Home cooking hasn’t settled well lately for the Colorado men’s basketball team.
The Buffaloes’ past two home games have been marked by frustration and disappointment. CU had opportunities to pick up victories against ranked foes at the CU Events Center. Instead, officiating miscues at key late-game junctures helped contribute to disappointing defeats.
CU head coach Tad Boyle met the local media Friday for the first time since the aftermath of Tuesday’s 75-69 defeat against Kansas, which included a pivotal Buffs turnover on an inbounds play even though the Jayhawks’ Melvin Council Jr. was out of bounds when he made contact with the ball.
In the Buffs’ previous home game, CU nearly rallied from a 24-point deficit to topple Texas Tech, but a jump shot from the Red Raiders’ Jaylen Petty at the shot clock buzzer was ruled good despite a video review that included evidence to the contrary. Texas Tech kept the two points in a game it won by two.
Boyle said he had conversations this week with the Big 12 offices regarding the short stick his team received in both instances. Boyle didn’t disclose the particulars of those conversations — the officiating crews in both games included referees Rick Crawford and Chance Moore — and said he has fully turned his attention to getting his Buffs to end a four-game losing streak at home Saturday afternoon against Central Florida.
“I had conversations with the Big 12 office this week,” Boyle said. “Nothing’s going to change in terms of the calls, or the missed calls. I think the Texas Tech situation was the one that bothered me the most just because we had the replay and we just didn’t use it (correctly). Hopefully that situation will be rectified and nobody else will be in that situation again.
“You live and you learn and you move on. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s part of life. Coaches make them. Players make them. Conference offices make them. Officials make them. We all make mistakes. It’s part of the game. But I feel like my voice has been heard. It’s water under the bridge. It’s time to move on and focus on Central Florida.”
Statistically, CU and UCF match up evenly, but Boyle said the key to the showdown for the Buffs will be to slow the Knights’ guard tandem of Riley Kugel and Themus Fulks.
Kugel is a transfer from Mississippi State who also played at Florida, scoring 11 points off the bench for the Gators during CU’s memorable, 102-100 first-round win against Florida in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Kugel is the Knights’ leading scorer, but he also is a streak shooter who has shot just .333 (11-for-33) in the past two games.
Fulks ranks second in the Big 12 with 7.2 assists per game while shooting .517 from the floor. Fulks might be motivated to shake off a rough outing during UCF’s loss at No. 9 Iowa State on Tuesday, as he finished without a rebound for the first time this season while recording more turnovers (six) than assists (five) for only the second time this season.
“Our ability to contain and minimize their two guards. They’ve got good players up and down their lineup, but their two guards are their leading scorers,” Boyle said. “They’re guys that can get downhill. They can take tough shots and they can make tough shots. We’re not going to eliminate them scoring the ball. But we’ve got to minimize it and make it tough. And we need the pace to be an up-and-down pace.”
Central Florida Knights at CU Buffs men’s basketball
TIPOFF: Saturday, 1 p.m., CU Events Center.
TV/RADIO: ESPN+/KOA 850 AM and 94.1 FM.
RECORDS: UCF 14-4, 3-3 Big 12 Conference; Colorado 12-7, 2-4.
COACHES: UCF — Johnny Dawkins, 10th season (182-124, 338-239 overall); Colorado — Tad Boyle, 16th season (324-211, 380-277 overall).
KEY PLAYERS: UCF — G Riley Kugel, 6-5, Sr. (14.6 pg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, .382 3%); G Themus Fulks, 6-2, Gr. (13.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 7.2 apg, .517 FG%); F Jordan Burks, 6-9, Jr. (12.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .388 3%); F Jamichael Stillwell, 6-8, Jr. (12.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, .553 FG%); F Devan Cambridge, 6-6, Gr. (6.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .507 FG%). Colorado — G Isaiah Johnson, 6-1, Fr. (16.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, .509 FG%, .426 3%); G Barrington Hargress, 6-1, R-Jr. (13.8 ppg, 4.6 apg, .539 FG%, .509 3%); F Sebastian Rancik, 6-11, So. (12.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg); F Bangot Dak, 7-0, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, .463 FG%); F Alon Michaeli, 6-9, Fr. (9.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg); G Felix Kossaras, 6-6, So. (5.7 ppg, .542 FG%); C Elijah Malone, 6-10, Gr. (5.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, .551 FG%).
NOTES: Boyle said Malone is recovering from the injury that knocked him out of the game during the first half of Tuesday’s loss against No. 19 Kansas. “He’s getting better every day,” Boyle said. “He took a pretty good shot.” Malone wasn’t listed in the Big 12 injury report released Friday evening. … UCF played without Stillwell during Tuesday’s loss at No. 9 Iowa State. The Knights’ leading rebounder, Stillwell was seen on the bench wearing a walking boot. He was listed as questionable in the updated Big 12 injury report released Friday evening … In Big 12 games, the Buffs rank 14th in the conference in field goal percentage (.424), 13th in 3-point percentage (.304) and 13th in average rebounding margin (minus-3.5). … The teams split their two matchups last season, with the home team winning each time. … CU hits the road to visit No. 9 Iowa State on Thursday (5 p.m., Fox Sports 1).
