Tad Boyle described the finishing sequence of last week’s overtime loss at BYU as a “make-miss” scenario.
BYU hit its shots at crunch time. The Buffaloes did not.
The Buffs haven’t hit many shots from long range of late, and while the shooting slump may not have mattered in some of Colorado’s recent blowout losses on the road, it absolutely made a difference in a 90-86 loss at BYU.
It’s a slump the Buffs will try to end when they begin a two-game homestand Saturday against Oklahoma State (1:30 p.m., TNT/truTV).
“Most of our bad shots come in the lane,” Boyle said. “Getting their shots blocked, tough twos. I don’t feel like we’ve taken a lot of bad threes. Now, some guys are taking threes that we probably need to address. But I want our players to feel like I support them in shooting threes. But as a player, you’ve got a responsibility if you’re going to take them, you’ve got to make them. There’s shot-takers and there’s shot-makers. We had a lot of shot-takers against BYU. We need more shot-makers.”
After finishing 9-for-32 on 3-pointers at BYU, the Buffs have posted a .266 mark from long range (21-for-79) in the past three games.
Outside of starting guard Barrington Hargress, most of the Buffs’ rotation has hit a 3-point lull. Bangot Dak is shooting .238 (5-for-21) on 3-pointers in Big 12 play. Freshman guard Josiah Sanders is 2-for-20 from the arc this season and hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer in the past three games. After shooting a solid 9-for-22 (.409) on 3-pointers during nonconference play, freshman forward Alon Michaeli has gone 6-for-29 (.207) in conference play.
Even leading scorer Isaiah Johnson, a 40%-plus 3-point shooter for much of the season, has gone 6-for-23 (.261) the past three games. Through Tuesday’s games, CU ranked 11th in Big 12 games with a .329 3-point percentage.
“As long as we feel like it’s a good shot by a good shooter, and it’s in rotation and it’s not something that we’re hunting, I think that we’ll be fine,” Hargress said. “As long as we play a good brand of basketball, those shots will present themselves. We’ll always get good shots, and that’s really what we’re always focused on, whether they go in or not.”
JT Toppin sidelined
The Buffs saw some of the final glimpses this season of two of the top players in the Big 12 Conference.
On Saturday, BYU standout Richie Saunders collapsed just 45 seconds into the game, announcing the following day he had suffered a season-ending torn ACL. On Tuesday night, the same fate hit Texas Tech All-American candidate JT Toppin, who suffered his season-ending knee injury in what turned into an upset loss at Arizona State.
Toppin scored 16 points with 18 rebounds as Texas Tech routed the Buffs by 34 points last week, posting the top rebounding total by a CU opponent this season. Toppin added 31 points and 13 rebounds in the Red Raiders’ upset against then-No. 1 Arizona before getting injured against ASU.
“That’s awful news,” Boyle said of Toppin. “It’s a shame for him. It’s a shame for our league and for Texas Tech.”
Notable
Dak is tied for 15th in program history (with Martice Moore) with 85 blocked shots. … With a minimum of six games remaining, Hargress is tied for 31st among CU’s all-time season leaders with 112 assists, matching Alec Burks’ 2010-11 total.
