2013 Off-week Preview #2

Despite a (relatively) dead crowd, a missing center, and a distracting scuffle in the tunnel, CU came through and got the gritty 60-50 win over Utah that they had to have. It was ugly. It was haltingly slow. It was at times sloppy.  But it was a win, and in the end, that's all that really matters.

The big story was bench production.  Usually a group that has only been relied upon to fill the court with warm bodies, the bench mob came through with genuine production when CU needed them the most.  Without Josh Scott, who sat out the game with concussion symptoms, the Buffs were forced into roster scramble mode, and players like Sabatino Chen and Jeremy Adams answered the call.  Despite playing out of position on many possessions, the pair of regular substitutes (Chen started for only the 5th time in conference play) combined for 21/7 with only two turnovers in 36 combined minutes. 

Usually quiet offensively, Chen chipped in 12 huge points. From: the BDC

Their scoring impact and defensive energy allowed Coach Boyle to go small with a five guard lineup for much of the game, keeping Andre Roberson keyed on the Utes' Jason Washburn. Given free reign against the Utah big man, Roberson turned in another fantastic defensive performance.  Despite being matched up with a longer, taller player, 'Dre grabbed 13 boards, notched four steals, and swatted two shots - all while only committing one foul.  His 10-point offensive performance only further padded his line, giving him yet another double-double.

'Dre kept Utah from exploiting their size advantage.  From: the BDC

Washburn couldn't get anything going on 'Dre, and got most of his 10 points as a result of open looks from broken CU double-teams. When Roberson was on him, he was a non-factor.  The performance was enough to poke Coach Boyle in restating that Andre is the best defender in America.  It's hard to argue when he's having games like last night.

Funny enough, a win over an RPI 150+ team like Utah actually costs the Buffs a few RPI slots, but it's better than the alternative.  As a result, they stay in outside contention for a top-four seed in the Pac-12 tournament, and remain comfortably 'in' the Dance for another week.

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Travel partner dealt with, the Buffs now get to enjoy a final off weekend before a two-week race to the postseason.  With no CU game to occupy my attention, I'll preview the slate of games holding some larger interest for BuffNation.

Click below for the preview(s)...


Saturday -


Washington St @ Arizona - 1pm, FSN/ROOT -

The solid Brock Motum continues to toil on one of the worst teams in the West.  Despite his best efforts (18/6 each night) the Cougars are flat awful, and are the odds-on favorite to finish dead last in the Pac-12.  Assuming Arizona is paying attention, they should have no trouble isolating Motum, and breezing to an easy victory.

Cal @ Oregon St - 4pm, Pac-12 Network -

Does anyone else smell trap here?  Cal had to work their butts off to squeak out Thursday's 48-46 win over Oregon, needing a last second make to earn the upset.  With that emotional push in their rear-view, I can easily see them stumbling in a quick turnaround to Corvallis.  Additionally, if you don't guard OSU, they can put up buckets of points, and Cal can have some trouble guarding people...

Shove-gate behind them, can Cal survive the trap game in Corvallis?

Still, Crabbe and Cobbs are red-hot right now.  This game should be closer than many think, with OSU possibly even holding a second half lead, but the Golden Bears should escape Oregon with the sweep.

Stanford @ Oregon - 6pm, Pac-12 Network - 

Is Dominic Artis still out?  Yes?  Then it's a toss-up. (Phil Knight hasn't broken out the deer antler spray yet? ... *smh* Dude's just not trying anymore)  Stanford seems like they're just going through the motions this season, but I wouldn't put it past them to take a baseball bat to the Ducks' chances at the regular season title.  I'll take the Tree in an upset.

Washington @ Arizona St - 9pm, ESPNU - 

Hey, remember when Washington started out 4-0 in conference play? Yeah, me neither.  Despite Bill Walton's protestations to the contrary, the Huskies are simply a disorganized, uninteresting mess.  Since I'm finally coming to terms with a world that includes a strong ASU team, I expect that the Sun Devils should have no problem with the plummeting Huskies.

Drink.

Non-Pac-12 games to care about - 


New Mexico @ CSU - 2pm, NBC Sports Network

This is a big one for the Rams. Down a game in the Mountain West standings to the visiting Lobos, a win Saturday could set CSU up for their first regular season conference title in over 20 years.  That 27-game home winning streak is also on the line, and students have been camping out for tickets to one of the biggest games in Ram history.  Expect a raucous Moby.

Dorian Green is the kind of bulldog point guard I love to watch.

I may hate the fanbase, but I love the team (except Iverson).  At home, with all those seniors, I'd be hard pressed to pick against them.  Rams by a bucket.

(You just keep winning, little brother.  It only makes our win over you look all the better.  We'll see you in the Dance.)

Baylor @ Oklahoma - 3pm, ESPNU -

At this point, I've kind of given up any hope of Baylor getting back into the RPI top-50.  They've lost five of seven, and are beginning to slip off the bubble.  ... and I just couldn't be happier.  Enjoy the NIT, assholes, we'll boost our resume elsewhere.

Oklahoma by 10.



Sunday - 

UCLA @ USC - 1:30pm, FSN/ROOT - 

With the NFL done and dusted until August, I'm a little confused as to why there aren't more games scheduled for Sunday afternoon.  Regardless, UCLA/USC should make for an interesting cap to the weekend.  The Trojans won the first game despite playing in Pauley with an interim head coach.  With an embarrassment like that hanging over their heads, I have to think the Bruins will be out for blood.  I'll say UCLA by 10+.

USC embarrassed UCLA in the first meeting.  The Bruins wouldn't let them do it again, would they?

GO RPI!  KEEP CLIMBING, YOU SEMI-MEANINGLESS METRIC!