Colorado’s recent results reflect a season-long trend

While the Colorado Buffaloes have found a youthful core to build around, that doesn't mean it's brought wins in the present. (Photo by Paxton Haines/Sko Buffs Sports)

While the Colorado Buffaloes have had some solid results in the past few weeks — with a beatdown of TCU and a big home win against Arizona State — the inconsistency seen in the same stretch echoes issues the team has had all year.

Looking back at the Buffs’ most recent results, they played a very competitive game against BYU — even taking it to overtime — but could not get the win they needed. Just before that, they suffered a major loss, losing by 34 points to Texas Tech, the same team the Buffs played so well against at home, despite a loss.

The Buffs looked to go on a run starting on Feb. 1 against TCU, with major lineup changes. Starting what was essentially a four-guard lineup of Barrington Hargress, Isaiah Johnson, Jalin Holland, Josiah Sanders and center Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola, the team found some success. The game saw an efficient six points from Ifaola, 16 from Johnson, 12 from Sanders, five from Holland and 12 from Hargress.

The new lineup also gave veteran pieces more energy off the bench. Bangot Dak had a very efficient 14 points, and Sebastian Rancik similarly added 17. This new juice looked promising, as the Buffs managed a blowout in CU Events Center, an 87-61 win.

But just as has been seen throughout the year, the Buffs turned in a less-than-ideal performance against Baylor. The Buffs had some good performances from individuals, with Barrington Hargress scoring 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting and Ian Inman dropping 10 points on 4-6 shooting.

However, the Buffs struggled elsewhere and shot only 40% from the field as a team in an 86-67 loss. These were the kinds of struggling Big 12 opponents that the Buffaloes needed to beat for a tournament bid, but they could not get it done.

These must-win games have become struggles for the Buffs and images of the squad’s inconsistency at other points in the year. Games like Cincinnati, West Virginia and UCF were all winnable, but the Buffaloes didn’t win a single one. While the Buffs have shown up in big-time environments at times throughout the year (most recently BYU on the road despite the loss), a lack of consistency in winnable games has been a thorn in their side.

With said inconsistency, head coach Tad Boyle has mixed up the lineups to get something different out of the squad. Like the four-guard lineup seen against TCU, he has certainly tried different things. However, the lack of a consistent starting lineup that Boyle can trust has been a major issue.

The Buffs brought back center Elijah Malone for his final season of eligibility, and he was an expected starter. Unfortunately, he has been borderline unplayable, despite preseason expectations of both fans and coaches.

While he is just a freshman, forward Alon Michaeli has struggled as well, and in the past five games has averaged just 2.2 points. While the emergence of guard Ian Inman and his shooting prowess has been a bright spot, the inconsistencies of previously trusted veterans have devastated Colorado.

The team’s struggles are wearing Coach Boyle down.

“We deserve to be on a 6 a.m. flight out of Lubbock. We don’t deserve a charter flight back to Boulder,” he said after the Texas Tech loss. “We got one. We paid for it. We wasted our money, we wasted our university’s money. And that’s on me. I’ll take the ownership of this because I’m the head coach.” 

Boyle is not going to give up on this team, but will they give up on him? Despite major progress from younger players, the Buffs will not make the tournament. That would require a Big 12 championship, which would take a miracle to happen. However, there are some bright spots for this team moving forward.

The Buffaloes will return major contributors (barring transfers) in guards Johnson, Hargress, Inman, Holland and Josiah Sanders. The frontcourt will have some attrition with senior Malone out of eligibility, and with the transfer portal in its current state, they could see some departures there as well. Continued development of young players will be key this offseason, and a top transfer center would certainly boost the outlook for next year. 

While there is a lot that can be improved this offseason, the postseason will be an important experience, as CU’s young players can see that kind of environment. Pressure creates diamonds, and perhaps the consistency they have lacked throughout the year will shine on that stage.

One thing is for certain: the Buffaloes are not going away any time soon, and if they can find the consistency they have desperately needed, they could be scary in next year’s NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, they just got what they played for this year.