Colorado is on a roll, one the Buffaloes hope will lead to the NCAA Tournament.
The Buffaloes (18-9, 10-7 Pac-12) will look for their sixth straight win Thursday night when they play in Boulder, Colo., against Arizona State (10-16, 6-10), also a team playing better of late.
Colorado has taken advantage of some of the weaker teams in the conference in its winning streak, with four of its five straight wins over the bottom three teams in the Pac-12. That might not help the Buffaloes’ tournament resume, but they are on fourth-place Oregon’s heels for that position and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle says he’s seen a lot of growth in his team as the season has gone along.
Big man Evan Battey has helped lead Colorado all season.
“Player-led teams, which is what we are now, are so much more dangerous than coach-led teams,” Boyle said. “It starts with Evan Battey but doesn’t end with Evan.
“This whole team is really coming together as a group. They love each other, they like being around each other, they have a lot of fun on the bus or plane, at practice. They really care about each other, and it shows.”
Arizona State had been playing its best stretch of basketball before a 66-52 loss at No. 12 UCLA on Monday. The Sun Devils blew out both Oregon and Oregon State last week at home, and before that won at Washington State on Feb. 12.
But Arizona State is in ninth place in the Pac-12 and will be hard-pressed to break into the top six before the regular season ends, even with lower-echelon opponents on the schedule after the Colorado game.
“We won three in a row, and we were right there in this game,” Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley said after the loss to the Bruins. “We just have to execute better in the half court.”
–Field Level Media