2 days Ago
It’s not as if Colorado hasn’t been tested away from home. The CU men’s basketball team couldn’t have scripted a tougher early-season trip than the November journey to Hawaii, where it faced three teams currently ranked within the top 20 of the latest Associated Press Top 25 — No. 18 Michigan State, No.
11 UConn and No. 3 Iowa State. CU even defeated UConn when the Huskies were ranked second.
Still, every team in that loaded field at the Maui Invitational had the same complete lack of experience at the Lahaina Civic Center as the Buffs. No matter the opponent, playing true road games always sharpens the degree of difficulty, and CU will get its first taste of life on the road in the Big 12 Conference on Saturday when it visits former Pac-12 rival Arizona State (4 p.m.
MT, ESPN+). Due to a convergence of factors — the three-game trip to Maui, having the almost-annual rivalry game against Colorado State in Boulder, opening Big 12 play at home with a rematch against ISU — Saturday marks a small milestone in the program’s scheduling history. It will be the first time since the 1944-45 campaign that CU has played the first true road game of a season in January.
“We’ve played there, so it’s definitely somewhere we’re familiar to,” CU fourth-year guard Javon Ruffin said. “But it’s a little different. It’s a true road game where they don’t have to travel.
It’s one of their first Big 12 games. So we’re still expecting it to be a loud crowd. We always have good battles against them.
” While none of CU’s 10 road dates within the Big 12 will be easy, on paper a couple of the best potential options for picking up road wins will happen in the next few weeks. The Buffs have played well at ASU in recent seasons, winning three in a row at Desert Financial Arena before dropping a three-point decision there last year. Next week brings another road challenge at Central Florida, which posted its own impressive road win at Texas Tech to open Big 12 play and hosts No.
7 Kansas on Sunday. On Jan. 18, the Buffs visit Oklahoma State, which was picked just ahead of CU at No.
14 in the preseason Big 12 coaches’ poll and lost its Big 12 opener at home against No. 14 Houston. CU expects to have fifth-year forward Andrej Jakimovski back in the mix at ASU after the graduate transfer from Washington State missed Monday’s Big 12-opening loss against Iowa State due to an illness.
Jakimovski played four games at ASU with the Cougars but struggled in Tempe as a starter the past two years, going 1-for-7 with only two points in each game. “We’ll see what the crowd’s like. But Arizona State, they’ve had pretty good crowds here in the past,” CU head coach tad Boyle said.
“We’ll see. But it’s about taking care of our business and playing Colorado basketball. We’ve got to be ready.
They’re playing on their home floor. “Andrej is important to us. He’s our best perimeter defender.
He’s a guy who can make shots. Very consistent. Andrej’s important to this team, there’d no doubt about it.
Not having him against Iowa State was unfortunate, but I thought our guys really responded. We’re going to have to respond against Arizona State.”.
