Senior guard McKinley Wright IV (25) dribbles down the court in the first half against Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. Dec. 8, 2020. (Courtesy Tennessee Athletics)
After a hectic eleven-day intermission following the University of Colorado men’s basketball team defeating Kansas State on Nov. 27, the Buffs were finally given another opportunity against the No. 12 Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday. Head coach Tad Boyle’s Buffs couldn’t come back from a slow start and fell to the Vols, 56-47 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Although Tennessee had suffered five game cancellations due to COVID-19 and hadn’t played a game yet this season, the rust appeared heavier for the Buffs early on. Tennessee’s electric defense propelled the Vols out to a 17-2 lead eight minutes into the first half. Senior guard Mckinley Wright IV’s made jump shot was the Buffs’ only offensive output during the run.
“Offensively, we were so bad tonight,” Boyle said. “And Tennessee, you got to give them credit. They crawled up into us.”
Soon after the Vols’ vicious run, Colorado switched to a zone defense and found success. Boyle admitted that he rarely likes to implement zone, but he believed an adjustment was necessary to slow the Vols. CU’s new approach shifted momentum and CU outscored Tennessee 22-17 the rest of the half.
Led by 2019 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Yves Pons, Tennessee limited the Buffs to 33% shooting from the field. The Buffs struggled to find a consistent scoring threat but senior forward Jeriah Horne impressed as the only Buff with double-digit points. “There’s no question that he’s a weapon,” Boyle said.
In order to properly use their offensive weapons, Boyle, Wright and Horne all harped on the importance of limiting turnovers. Tennessee tallied 12 steals on the night and Colorado relinquished control a total of 23 times, resulting in 16 points. In typical Boyle fashion, the eleventh-year CU head coach was bluntly disappointed.
“I thought we dribbled the ball way too much (and) we were so impatient,” Boyle said. “Some of our turnovers were self-inflicted, some of them were a result of Tennessee. We got to learn to handle the pressure better because if anybody watches these games, they’re going to see, ‘boy, climb up into Colorado and they will pee down their leg and give you the ball.’ And that’s what we do. We got to learn how not to do that.”
Colorado cut the deficit to just two points early in the second half but never came any closer. After nearly fighting back from down 15, Wright said that CU’s tough start combined with an abundance of turnovers “made it hard for us down the stretch.”
Led by Horne’s 11 rebounds, Colorado did impress on the boards. With CU trailing 44-34 halfway through the second half, the Buffs put on a rebounding clinic. Horne, freshman guard Tristan da Silva and Wright accounted for three consecutive offensive rebounds leading to a Horne three-pointer. The effort was there at times for the Buffs, but not consistently enough.
“We gave ourselves the opportunity to win the game and that’s what we wanted,” Horne said. “We knew that Tennessee was a good team (that is) No. 12 in the rankings. It was one of those days and we took a lot from it; we learned a lot from it.”
The Buffs fell to 2-1 on the season and will continue non-conference play against Northern Colorado on Monday at 7 p.m. MST at the CU Events Center.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Jack Carlough at jack.carlough@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @Jack_Carlough.
