Colorado passed its first test away from home last week, but the Buffaloes haven’t yet faced a true road test.
That changes this week. And head coach Tad Boyle knows the home cooking that has helped the CU men’s basketball team avoid a couple possible setbacks during a historic start won’t be something the Buffs can lean upon in Fort Collins.
CU rallied past Cal Baptist on Monday night for a 78-70 victory, improving to 8-0 for the first time since the 1949-50 season and only the third time in program history. The only longer unbeaten start in team history was a 14-0 mark recorded by the 1941-42 team, but the Buffs can’t afford the same defensive lapses and sloppy ball-handling that led to a 14-point first-half deficit when they visit Colorado State on Saturday (3 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
“Look, credit to our guys. I don’t know how the hell we were down two at halftime. I felt like we should’ve been down 20,” Boyle said. “And guess what? On Saturday night, we will be down 20 if we play like that. So we’d better learn. And I’d rather learn from these wins than losses. But each game gets a little bit tougher, and we’ve not played in a true road environment yet. We’re going to sure as hell get one on Saturday.”
Attendance lagging
For an athletic department already facing a budget crunch, the early returns at the turnstiles for the CU men’s basketball team haven’t been encouraging.
The announced attendance for Monday’s win was just 4,931, marking the first time in nearly 14 years a regular-season home game at the CU Events Center drew fewer than 5,000. Not including the mostly fan-less pandemic season of 2020-21, the previous sub-5,000 attendance mark during the regular season was 4,621 against Texas Southern on Dec. 22, 2011.
Through the first six home games for what has been a surprisingly entertaining team, CU is averaging just 5,474 fans. That trend is certain to improve during a Big 12 slate that includes home games against traditional big draws Kansas and Arizona (Kansas’ date in Boulder last year drew 11,042; Arizona’s most recent visit drew 10,548).
Still, the Big 12’s move back to an 18-game league schedule means one less conference game at home this season, and so far the nonconference attendance numbers are behind last year’s pace. Excluding last year’s home date against Colorado State, the Buffs averaged 6,048 for their other seven nonconference home games against comparable mid-major foes, 574 more per game than this year’s early slate.
Notable
CU moved up seven spots to No. 39 in Tuesday’s NET rankings. CSU was at No. 64. … The Rams are coming off a 2-1 showing at the Battle 4 Atlantis, losing the opener against Virginia Tech by two points before recording wins against Wichita State and South Florida. … CU players recorded double-digit free throw attempts last year just twice in 35 games, with Elijah Malone and Julian Hammond III both doing it during a double overtime game against Northern Colorado. CU players have reached that mark five times already this year, with freshman Isaish Johnson doing it three times (including the past two games) and Sebastian Rancik doing it twice.