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Game day notes: Slowing UA frontcourt key to upset bid for CU Buffs men's basketball

pat rooney, daily times-call, longmont, colo.
·5 min read

Jan. 4—TUCSON, Ariz. — Tad Boyle hopes it was a strategic advantage for his team to play Washington State ahead of a date at No. 10 Arizona.

Much like Sunday's win against the Cougars, Boyle and the Colorado men's basketball team are expecting a physical battle when the Buffs attempt to earn an elusive victory at UA's McKale Center on Thursday night (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

Despite the high-scoring capabilities of Arizona guard Caleb Love, CU's key to victory might be its defensive work on UA's frontcourt starters, Oumar Ballo and Keshad Johnson, a graduate transfer from San Diego State

"Ballo and Johnson, they're both very good low-post players. And they play through both of them," Boyle said. "So our post guys are going to be challenged much like they were against Washington State. Arizona plays through their bigs and their bigs are very skilled. They're very physical. They know how to catch and finish. They run stuff for them. It's kind of nice that we play Arizona right after Washington State, because we're used to that kind of focus. We're not going to shut them out, we've just got to make them work for everything they get."

As for Love, the former North Carolina guard leads the Wildcats at 17.1 points per game, but he is shooting just .421 overall and .321 on 3-pointers. However, Love goes into the CU game having averaged 22.2 points with a .357 mark on 3-pointers over the past six games.

"Caleb Love, he's a volume shooter. He's a fearless offensive player," Boyle said. "He is tough-shot taker, and he's also a tough-shot maker. We just want to make him take tough shots. What you can't do with Caleb Love is give him easy ones. Give him wide-open threes, give him transition layups. Because once he sees one go in, the next one goes in and he's a guy who can get on a roll. He reminds me a little of Askia Booker when we had him as a guy who can really get going offensively."

KJ in Tucson

Once upon a time, CU guard KJ Simpson was a signee of the Arizona Wildcats. Then former UA coach Sean Miller was let go, and Simpson re-opened his recruitment before landing at Colorado. Simpson has heard it from the crowd during both of his trips to UA's McHale Center, yet he has managed to put together a pair of solid performances in enemy territory.

As a freshman, Simpson went 5-for-11 from the floor and 5-5 at the free throw line before finishing with 17 points (a career-best at the time), four rebounds, four assists, three steals and only one turnover in 29 minutes. Last year, Simpson was mired in a late-season shooting slump and finished just 3-for-13 overall and 1-for-6 on 3-pointers with 12 points at Arizona. Yet Simpson still managed to post five rebounds and seven assists, which was a career-high until he recorded eight assists in the second game of this season against Grambling State.

Simpson goes into his third game at UA on Thursday needing 30 points to become the 40th member of CU's 1,000-point club. Simpson also needs two assists to pass Richard Roby for 17th on the program's all-time list.

Familiar face

Boyle served as the head coach of USA Basketball's U19 World Cup team last summer in Hungary, and as part of the opportunity he coached Arizona starting guard Kylan Boswell.

Boswell leads the Wildcats with 4.2 assists per game, and he also sports a .403 3-point percentage despite going 1-for-7 from long range in UA's loss at Stanford on Sunday. Boswell goes into Thursday's game against Boyle and the Buffs having shot just .222 (6-for-27) on 3-pointers in the past five games.

"He's a great kid, No. 1. And No. 2, he really wants to be great," Boyle said. "I'm sure that coach (Tommy) Lloyd would agree, he's a guy that listen to you and wants to do the right thing. He's a terrific jump shooter when he gets his feet set. He was a little hot-and-cold with his jumper this summer when he played for us in Hungary. But very solid, very steady. He can run a team, he can score the ball in spots, and he's a good facilitator as well. Kylan, he's a student of the game, which I really appreciate."

Notable

A scoring change from Sunday's win against Washington State left Simpson with only three turnovers, as opposed to four as originally recorded. The change also reduced CU's team turnovers from 14 to 13. ... CU plays at Cal on Wednesday, and with the semester break ongoing the Buffs are planning to stay on the road, traveling straight to Berkeley from Arizona following Saturday's game at Arizona State (6 p.m. MT, ESPNU). ... The Wildcats, who lost on Sunday at Stanford, are 13-0 after a defeat under Lloyd. ... The Buffs will get their first Bill Walton game of the season, as the Hall of Famer will call the game at UA on ESPN alongside Dave Pasch.