Colorado didn’t love its trip to Los Angeles last week and the Buffaloes are looking for a bounce-back when they host Washington on Thursday night.
In two losses last weekend, Colorado (11-8, 3-5 Pac-12) held second-half leads on USC and UCLA but couldn’t close out either game. The Buffaloes committed a combined 45 turnovers in both games which contributed to the losses.
“If there’s a frustration on my part, it’s that we’re not playing up to our capabilities all of the time,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle told the Boulder Daily Camera. “We’ve done it in spurts. We’ve done it in games. We’ve done it in halves. We’ve done it in stretches. At UCLA, we did it for 30 minutes.
“We’re doing something right to be in these games. We’re competing. We’re just not finishing.”
The good news is the Buffaloes are 8-1 at home this season and have the Pac-12’s second-leading scorer in KJ Simpson (17.8 points a game).
Washington (11-8, 3-5) is coming off much-needed home wins over Stanford and Cal and is now trying to sweep the season series against Colorado. Behind 16 points each from Cole Bajema and Braxton Meah, the Huskies won their first meeting 73-63 on Dec. 4 when they forced 18 turnovers.
Washington has won three of the last four against the Buffaloes
The Huskies had lost five straight before beating the Cardinal by 17 and the Bears in overtime. Koren Johnson was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week after scoring 15 points in both games to set a career high.
He also had three steals in each game.
“He earned it. He made big shots, defensively he was a menace,” Huskies coach Mike Hopkins said. “He made some big plays on both ends of the court so very well deserved.”
–Field Level Media