The search for answers at the defensive end of the floor has included an occasional shift into a zone defense for the Colorado Buffaloes.
Anyone that has followed the Buffs in 16 seasons under head coach Tad Boyle understood how desperate CU was to get on track defensively if Boyle, as avowed a man-to-man defense coach as there is in college basketball, was willing to show zone more frequently.
The zone has been utilized less frequently of late. And Boyle said itap unlikely to make a comeback as the Buffs begin a demanding week on the road against a pair of Associated Press Top 25 teams, beginning Wednesday at No. 16 Texas Tech (6 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
Itap not as if the Buffs’ defensive troubles have been corrected. CU began the week ranked ninth in Big 12 games in defensive field goal percentage (.466) and eighth in defensive 3-point percentage (.352). That latter mark will be tested by the Red Raiders, who own the top 3-point mark in conference play at .413. CU’s last three road foes have shot at least 52% against the Buffs.
Boyle noted the recent shifts to zone were spurred by necessity, but CU’s head coach said the team’s defensive metrics remained better in man-to-man sets.
“In the games when we did it, if you look at our statistics, zone versus man, our man was much better than our zone,” Boyle said. “Now, I went to our zone because our man defense was so frickin’ bad.
“This is the time of year, the defenses are getting better. And your offenses are getting better. We’re not going to throw anything at (Texas Tech) they haven’t seen. You get into mid-February, everybody knows everybody.”
Musical posts
Freshman Tacko Ifaola returned to his bench role during Saturday’s win against Arizona State, as foul trouble limited him to three rebounds and no shot attempts in 8 minutes, 14 seconds of playing time.
Boyle gave the start at the five-spot to Bangot Dak, but Dak battled his own foul trouble. With Elijah Malone and Alon Michaeli (0-for-2, three turnovers in eight minutes) struggling, the frontcourt rotation grew unstable. After Dak picked up his third foul early in the second half, Boyle rotated through post stints for Malone, Michaeli and Ifaola in the next two minutes.
“Itap a little bit of musical chairs right now,” Boyle said. “We’ve got three guys. And shoot, we played Seby (Rancik) a little at the five down the stretch, and he’s not a five-man. We’ve got to figure that out. Some guys are practicing well but they’re not playing well in the games. We need more consistency at that spot, there’s no doubt about it. Or we’re just got to play smaller lineups.”
Notable
On Monday, Kansas’ Flory Bidunga was named the Big 12 Player of the Week, while BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa was named the Newcomer of the Week. … Arizona remained at No. 1 for the ninth consecutive week in the latest Associated Press Top 25 released on Monday. Among Big 12 teams, Houston moved up five spots to No. 3, Iowa State jumped two spots to No. 5 and Kansas moved up two spots to No. 9. CU’s next two opponents, Texas Tech (No. 16) and BYU (No. 23) rounded out the Big 12 contingent.
