Northern Colorado @ Colorado preview
Coors Events Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 10, 2017 ) Northern Colorado 51, Colorado 66
Northern Colorado has rolled to a couple of impressive routs to open its season, but the Bears face a tough task when they play at Colorado on Tuesday night.
Northern Colorado (2-0) notched easy wins against Colorado Christian University and Regis University but going against a Power 5 opponent is a different level. The Buffaloes (2-1) are looking for a bounce-back win after falling to No. 12 Tennessee last week.
The Bears will rely on their defense to slow down Colorado, which has played just one game since Nov. 27.
"Defense has always been a huge thing for us. It's where we've made our money over the years," guard Sam Masten said after the season-opening, 87-62 win over Colorado Christian. "For the new guys, we had to kind of show them the energy and effort we play with on the defensive end of the floor. I think it translates to a lot of easy baskets."
Northern Colorado kept up the pressure against Regis, holding a 44-17 rebounding edge and not allowing an offensive rebound. Success for the Bears will be tougher against a Buffaloes squad that gets rebounds from every position.
In fact, Colorado's second-leading rebounder is 6-foot guard McKinley Wright IV, who pulls down five boards a game.
Wright also leads the team in scoring at 17.3 points a game.
The Buffaloes had a couple of games canceled due to COVID-19 issues, which is why they've only played three games to date. One of the rotation players, D'Shawn Schwartz, missed the first two games after being testing positive for the coronavirus on Nov. 25 and went scoreless in 24 minutes of the 56-47 loss to the Volunteers.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle said he will continue to bring Schwartz off the bench until he can work his way back into form.
"He had a little bit of a deer-in-headlights look, which surprises me quite frankly for a senior," Boyle said of Schwartz's first game. "I don't certainly expect him to be in midseason form his first game out. While he was out with the virus, he had a few symptoms early, but he got some workouts in as his quarantine kind of winded down. We brought him back a little slowly.
"I don't know if that was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do. I don't know. But he'll be fine. I know D'Shawn's a good player. He knows he's a good player. His teammates know he's a good player."
--Field Level Media