Stanford looking for breakthrough vs. No. 24 Colorado
Colorado kept pace with the Pac-12 leaders with its win over California at Boulder, Colo., on Thursday night, but coach Tad Boyle was not altogether pleased.
The 24th-ranked Buffaloes were also not a jovial group in the locker room after the 71-65 victory, in which they allowed the Golden Bears, the Pac-12's coldest shooting team, to make 55.6 percent of their shots from the field. Cal, which made 63.6 percent of its shots in the first half, is making 43.2 percent of its attempts this season.
"We keep a chart on 'kills,' and a kill is when you stop a team on three straight possessions," Boyle said. "Our goal is to get three kills each half. We had only one in each half. We couldn't separate ourselves because we couldn't make stops.
"It's a sign of a good team to have a somber locker room after a conference win. It's a sign of the expectation level we have as a team."
The Buffaloes (18-5, 7-3 Pac-12) remained tied in the loss column atop the Pac-12 standings with Oregon and Arizona.
Stanford (16-6, 5-4) had a chance to join those teams, but the Cardinal head to Colorado on Saturday after losing to Utah 64-56 in overtime in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.
Tyler Bey produced a season-high 21 points and nine rebounds in Colorado's win over Cal. The Buffaloes were also led by McKinley Wright's 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. D'Shawn Schwartz added 14 points.
Boyle was most proud of Colorado limiting Cal to only two offensive rebounds. The Buffaloes, who had 10, outscored the Golden Bears 10-3 in second-chance points. Colorado won the rebounding battle 32-23.
Despite that edge, Cal still outscored Colorado in the paint 28-26.
"I don't know; we just weren't ourselves today," Bey said. "Give credit to Cal. They made some tough shots. I took it upon myself to step up. We needed this win."
Stanford has lost four of its last five games, with two losses in overtime and the other two by five points or less.
When asked during his postgame radio show about the effectiveness of late-game huddles with his players, Stanford coach Jerod Haase said, "I think they are leaning on me. There's a progression our team must make to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. One of those steps is not always relying on me. They must make some strides on their own when we need to execute or make stops."
Tyrell Terry led Stanford with 14 points against Utah, but he also had six turnovers. The Cardinal finished with 20 turnovers that led to 19 points for the Utes.
"When you hold teams to 50 points, you have to score more points at some point," Haase said. "We've talked about turnovers all year. We shoot the ball pretty well, but we're making too many turnovers.
"We are sharing the basketball more and putting the ball in more hands, which could lead to putting the ball in jeopardy, but we know we can play a lot better."
--Field Level Media
