Shortly after the end of the 2020-21 season, with the Buffaloes getting bounced in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by Florida State, Tad Boyle gathered his returning players for a team meeting.

"I said, ‘OK, as we turn the page to next year, we’ve got two choices and two narratives,’" Boyle recalled. "We can say, ‘Listen, we lost all these good seniors, lost all this production — (2021-22) is going to be a rebuilding year for Colorado."

"Or, we can say, ‘No. Forget that. We’re going to keep the standards of Colorado basketball where they are.’ To a man, they were like, ‘No, no — we want the standards kept high.”

Needless to say, the Buffs have largely failed to meet those standards dating back to the end of January.

Crippling turnover woes cost the Buffs in close losses to No. 16 USC and No. 9 UCLA, and while Colorado then chalked up a solid road win at Oregon on Jan. 25, the team followed it up with back-to-back losses at UW and Washington State.

In Seattle, CU battled back from a large second half deficit, only to lose by two points, while Jan. 30's game at WSU was nothing short of an abomination: Colorado trailed, 39-18, at halftime and went on to lose by 27 points.

The Buffs' more recent results have been a mixed bag: a 15-point loss to Oregon that featured 20 turnovers and managing just 16 second half points, followed by a beatdown of Pac-12 cellar dweller Oregon State.

Whether the Buffaloes will stabilize or falter down the stretch of Pac-12 league play remains to be seen.

What's certain, however, is that maintaining the standard Boyle suggested and that players unanimously voted to uphold, is a taller task due to the recent injury woes CU has suffered.

Senior guard and defensive specialist Elijah Parquet is out for the remainder of the year with a foot injury, while freshman 7-footer Lawson Lovering is also likely out for the year with an MCL injury.

Including the recent promotion of walk-on forward Will Loughin to scholarship status, that gives Colorado nine healthy rotation players.

Boyle has been needing CU's current bench players to eat more minutes and step up, and sophomore guard Luke O'Brien is aiming to do just that.

With fellow sophomore Nique Clifford thrust into the starting lineup for Colorado, O'Brien has seen his role grow bigger, as well.

While on the year, he's averaged 12.1 minutes per game, over his last four games he's averaging just over 19.

O'Brien had a solid performance in CU's most recent game, an 86-63 blowout of Oregon State, contributing seven points, three assists and a career-high eight rebounds.

“I think Luke O’Brien is giving us great minutes," Boyle said after the OSU win. "You look at his night, his line: 3-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from three, eight rebounds — he’s really giving us an energy boost off the bench.”

O'Brien, who earned Gatorade Colorado Class 5A Player of the Year honors as a senior at Columbine High in 2020, has been particularly impactful on the offensive glass.

His 25 offensive boards so far this year ranks third on the Buffs, behind only Jabari Walker and Evan Battey, while tied with Tristan da Silva.

Notably, all three players average close to 15 minutes per game more than O'Brien in their starting roles.

“To me, it’s really fun, because the defense is on their toes," O'Brien said. "They have to try to box me out. There’s no pressure in getting those offensive rebounds — that’s why I love doing it. But it’s definitely like a momentum shifter…that’s one thing I’ve improved with. It’s so undervalued that people kind of look past it.”

O'Brien's transition from high school star to collegiate role player has not been exclusive to him.

Countless high school standouts get to college to find their roles reduced, especially as underclassmen.

But O'Brien, despite averaging just 2.5 points per game on the season, has developed a knack for making impact plays and getting his hands dirty.

Boyle likes to tell his players not to count their minutes, but make their minutes count.

O'Brien seems to have taken that to heart.

“In high school, I was mainly a scorer, but my defense was not great," O'Brien said. "Coming (to Colorado), I knew I would have limited minutes at the beginning of the season, so my goal was to do everything I could outside of scoring to get more minutes."

"I’ve improved slowly as the season went on and stuff like that definitely catches people’s eyes, but my job is just to go out there and help whatever I can with my team.”