Colorado used the Maui Invitational last week as an early-season measuring stick for its team. The Buffaloes finished 1-2 in Lahaina but their one win came against No. 2 UConn in the consolation bracket.
That wasn’t diminished by a blowout loss to Iowa State in the fifth-place game, and after four days off the Buffaloes (5-2) are back in action, hosting Pacific (5-4) on Monday night in Boulder, Colo.
One thing that did emerge from the three-game tournament was that big man Elijah Malone can be a force for Colorado. He played well against Michigan State and UConn before the Cyclones bottled him up and he struggled to pass out of double teams.
But those are the kind of issues coach Tad Boyle was hoping the tournament would show him.
“When we get that piece figured out,” Boyle told the Boulder Daily Camera of handling the interior double teams, “we’ll be tough to guard.”
Malone is second on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game, just behind Andrej Jakimovski (13.0).
Boyle is also trying to figure out his rotation. He played at least 11 men in every game last week but says that isn’t sustainable.
“I’m going to make my decisions based on practice and based on the performance in games,” he said.
After dropping four in a row, Pacific has won its last two games, including Saturday’s 64-55 win over Cal State Fullerton. The Tigers are led by Elijah Fisher and Elias Ralph, both of whom average 17.3 points per game.
Tigers coach Dave Smart, in his first year at the helm, is instituting a toughness into his team.
“We’re going to try to compete every single time we walk on the court,” he said before the season. “If we get a defensive rebound and take care of the ball, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’re going to be in a lot of games. As people say, everybody has a great game plan until you get punched in the mouth. How we react will have a lot to do with how successful we are.”
–Field Level Media
