Three questions entering the Pac-12 Tournament

LAS VEGAS — It was a long road but we made it.

The Colorado Buffaloes ended their 2019-20 regular-season campaign on a four-game losing streak but there were tons of great moments along the way.

• D’Shawn Schwartz’s overtime game-winner against Dayton
• The win over Oregon at The Keg
• A high-water mark of 15th in the AP Poll

Even though we’ve already watched 31 CU basketball games this season, there are still a handful of questions to be answered as the Buffs prepare to take on the Washington Cougars at 9:30 p.m. (MT) Wednesday, in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

Here are three of them:

Are the Buffs back?

What even is Colorado at this point?

Its big three of McKinley Wright IV, Tyler Bey and Evan Battey finally reemerged on Saturday against Utah, but that wasn’t enough to snag a road win. Bey and Battey combined to shoot 12-of-16 from the field for 31 total points. Wright was the mastermind behind the offense and a stalwart, as usual, on defense.

They didn’t get any support though.

The other two starters, Shane Gatling and D’Shawn Schwartz combined for five points. The Buffs’ sixth man, Lucas Siewert, didn’t score.

Maddox Daniels and Eli Parquet added eight points a piece, but neither was expected to be a part of Colorado’s postseason rotation.

The CU defense was the primary reason for the drop-off over the season’s final three or so weeks. If it comes back fully, Colorado will have a shot to beat anybody. 

Utah was a half-step in a positive direction but the Buffs still have a ways to go. The Buffs could return to form in their first game of the Pac-12 Tournament, or it could take a few more to get into a rhythm.

There isn’t much time to waste.

Who is the fifth starter?

Wright, Schwartz, Bey and Battey are virtual locks to make the Buffs tournament-opening starting lineup.

There is one question mark, though.

Last week, Buffs head coach Tad Boyle said that senior Shane Gatling’s play was bad enough to get him benched. The problem is that nobody stepped up and took his minutes.

Against Utah, just five days after Boyle’s remarks, Gatling started but only played eight minutes. Sophomore Eli Parquet played 36 minutes.

Parquet was the Buffs starting shooting guard to begin the season but Gatling took over a few weeks in because of Parquet’s streaky play. The minutes distribution last weekend could be a sign that the two will swap roles again.

Gatling is a hyper-athletic guard whose shooting is lights-out when he’s on and pretty awful when he isn’t. His ability to get to the rim and potential to fill up the bucket from deep could make more sense as a scoring punch coming off the bench. That way, he wouldn’t take possessions away from the rest of the starters and he’d have more freedom to hunt his own shot.

Parquet isn’t nearly as loud offensively, though he can make 3-point shots and finish layups. He doesn’t have the playmaking skills that Gatling does, but he won’t need those if he’s running with the starters. He might make more sense with the first unit, where he could provide spacing and defense without taking shots away from his teammates.

Who gets hot?

Postseason college basketball is about the hot hand and most of the Pac-12 appears to be capable of making a run.

Oregon is the favorite to win the tournament. It was the preseason Pac-12 No. 1 and it lived up to the hype by winning the conference. The Ducks are by no means invincible, but they should be tough for any team to beat.

Behind Oregon, the field is wide open.

Colorado was at the top of the standings before ending the season on a four-game downswing. The Buffs’ identity, as of tournament time, is a total question mark.

Arizona started slow but got hot late. It’s no surprise that the Wildcats took some time to gel, considering that the team is led by true freshmen Nico Mannion and Zeke Nnaji.

Stanford was the No. 1 team through the first few weeks of the season but the Cardinal fell off in the middle of the season and wasn’t even a factor in the final weeks. Could they get back to their early season form?

UCLA was hot garbage for three months before making a late run that netted them the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Oregon has to be the favorite but you could make a case for most of the teams in the conference to be the one that actually pulls itself together and gets the job done in Vegas.