Ahead of the University of Colorado’s first round matchup against the Oregon State University Beavers, CUI beat writer Tommy Wood and OSU Daily Barometer Sports Editor Tejo Pack preview the opening game for both teams in the 2015 Pac-12 Tournament.
The 2015 Pac-12 Tournament looks to be an exciting time, if you are a team in the upper half of the seeding. For the bottom six programs in the conference, it will be an uphill battle from the first round on. This is the Pac-12, where upsets happen on almost a weekly occurrence — just ask Oregon State, Oregon, Arizona State, UCLA, Washington —- the list goes on and on. When it comes to who will win and who will fall, nothing within this conference is set in stone. Still, if you are Washington or USC, it has to be hard to imagine you would be finishing the weekend with a trophy in hand.
If the women’s tournament, or two years of men’s tournaments has taught us anything, it’s that where you are seeded doesn’t necessarily predict how things will pan out.Why it was just two years ago that No. 10 Utah made it all the way to the semifinals — taking out No. 2 seeded Cal along the way. It’s also important to point out that in the last two years, it wasn’t the No. 1 seed who would end up winning the tournament, but the No. 2 (UCLA) and No. 3 (Oregon) seed. All this is to say, if you can come in hot — control all 94 feet of the court — excel on the offensive and defensive ends of the game — you have a shot, no matter who you were in the regular season.The one thing that every team has going for them, is the fact that they will all be playing in a neutral location. Home court advantage is a staple within the Pac-12. Removing that from the equation, should provide the opportunity for some fireworks.
Tejo Pack (Daily Barometer):For Oregon State, coming in hot will be a problem.
The Beavers lost six of their last seven games, including a heartbreaker in the 344th Civil War against the University of Oregon Ducks to end this season. Thankfully, their morale should be a bit lifted with junior guard Gary Payton II receiving the award for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Payton II simply exploded the last time the Beavers met Colorado on Feb. 21 in Corvallis, OR.
The junior guard had 24 points on the game, including five rebounds, seven blocks and four steals. Sophomore guard Malcolm Duvivier also had a quality outing, putting up 17 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals. It helped that they had home-court advantage, too, being 15-2 this season at home.
Tommy Wood (CUI): I’m glad the Beavers have to play this rematch outside the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum. They’re a different team on the road, and that’s why I like the Buffs’ chances Wednesday night. Oregon State locked Colorado down the first time they played; the Buffs couldn’t solve the Beavers’ matchup zone, and Payton is the lockdown perimeter defender that most zone defenses don’t have. That first game was also Oregon State’s most (relatively) scorching hot offensive game of the conference season — 72 points and eight threes showed its best efforts in Pac-12 play. Those totals are unsustainable for the conference’s worst offensive team, and the Beavers shot under 40 percent in two of their three losses since they beat Colorado.
Pack: When OSU and CU tangled in Gil Coliseum, the Beavers were coming off three blowout losses in a row, and had something to prove. On Friday, Oregon State will be coming off two blowouts in their final three regular season games. Whether this will light a fire under them coming into Las Vegas, only game time will tell. If it doesn’t, perhaps the fact that head coach Wayne Tinkle did not receive Pac-12 Coach of the Year might. Regardless of what motivates them, it’s feasible to see the Beavers moving on to the quarterfinals — if the offense can come out and get going early on. Colorado added some positives to the end of the season with how they handled Washington and Arizona State, so a 14-point blowout seems a bit far-fetched. And after what Utah did two years ago, underestimating a No. 10 seed would be unwise.Still, with the quality play OSU showed in their season finale against Oregon, a win seems the likely outcome. Unless the road disease continues…
Wood: Oregon State has definitely had a road disease this year, but CU has been just as bad, so a neutral court might benefit both squads. Buffs forward Josh Scott is healthier than he has been all season — he’s averaged 19 points and eight rebounds in the four games since Oregon State held him to four points and three boards. It’s as if he had a visitation from the basketball gods, and they revealed to him that bigs who work the baseline against a 2-3 zone can eviscerate it. Scott did exactly that in Colorado’s win over Washington, who, like the Beavers, zoned the Buffs for most of the game.
That’s the only way Colorado can beat the zone, because it doesn’t have the perimeter shooters necessary to spread it out. Askia Booker seems to be the only Buff who is confident in his outside shot, and he shot 2-of-14 that February night in Corvallis. That debacle was part of a seven-game stretch in which Colorado didn’t crack 40 percent shooting as a team, but the Buffs have made 52 percent of their shots in the last three games. Colorado had its chances against Oregon State, and it owned the offensive glass to the tune of 14 second-chance opportunities. Last time, it couldn’t finish them, but it’s hard to imagine the Buffs being so cold again.
Tip off for Wednesday’s matchup is 7:10 pm MST and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.
Contact CU Independent Men’s Basketball beat writer Tommy Wood at Thomas.C.Wood@colorado.edu and on twitter @Woodstein72.
Contact The Daily Barometer Sports section at sports.dailybarometer.com.
