BOULDER — The No. 23 Colorado Buffaloes will host the Washington State Cougars, Thursday night in Boulder.
Colorado (3-2) is currently sitting in 4th place in the Pac-12 with 13 games remaining in the season. Washinton State (3-3) is in sixth.
The Buffs split their games last weekend in Arizona, first knocking off Arizona State on Thursday and then losing to the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.
Can Colorado control the glass?
Even in the Buffs’ win over Arizona State, everything wasn’t perfect. The 17 offensive rebounds allowed, in particular, stand out as a flaw that needed to be addressed.
While the Buffs improved on the glass against Arizona on Saturday, they didn’t improve nearly enough. Arizona pulled in 13 offensive boards.
That’s two of Colorado’s three worst games in terms of offensive rebounds allowed in one weekend. (Northern Iowa grabbed 15 offensive rebounds in its win over CU in December.)
Washington State is known for its offensive rebounding, which gives the Buffs a good chance to get back on track. Still, forwards Jeff Pollard and CJ Elleby could cause problems if they aren’t boxed out.
Can Evan Battey get back on track?
Part of the reason Colorado struggled on the defensive glass in Arizona is the lack of forward Evan Battey. Battey was in foul trouble during both games last weekend but even when he was on the floor the sophomore didn’t look like himself.
Battey totaled five points on 1-of-8 shooting over the weekend, while playing 48 total minutes. Prior to this weekend, Battey had shot at least 50% from the field in every conference game.
Will the Buffs be the Buffs?
Losing a road game to Arizona, which is now ranked No. 22, is not the end of the world. There’s still plenty of time to play, but Colorado can’t afford to lose many more and Thursday night’s contest is far from the most difficult remaining on the schedule.
That said, Washington State is coming off back-to-back wins over Oregon (which is currently the highest-ranked team in the Pac-12) and Oregon State (which beat Colorado in Boulder two weeks ago).
This game isn’t a lock and Colorado is backing into it. Not only did the Buffs lose to Arizona last week, they didn’t really feel like they were in the contest after the first 10 minutes and they ended up losing by over 20 points.
Can they bounce back immediately, or is it going to take a half to adjust?
So far this season, Colorado has bounced back from its losses immediately and keeping that trend going will be important, especially heading into a game with Washington on Saturday.
The No. 23 Colorado Buffaloes host the Washington State Cougars at 7 p.m. Thursday at the CU Events Center. The game will be broadcast nationally on Pac-12 Networks.
