Colorado looks to continue its home-court dominance against in-state rival Colorado State on Saturday night in Boulder, Colo.
The Buffaloes are 5-0 at home this season, have won eight straight in Boulder and are 21-1 on their court since the start of last season. Although the Buffaloes hold a 92-41 series advantage, the Rams picked up an 88-83 home win last season and the teams have split their past 10 meetings.
Last time out, Colorado (6-2) picked up a 75-66 home win against Pacific on Monday. Two days later, the Rams (5-3) blew out visiting Loyola Marymount 83-54.
Andrej Jakimovski led Colorado with 17 points and Trevor Baskin stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle is looking for more consistency from his team. Pacific shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. Colorado started off cold from the floor, shooting 32 percent before the break.
However, the Buffaloes pulled away in the second half as they shot 53.6 percent, held the Tigers to 26.5 percent and outscored them 46-28.
“I look out there and think, ‘OK, this team beat UConn? How did that happen?’ I have no idea,” Boyle said of his squad. “Our inconsistency is as evident as any team I’ve coached. If we play like that Saturday night, we will be 6-3 not 7-2. Which guys will show up? Our roster isn’t going to change. It’ll be the same guys.”
On Wednesday, the Rams cruised after grabbing a 26-point halftime lead, sparked by leading scorer Nique Clifford, who finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. Jalen Lake and Kyan Evans each chipped in 14 points for the Rams, who have won two straight and improved to 4-1 at home.
“Here’s the thing about rivalry games,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said. “We’ll talk about it, but the guys know what it is. There’s extra emotion, and you love that, but you have to play with emotion and not play emotional. If you do that, then you get out of character and don’t play well.”
–Field Level Media
