four straight. Both (of us) are looking for that first win to get back on track and we want to be that team.”
In particular, Boyle mentioned Cougars junior guard Isaac Bonton and sophomore forward CJ Elleby as players to neutralize. The former is averaging 15.3 points per game while Elleby leads the team with 18.0 points and 7.8 boards per game.
As the final activity in Monday's practice, Boyle had the Buffs sit down for a film session featuring select clips of them on offense and defense when they were playing sound and tough basketball with the intention of helping get his team out of a slump.
"We’ve started our scouting report on Washington State, we’ve seen some film of how good we can be," Wright IV said. "We watched about 20 clips on offense of great possessions we’ve had, about 10 clips on defense of great possessions we’ve had, and we all believe in each other. We know we can get this thing turned back in the right direction.”
Colorado and WSU tip-off from Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m. MST on Wednesday night in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.
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