Colorado @ Arizona State preview

Colorado at Arizona State

Last Meeting ( Nov 8, 2019 ) Colorado 0, Arizona State 0

Colorado and Arizona State have already met once this season – the Buffaloes’ 81-71 win Nov. 8 in Shanghai in the Pac-12 China Game. That game didn’t count in the Pac-12 standings, but Thursday night’s matchup will as the Sun Devils host the 21st-ranked Buffs.

Coach Tad Boyle’s Colorado squad is hot as it heads down to the desert for a pair of games, having won six of its last seven. Included in that stretch are victories over No. 11 Dayton (78-76) and No. 8 Oregon (74-65) and Sunday’s 91-52 rout of visiting Utah in which the Buffs enjoyed a 42-24 rebounding advantage and shot a season-best 59.4 percent from the field. Not always quick with compliments, Boyle dubbed it a “complete performance,” adding “you put in offense, you put in defense, you outrebound a team by (18), you have 17 assists and nine turnovers and you execute the defensive game plan the way our guys did tonight, it just shows you what the ceiling of this team is going to be.” Arizona State, meanwhile, is off to a 1-2 start in the conference after earning a split on last weekend’s two-game trip to Oregon.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT COLORADO (13-3, 2-1 Pac-12): Point guard McKinley Wright (13.6 points per game), swingman Tyler Bey (13.0) and guard D’Shawn Schwartz (11.2) are the leading scorers for the Buffs, who are averaging 82.2 points over their last six games. Rebounding and defense, though, remain the strengths as Colorado paces the Pac-12 with an 8.0 rebound margin and ranks second in allowing 61.3 points per game. Bey is averaging a conference-most 9.8 rebounds per contest while 6-8, 265-pound Evan Battey is averaging 6.7 boards and 9.9 points per outing.

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (10-6, 1-2): Junior guard Remy Martin leads the team and ranks fourth in the Pac-12 with a 19.1-point scoring average. Martin has been especially hot of late, averaging 24 points over his last four outings, including a season-high 29 in Saturday’s 78-69 loss at Oregon – the Sun Devils’ 11th defeat in their last 12 meetings with the Ducks. Guard Alonzo Verge Jr. (12.8 points) and forward Romello White (10.5) also average double digits for ASU, which has struggled with its shooting, ranking 11th in the conference in field-goal percentage (42.6) and 3-point accuracy (30.4).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. With the win in the season opener in China, Colorado has won six of the last nine meetings versus Arizona State but has dropped six straight in Tempe, including an 83-61 loss a season ago.

2. At 9.6 rebounds per game, White ranks second to Bey in the conference, but as a team, ASU brings up the rear in the league with a minus-2.8 overall rebound margin.

PREDICTION: Colorado 74, Arizona State 71