Buffs Open Pac-12 Play Thursday At Home Vs. ASU

BOULDER — Ready or not, Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes open conference play this week with their two "early" Pac-12 games.

Given the Buffs' first seven games of the year, it is hard to say with any degree of certainty whether they are indeed ready. But the schedule isn't going to wait. 

The Buffs are set to play host to Arizona State on Thursday in a 6:30 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (FS1), followed by Sunday's 1 p.m. contest at Washington (Pac-12 Network).

The only consistent thing about the 4-3 Buffs thus far has been their inconsistency. They have neither lost nor won two games in a row. They have beaten two ranked teams and have lost to three unranked foes. They have looked like a top 25 team in wins over Tennessee (the Vols' only loss this season) and Texas A&M — but have inexplicably looked mediocre at best in losses to Grambling State, UMass and Boise State.

Even their last outing, a 65-62 win over Yale, had its head-scratching moments. While the Bulldogs are no doubt a quality Ivy League squad, the Buffs had leads of 12 points in the first half and 11 in the second half — only to see Yale close the gap to within one in the final minutes and provide the Buffs with some white-knuckle moments before CU finally closed the win.

What is certain is that there will be no margin for error against the 6-1 Sun Devils. Bobby Hurley bolstered his roster with some key transfers in the offseason and aside from a disappointing overtime loss to Texas Southern, ASU has been solid thus far. The Sun Devils own wins over VCU and No. 20 Michigan, as well as an 80-49 thumping of Grambling.

That last result might not be too impressive until you remember Colorado's  83-74 loss to that same Grambling squad.

While seven games is no doubt a small sample size, the Buffs seem to be at their best when point guard KJ Simpson is on his game. The CU sophomore had a 23-point, 10-rebound game against Tennessee and a career-high 30 points and seven rebounds against A&M.

Simpson has also scored in double figures every game thus far. But he is shooting 51 percent in CU victories (27-for-53) and 33 percent in Colorado losses (15-for-45).

The Buffs need more than just Simpson playing well. The return of J'Vonne Hadley to the floor was a boost against Yale. Junior forward Tristan da Silva had a season-best 20 points and six rebounds against the Bulldogs and big man Lawson Lovering continues to grow as a defensive presence.

But they will all need to be on their game against the Sun Devils. ASU has three players averaging at least 12 points per game, led by Illinois State transfer DJ Horne (13.1 points per game). The Sun Devils also have a 7-footer in the middle in Nevada transfer Warren Washington (8.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg). 

But the stats that stand out the most so far for ASU have come on the defensive end. The Sun Devils are holding opponents to just 34 percent shooting this season — including just 22 percent (31-for-140) from 3-point range — and they are giving up an average of just 59.7 points per game.

While ASU has always been an aggressive defensive team under Hurley, Boyle said the difference this year is that the Sun Devils have a 7-footer in the middle. That allows defensive perimeter players to take more chances, knowing Washington has their backs if they make a mistake.

"We've got to be really, really strong with the ball," Boyle said. "We have to have great spacing with everything that we do. And we have to be great decision makers in the paint and great finishers. That decision might be to kick it out for a three or try to get it all the way to the rim and finish. That's what it's going to take to be successful offensively against this team because their defensive numbers are crazy."

TV/RADIO: The radio broadcast will be carried by KOA (850 AM, 94.1 FM) with Voice of the Buffs Mark Johnson and Scott Wilke. The pregame show begins at 6 p.m. FS1 will provide television coverage with Jacob Tobey and Casey Jacobson.

UP NEXT: The Buff play their second conference game of the year Sunday when they play at Washington in a 1 p.m. game (Pac-12 Networks).

After that, CU wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule with four more games, beginning with a Dec. 8 home game against Colorado State.