MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Colorado Buffaloes felt disappointed to be hosted for the NCAA Tournament rather than to be hosting going into the round of 64. But this isn’t the first time the black and gold have had to upset the home team in a hostile environment.
In 2023, the sixth-seeded Buffs defeated the third-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the round of 32 and sent them home, which was just down the road. Now, 12 months later, Colorado has to do it again.
The selection committee announced that Kansas State was to be the fourth seed in the region, making them the host for both the rounds of 64 and 32. Colorado, Portland, and Drake all made the trips out from their hometowns, hoping to leave Manhattan with a Sweet 16 bid.
The Kansas State Wildcats and the Colorado Buffaloes both made somewhat quick work of their round of 64 games versus the Portland Pilots and Drake Bulldogs respectively, pitting CU and KSU against each other in the commonly predicted round of 32 matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 seed.
With the home crowd behind them, the Wildcats have only lost one game all year. And without the fans of the CU Events Center, the Buffs hold a 12-6 record. Despite that, Colorado head coach JR Payne feels some familiarity going into the game.
“This is a Pac-12 schedule we're playing this weekend, Friday, Sunday,” Payne said. “So we're used to this rhythm of it.”
However, the Wildcats have the advantage of being able to go home and sleep in their own beds after every game.
“It's nice to have a five-minute walk to our site,” said Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie. “So, yeah, it's nice to be at home. It's nice to be able to quickly share the victories with family and it will be nice to get back to work here as soon as I'm done talking to you guys.”
The matchup that everyone will be watching going into the Sunday afternoon game will start with Colorado’s Aaronette Vonleh. Vonleh was one of the key contributors to the Buffs’ victory against Drake as her size and strength were too much for the Bulldogs to handle.
Vonleh battled for 10 rebounds on Friday night which was more than half of the total for the entire Bulldogs team (18). She coupled that with 18 points and two blocks, all in just 24 minutes of game time.
With the size advantage being key for the Buffs’ routing of the Bulldogs, KSU’s anchor down low could be a neutralizing factor in the Sunday afternoon game.
That anchor is Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee. Lee leads the Big 12 (sixth in the NCAA) in field goal percentage at 62.1% while averaging 20.1 points per game. Last time out versus the Pilots, she was one rebound shy of a 21-point double-double.
“I think obviously they have a really big piece of the game in Ayoka Lee in the post,” said Buffs guard Frida Formann. “She's super dominant in there, but I think we're confident that we can find ways to stop her and handle her.”
Defensively for the Wildcats, they put up quite the showing in their first round game. Portland could only manage a field goal percentage of 44.1% along with 18.8% shooting from deep against Kansas State. The aforementioned Buffaloes guard will be key to opening this game up offensively for the Boulder squad.
Formann was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention this past season. She put up 12.6 points per game and was widely hailed for her efficiency from beyond the arc, tallying 42.7% shooting on the year from three. Unfortunately for Buffs fans, she was largely missing in action during Colorado’s first round matchup against Drake.
Early on in the first half, the Dane quickly picked up two fouls. That trend would continue into the second half, leading to her only seeing 14 minutes of game time and picking up four total personal fouls. She could only manage one shot attempt and two points, not even getting the chance to get hot from three.
With the highly touted matchup of Vonleh and Lee down low and the 16-point Friday night performance from the Buffs’ Kindyll Wetta, Formann should expect to receive less attention from the Wildcats’ defense which can provide her with the opportunity to be the spark that she has been at many times in her time at CU.
With all of this in mind, Payne and the Buffs look to leave their first taste of Big 12 territory with a win and a consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
Colorado faces off against Kansas State on Sunday, March 24, at noon MT on ESPN.
Cover photo by Roberto Patrick Gerra/Sko Buffs Sports
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