By February, teams are looking for a signature win for their NCAA Tournament resume. The Colorado Buffaloes are simply looking for any win.
Colorado has lost 11 straight and has yet to win a league game in its return to the Big 12 Conference, and it won’t be easy to avoid a 12th consecutive loss. The Buffaloes host No. 5 Houston on Saturday afternoon in Boulder, Colo.
The losing streak is Colorado’s longest to start a conference schedule since it went 0-14 in the Big 8 in 1985-86. The latest setback came at Utah on Wednesday night 72-59 after Colorado was down 12 points halftime and fell short after a second-half rally.
The Buffaloes (9-13, 0-11 Big 12) have dropped five of their last six by double figures and the schedule does not let up. After hosting Hpouston, Colorado has upcoming trips to No. 16 Kansas and No. 8 Iowa State. The Buffaloes face three more ranked teams in its final six games, which will make climbing out of the basement even harder.
“It’s for sure getting more challenging because we’re playing a lot of good teams now,” Colorado forward Andrej Jakimovski said. “We know our record; we don’t deserve that record. We are better than that. We just all want to win. Our chemistry, our togetherness, it’s not going to change throughout the season no matter what.”
Jakimovski (10.0 points per game) is one of only two Buffs averaging double digits in scoring. Julian Hammond III leads the team at 13.3 and Trevor Baskin is third with 8.8 per game.
Baskin is also the team’s leading rebounder but is pulling down just 5.6 a game.
Houston (18-4, 10-1) isn’t a dominant rebounding team, but it is the toughest team to score against. The Cougars are holding teams to 56.9 points per game, which leads Division I, and have held seven of 11 conference opponents below 60 points.
Houston is averaging 76.0 points on offense, led by L.J. Cryer’s 14.3 per game. Emanuel Sharp (12.5) and J’Wan Roberts (11.4) are the only other Cougars scoring in double figures while Milos Uzan is close at 9.9 per game.
Houston absorbed its only Big 12 loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 1, an 82-81 home setback in overtime. The Cougars bounced back to beat Oklahoma State 72-63 on Tuesday and now play three of their next four on the road.
After Colorado they host Baylor before visiting No. 20 Arizona and then Arizona State to cap six games in 18 days.
“Everybody in the league gets to it, I’m not complaining, I’m just making sure that people are aware of what the Big 12’s going through when they decided to go to a 20-game schedule,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “The difference between a 20-game schedule and an 18-game schedule is a bye week. There is no bye week.
“You’ve got 10 grueling weeks with two games a week. And your two games a week is not the same for everybody, it depends on where you’re playing.”
–Field Level Media
