Prairie View A&M @ Colorado preview
CU Events Center
Last Meeting ( Dec 19, 2008 ) Prairie View A&M 47, Colorado 72
Colorado only has three more non-conference games remaining before Pac-12 play tips off Jan. 2. The first of those contests comes Wednesday night as the Buffaloes host the road warriors from Prairie View A&M.
Coach Tad Boyle’s Buffs did halt a two-game losing streak in their last outing, Friday’s 56-48 road win over rival Colorado State. But the victory was far from pretty as they nearly squandered a 33-17 second-half lead and wound up committing a season-high 21 turnovers. “Right now, we have guys who want grand slams every time they have the ball, and that’s not going to happen,” said Boyle, whose team is tied for 294th nationally with an average of 15.5 turnovers per outing. “We don’t need that. We have to make the simple plays.” Prairie View, the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion, is nearing the end of a marathon, 11-game, coast-to-coast road/neutral-site stretch and will be trying to avoid a third-straight loss.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT PRAIRIE VIEW A&M (3-7): Losses at Arizona State (88-79) and Loyola Marymount (79-76) last week followed the win over UTSA, dropping the Panthers to 1-6 in true road games this season. Senior forward Devonte Patterson, the SWAC Preseason Player of the Year, made his season debut in last Wednesday’s loss at ASU and has averaged 14 points to assume the team scoring lead. Guards Gerard Andrus (13.6 points) and Chancellor Ellis (11.3) also are averaging double figures, but the Panthers’ hottest player of late has been guard Darius Williams (11.6), who has hit season highs with 26- and 25-point outings over the last two games.
ABOUT COLORADO (8-2): Prior to beating Colorado State, the Buffs suffered their only losses against No. 1 Kansas (72-58 on Dec. 7) and Northern Iowa (79-76 on Dec. 10) and were knocked out of the top-25 poll. Swingman Tyler Bey is pacing the team with 12.6 points and 10.7 rebounds but hasn’t recorded a double-double since Nov. 30 after notching five in his first six contests. Guards McKinley Wright (11.3 points) and D’Shawn Schwartz (10.1) also are averaging double figures with Wright also averaging a team-best 3.7 assists per outing.
TIP-INS
1. This will only be the second meeting between the programs with Colorado notching a 72-48 home win in 2008.
2. The Buffs figure to have an advantage on the glass as they sport a plus-5.9 rebound margin while the Panthers are just above even at a plus-0.4.
3. Both teams rank in the bottom fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio with ratios of .78 or worse.
PREDICTION: Colorado 68, Prairie View A&M 60