LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A day after defeating Oregon State 78-71 in an opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament, 10-seed Colorado (15-16) will face a different animal Thursday night in a quarterfinal at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
In contrast to defensive minded Oregon State, No. 2 seed Oregon was the second-highest scoring team in the conference (76 points per game) during the regular season and the Ducks (23-8) feature the league’s top scorer, Joseph Young.
The senior guard averaged 19.8 points per game and was voted Pac-12 player of the year.
“One thing that Oregon does is, they really score the ball,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “Joe Young is a terrific scorer. They shoot the ball from the three well. They have a lot of interchangeable parts.
“So we’re really going to have to guard tomorrow. We’re going to have to guard the ball. We’re going to have to guard the 3-point line.”
Oregon won the only regular-season meeting, 73-60 on Feb. 18 in Eugene, Ore. Colorado shot just 28.1 percent from the field in the first half to fall behind 39-22. The Buffs finished at 35.5 percent and hit just 2-of-18 from 3-point range.
Against Oregon State’s 3-2 zone, Colorado shot 50 percent, including 56.5 percent in the second half. Oregon’s zone has more movement and plays with more of an attacking philosophy.
“Oregon tries to keep you off-balance a little bit defensively with their matchup zone,” Boyle said. “They’re going to be doubling on Josh (Scott), every time he touches it. It’s up to us to handle double teams and make them pay.
“Basketball is a simple game. If there’s two (defenders) on one guy, then somebody’s open. You just have to move the ball and find that guy.”
Colorado’s offense, inconsistent for most of the season, found some rhythm in the second half Wednesday night with an inside-outside attack that frustrated seventh-seeded Oregon State (17-14). Senior guard Askia Booker scored a game high 20 points, including 14 in the second half, and sparked the pivotal spurt by scoring 11 points during a span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
That included a trio of 3-pointers over the Oregon State zone.
“I think when Ski hit those 3s, we thought the game was over if we could just get some defensive stops,” said Scott, CU’s 6-foot-10 junior post player.
Scott, finally appearing recovered from a lower-back issue that slowed him for much of the season, turned in his second straight Herculean effort with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. He tallied a career-best 32 points in the regular-season finale, an overtime loss at Washington State.
“My health has been coming back to me, and obviously my game is coming with it,” Scott said.
Colorado continued its streak of having won its first game in all four Pac-12 Tournaments in which it has played. But the Buffaloes want more. Next up: Oregon.
“We didn’t come here with the idea of winning four games in four days; we came in with the idea of beating Oregon State,” Boyle said. “Now, what we have to do is find a way, between now and (Thursday night), to beat Oregon.
“It’s going to have to take a group of guys that have a refuse-to-lose attitude and a chip on their shoulder and sense of urgency. We had that tonight. Now it’s about tomorrow (against Oregon).”
