Oregon @ Colorado preview
Coors Events Center
Last Meeting ( Feb 13, 2020 ) Colorado 60, Oregon 68
Fresh off his team earning him his 800th career victory, Dana Altman hopes to get No. 801 Thursday night when his No. 17 Oregon Ducks visit the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder, Colo.
The Ducks (8-1, 3-0 Pac-12) have been overshadowed by the football program's surprise conference championship and trip to the Fiesta Bowl, but with that season done the basketball team will get more of the spotlight.
No one is more ready for that than Chris Duarte. Duarte scored 11 consecutive Oregon points in the last five minutes Saturday to help the Ducks pull away from Stanford (73-56), and that came two days after he scored 14 in a row in the final five minutes against Cal to seal that triumph (82-69).
"It's what you expect your seniors to do," Altman said after the win over Stanford.
Duarte's experience has helped guide the Ducks to eight successive victories. His 16.7-point average is second on the team to fellow classmate Eugene Omoruyi's 18.7 points, and he has been a steadying force down the stretch.
"Chris is one of the best shooters I ever played with, one of the best shooters I've ever seen day in and day out," said LJ Figueroa, who leads the team in rebounding at 7.5 per game. "Practice, games, whatever the shooting competition, walk-throughs, his shot has always fallen in and he works on it every day."
Oregon enters this week's games tied with UCLA at the top of the conference. The quick road trip ends in Salt Lake City on Saturday for a game with Utah before the Ducks return to Eugene to face the Arizona schools next week, followed by a home game against Oregon State.
Colorado (7-3, 1-2) is about to experience a little home cooking after spending most of the season on the road or at neutral sites. The Buffaloes have played only two games at the CU Events Center so far. They were scheduled for four straight but Saturday's game against Oregon State has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Beavers' program.
The upside is coach Tad Boyle won't have to worry about limiting his key players' minutes Thursday as Colorado tries to stay in the top tier of the Pac-12.
Being at home will help the Buffaloes.
"It's huge for us," said McKinley Wright IV, Colorado's leading scorer at 15.5 points per game. "We're a good team at home. We have to take care of business. These games are all must-wins in my eyes."
Colorado been played well on the road last week, beating USC 72-62, but then their second-half comeback against UCLA fizzled in the final minute in a 65-62 loss at Pauley Pavilion.
Things could be different at home, even against an Oregon team that has won been hot following a season-opening loss to Missouri. Colorado is 143-27 at the CU Events center in their 11 seasons under Boyle, but this is different: The arena will be empty and quieter.
"We don't have our fans in the building, but nobody else does either," Boyle said. "Our job is to make sure our players are ready to go mentally, emotionally, spiritually. In every sense of the word they have to be ready to play and want to play."
--Field Level Media