Colorado looks to avoid worst conference start in Tad Boyle era against BYU

The Colorado Buffaloes (9-8, Big 12 0-6) haven’t had the prettiest start to conference play. In fact, another loss would tie the worst beginning in head coach Tad Boyle’s 15-year tenure.

However, wins and losses aren’t the worry for Boyle and his inexperienced roster navigating the toughest basketball conference in the country.

“I’m not focusing on winning and losing, as crazy as that sounds, I’m focusing on getting this team better,” Boyle said Monday afternoon. “I’m focusing on improvement, both individually and collectively.”

Most recently, sophomore forward Bangot Dak has been alone in that growth. He notably went for 19 points, eight boards and eight swats against Cincinnati, then another 15 points and five boards against Oklahoma State. The collective aspect didn’t follow suit, leading to losses five and six of conference play.

Still, similar to his Buffalo teammates, Dak has lacked consistency across the season. And, so have the Brigham Young Cougars (11-6, 2-4) who visit Boulder late Tuesday night hoping to snap a five-game road losing skid, setting the stage for an interesting Big 12 showdown at the CU Events Center. 

Losing an overtime, rivalry affair to Utah hours after Colorado lost to the Cowboys on Saturday, the Cougars’ notable players have struggled to begin Big 12 play. BYU’s leading scorer junior guard Richie Saunders (13.9 points per game), has been held to three or fewer field goals in three of the last six games. Highly touted freshman guard Egor Demin hasn’t found the efficiency he’s hoped for, being limited to 41.5/28.1/63.4 shooting splits. And, top 50 recruit Kanon Catchings has recently been demoted to the bench, only averaging 9.3 minutes across the last three games.

Yet, Boyle understands the hype surrounding the three, and the rest of BYU’s roster. Led by newly-hired, former Pheonix Suns assistant Kevin Young, the Cougars’ lineup is full of talent looking to showcase their skills on the offensive side of the floor.

“One through nine, they’re the most talented team we’ve played offensively,” Boyle said. “I really believe that. They run good stuff. They’ve got really good players.”

Despite his inefficiency, Demin facilitates the offense Boyle is so high on. At 6-foot-9, the tallest Cougar, he dishes out the second-most assists per game in the Big 12 with 5.7 a night. Accounting for almost a third of BYU’s 17.2 assists per game (26th in the nation), the Russian native looks for his 3-point shooters; Saunders (42.5%, 5.0 3PA), starting guard Trevin Knell (42.5%, 5.1 3PA) and occasional starting guard Dallin Hall (37.5%, 3.7 3PA). While the accuracy has yet to follow in conference play, shooting the conference’s ninth-best 3-point mark at 32.3%, the Cougars are not afraid to get them up, averaging 26.8 3-point attempts per game (second-most in Big 12). BYU is 9-1 when making 10 or more 3-pointers, though CU has only allowed ASU and UCF to hit that mark.

The lack of height makes Brigham Young a team of few 2-point attempts, but it usually finds open looks inside the arc within its offense, making a conference-best 55.1% of its 2-pointers. Overall, the Cougars have shot 44.2% from the field to begin Big 12 play (sixth-best), scoring 70.3 points per game (seventh-best).

While heightened due to Demin’s genius, the offensive success can also be attributed to the five other players besides Saunders and Demin averaging over eight points a game. Bench forward Fousseyni Traore is a solid scorer (10 PPG, 61.8% FG%), Knell is averaging 9.9 points per contest on 47.7% shooting, Catchings is notching 8.9 points despite his recent lack of success and bench guard Dawson Baker is good for 8.3 points. BYU’s starting center, 6-foot-7 Keba Keita, though not an eight-plus point-per-game scorer, is a solid lob threat, rolls to the rim hard and averages 3.1 offensive rebounds per game. And, even though Saunders has had his recent off-nights, he’s gone for 26 or more points in two conference games thus far, hanging 30 on Arizona State. 

“Good defensive teams can make it really, really hard at the rim and they can guard the 3,” Boyle said. “So that’s what we’re gonna have to do. It’s a hell of a challenge because we have not shown the ability to do that outside of the [Connecticut] game.”

Where Colorado can potentially take advantage, however, is on the glass and offensive side of the floor. With a taller lineup, headlined by 6-foot-11 Dak and 6-foot-10 Elijah Malone, CU hopes to outrebound the ninth-best Big 12 rebounding squad, even if BYU averages two more rebounds per contest during conference play. While it hasn’t happened often, BYU is winless in the three games it hasn’t won the rebound battle. The Cougars are also a bottom-six offensive-rebounding team at 8.3 offensive boards per game, a good sign for a Colorado squad that gave up 22 second-chance points to the Cowboys.

BYU’s offensive success also comes at the expense of its defense, which has allowed 71.2 points per game (seventh-best) on 43.2% shooting (10th-best). Big 12 teams are shooting slightly better (34.6%) from deep than the Cougars on just as many attempts (26.5 3PA; most 3PA allowed in conference). Having shot just 27.4% from deep during conference play, the Buffs hope to flip the script against one of the Big 12’s worst 3-point defenses.

With decent offense, especially when their leading score Julian Hammond III (13.5 PPG) gets going, the Buffs need to take care of the ball. Averaging a conference-high 16.2 turnovers per game, Colorado is taking a conference-low 53.7 field goal attempts a game, wasting its 43.8% field goal percentage. CU may not necessarily be in the clear against a team that forces 10 turnovers a night, but it has seen far more tenacious defenses thus far.

The Buffs take on the Cougars at 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday at the CUEC, live on ESPNU.

“BYU is a hell of a lot better than their 2-4 league record,” Boyle said. “…They could easily be 4-2, not 2-4. But very talented team.”