BOULDER — After guiding the Colorado men’s basketball program to back-to-back victories over nationally ranked opponents for the first time in school history, Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said Thursday he is not about to let his team become complacent. Nor himself.
Boyle pointed at the top of his desk. There’s no sign of the Big 12 Conference standings, which has CU tied atop the list with Texas A&M and Baylor, at 2-0.
However, a copy of the Buffs’ schedule is prominently in the center of Boyle’s desk, right where he can’t miss it. A snake pit lurks around every corner, he joked.
Next up for Colorado (13-4, 2-0 Big 12) is Saturday’s home game against an Oklahoma State (13-3, 1-1) team with enough talent and athleticism to beat anybody in the league.
“As a coach, you always worry about (complacency),” Boyle said. “We talked about it in our meeting today. We’ll talk about it when going over our scouting report on Oklahoma State.
“I think with our seniors, guys like Cory (Higgins), Marcus (Relphorde), Levi (Knutson), hopefully they can prevent that by talking to their teammates. After two big wins like we’ve had, you hope they understand that we have to keep doing what we’re doing to stay where we are.”
Colorado followed up an 89-76 upset of then-No. 9 Missouri in Boulder last weekend with a more impressive victory. The Buffs had lost nine straight games to Kansas State and were winless in Manhattan, Kan., since 2005 but overcame an 11-point, first-half deficit Wednesday night for a 74-66 victory over the No. 21 Wildcats.
Colorado defeated a ranked opponent on the road for the first time since 1996-97 — the second of Chauncey Billups’ two seasons in Boulder.
The key, Boyle said, was his team’s mental and physical toughness.
“We didn’t panic,” Boyle said. “That shows the poise and maturity of our guys.”
On its home court, Kansas State was limited to 40.4 percent shooting, compared with 50 percent from the field by Colorado. The Wildcats usually have their way with Colorado in the paint but were outrebounded 38-29. Colorado has won six straight games and 12 of 13.
“You can sense that our team’s confidence is growing,” Boyle said. “I think our guys feel comfortable being in close games. And we’re going to be in some.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
