Following a resume-boosting road win over the Oregon Ducks, the Colorado men’s basketball team (21-9, 12-7 Pac-12) is set to play the Oregon State Beavers (13-17, 5-14) on Saturday in its regular season finale.
The Buffs secured a No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament but have been a March Madness bubble team for quite some time. However, Colorado is taking a five-game winning streak into Gill Coliseum.
Despite the Buffs’ momentum and Oregon State sitting in last in the Pac-12, the Beavers have been a tough team to beat. They are coming off a seven-point home win over Utah and even upset No. 5 Arizona earlier this year.
Tipoff for Saturday’s affair is set for 3 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.
Here are five keys to Colorado winning its ever-so-important last game of the regular season at Oregon State:
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffs need to make sure Oregon State leading scorer Jordan Pope (17.9 points per game) doesn’t get going. They did a great job of containing the sophomore guard in Boulder, holding him to 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field, good for his second-worst scoring game of the season. Of the Beavers’ five Pac-12 wins, Pope scored 19 or more points in each one, including 31 in the win over Arizona. If KJ Simpson and Colorado can limit Pope, it should be a surefire win.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
While Oregon State sits fifth in the conference in free throw attempts per game at 18.7, holding the Beaver to a minimal number of free throw attempts will be crucial. The Beavers don’t shoot that high a percentage from the charity stripe (73%), but they are 9-0 in games where they shoot 22 or more free throws. When shooting 21 or fewer free throws, they are a measly 4-17. Oregon State sits near the bottom of the conference in field goals made and attempted, as well as field goal percentage, so playing clean defense will be big.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffs have played some of their best offensive basketball over the last couple of games. While multiple big scoring outputs are always helpful, the Buffs have been able to stagger the performances across halves. Whether it’s the strategy or not, CU has been able to combat its injury issues while stressing out opposing defenses by being able to ride the hot hand.
Syndication: The Register Guard
Injuries have accompanied the Buffs all season. However,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Basketball | Colorado Buffaloes Wire…