Defense: Colorado’s Achilles' heel

Bangot Dak (two blocks) swats at an attempted shot. (Photo by Isaac Sterling/Sko Buffs Sports)

After wrapping up non-conference play, defense has remained a real concern for the Colorado Buffaloes (10-3).

In their 86-81 defeat against Northern Colorado Bears (10-3), the Buffs had no answer for UNC’s offense. The Bears hit 11 3-pointers and went a ballistic 74 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

That trend has been felt throughout the season, with the Buffs now giving up an average of 77.4 points per game. Without yet dipping into the gauntlet of a Big 12 schedule, the number can’t be ignored.  

Bears’ guard Quinn Denker was Colorado’s biggest nightmare, leading the scoring charge with 33 points. No matter who the Buffs matched in front of him, they couldn’t stop the output. The game-deciding sequence came when the score was 80-80 with 46 seconds, and Denker was able to find a tough bucket in the paint to give the Bears a lead they wouldn’t lose. 

“We don’t have anybody that wants to take pride enough and say, ‘I’m gonna shut this dude down,’” head coach Tad Boyle said. “He was just bouncing us down and scoring over us, driving it in the lane, scoring over us.” 

Even the Buffs’ best defender, Felix Kossaras, struggled to match Denker. Although Colorado found five steals and had four blocks, they couldn't get a stop when they needed one most.

Colorado was out-rebounded 39-37 and hurt by the absence of forward Alon Michaeli. While center Elijah Malone continues to be limited with a shoulder injury, the Buffs’ paint defense hasn’t shown much improvement. With the amount of size in the frontcourt, the Buffs shouldn’t be having the rebound trouble they do. 

“We are not good enough on the defensive end of the floor, haven't been all year, continue not to be,” Boyle said. “That’s what we are going to continue to work on.” 

A similar message was echoed after Colorado’s first loss to Colorado State, where the Rams scored 91 points on Boyle’s team, but actions haven’t matched. Even in their previous game, a loss to Stanford, the defensive effort wasn’t consistently there. 

A loss to UNC should be the wakeup call for Colorado’s players to buy into the defensive end, but with conference play looming, a change in mentality will have to come quickly. 

‘I’ve got to do a better job, our staff has to do a better job, and our players have to do a better job,” Boyle said. “I’m not hitting the panic button. I’m just saying we’re not as good as we think we are, and so we better figure it out.”

Colorado will hit the road to face the Arizona State Sun Devils (9-4) to tip off conference play on Jan. 3 at 3 p.m. MT (ESPN).