The Colorado Buffs can still only talk about the importance of having some success outside of the Coors Events Center.
So far the Ducks have walked the walk — or perhaps just flown better — away from home.
Oregon is back in the thick of the Pac-12 race after sweeping Arizona State and Arizona last week. Dana Altman’s team has already notched three conference road wins while no other team in the conference has more than one road triumph through the first three weeks.
However, Cal and Stanford, currently tied for first place at 5-1, still have the edge in the standings after each team split its trip to Oregon and Oregon State and then swept CU in the Bay Area.
“We’re disappointed with the home loss to California. If you want to challenge for the league you have to take care of business at home,” Altman said on Tuesday’s Pac-12 coaches teleconference. “We’d be in great shape, but Cal came in and took it to us.”
Washington is 4-1 in the conference. The only blemish was the 87-69 loss in Boulder.
“I don’t think it’s psychological. It’s reality,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said when asked about the edge the Buffs have playing at 5,345 feet. “Players feel it when they run up and down the floor. … It’s not a matter of trying to plant it in coach’s heads. It’s a heck of a home-court advantage. We need to take advantage of it as much as we can.”
The Buffs are 3-0 at home and 0-2 on the road in Pac-12 play. But the Cal-Stanford trip might prove to be the most difficult swing Boyle’s team will face.
“It’s a pretty daunting task. We went out there expecting to play better and came back 0-2. Utah did, too,” Boyle said. “I don’t think we’ll be the only teams that will go oh-fer in the Bay Area.”
This week the Bears and Cardinal make the trip to Washington.
“I think they’re both very quality teams and quality in different ways,” Boyle said. “Cal’s starting five is as good as any in the league. Stanford and their depth is as good as any in the league. …
“I do think the team that maybe nobody talks about is Oregon. They’re sitting at 4-2 and three of their four wins are road wins. If anybody has a leg up, it’s them going to Arizona and sweeping those two schools.”
It was only Oregon’s second sweep in Arizona in 34 years. The Ducks are 3-1 on the road in conference play and the other 11 teams are a combined 6-22.
Young and restless
One of the explanations for why the Pac-12 struggled during non-conference play and is not expected to be well represented in the NCAA Tournament is the overall youth of the league.
And a look at the statistical leaders backs that theory up:
Leading scorer — Oregon State junior Jared Cunningham (17.6 ppg).
Leading rebounder — CU sophomore Andre Roberson (11.4 rpg).
Leading field-goal percentage — Oregon State sophomore Devon Collier (.630).
Leading assists — Washington State junior Reggie Moore (5.5 apg).
Leading blocks — Oregon State freshman Eric Moreland (1.8 bpg).
Another question might be: Why are the talented Beavers 1-5?
“What we see after watching tape is it’s the small things here and there,” Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson said. “We’re doing everything but winning games. The first thing we have to do is shore things up on the defensive end.”
The Beavers rank first in the Pac-12 in scoring offense (82.7 ppg) and 11th in scoring defense (72.2 ppg). Oregon State followed up a four-overtime home loss to Stanford with an overtime loss at Arizona.
Cunningham and backcourt mate Ahmad Starks each have scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games and averaged a combined 31.1 points, 6.8 assists and 5.0 steals over that span.
“What we’re all doing is staying positive. We’re two, maybe three possessions from feeling different about ourselves,” Robinson said. “We don’t want to let the overtime games demoralize us.”
Utes more competitive
The last thing the Buffs need this season, especially on the road, is for the team they’re playing on Saturday to have an easy game against Utah on Thursday.
Since the Utes’ 40-point loss in Boulder to begin Pac-12 play, Larry Krystkowiak’s undermanned squad has beaten Washington State and played Washington (57-53 loss) and Stanford (68-65 loss) tough.
“We’ve basically been playing seven guys here of late and those seven have been playing hard and found their little niche,” Krystkowiak said. “We’re just kind of waiting for some of the other guys to step forward and maybe not make as many mistakes (in practice).”
After CU frustrated Jorge Gutierrez (2-for-17 shooting) and Allen Crabbe (2-for-9) during a 57-50 loss last Thursday, the Cal stars were a combined 11-for-19 from the floor with 25 points and 17 assists in an 81-45 romp over Utah.
“You know those guys aren’t going to have consecutive bad nights,” Krystkowiak said. “We weren’t intent on guarding, and I think that carried over into a lot of other elements in the game.”
Meanwhile, after playing well defensively at Cal, the Buffs were steam-rolled 84-64 at Stanford.
“Of all the film I watched of them, I didn’t see them play any better throughout the year,” Boyle said of the Cardinal.
Cats and Buffs
Arizona and CU have a lot in common right now. Both programs are 3-2 in the Pac-12 standings, both rely on freshmen at key positions, both lost a star player early to the NBA draft, and both have highly touted 2012 recruiting classes signed.
And the Wildcats and Buffs will probably both need a win on Saturday to stay just one step behind in the conference race.
“One thing through 18 games that I’m very proud of is we’re a much improved defensive team,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said. “That’s what we have to do to stay in games. … We don’t have a lot of room for error.”
Boyle has repeatedly said similar things about CU.
Better defense Bruin
Since getting swept at Cal and Stanford to open up conference play, UCLA has reeled off wins against Arizona, Arizona State and USC.
The surging Bruins gave up an average of 54.3 points in those victories.
“I think our defense has improved quite a bit, especially our man defense,” UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. “And that’s our staple.”
RPI update
Despite getting swept in the Bay Area, CU’s official NCAA RPI of 63 remains the third-highest in the Pac-12 behind Cal (40) and Oregon (51).
Also in the top 100 are Arizona (64), Stanford (70) and Washington (88).
And teams who probably have to win the conference tournament to get in the NCAA Tournament no matter what include UCLA (125), Oregon State (145), Washington State (154), USC (171), Arizona State (187) and Utah (258).
For the seventh consecutive week there are no Pac-12 teams ranked in the Associated Press or ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls.
Notable
Roberson ranks sixth nationally in rebounding and his 10 double-doubles rank ninth. … Arizona State has shot 55.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point distance over the last four games. The Sun Devils are 2-2 during the stretch. … Howland’s next win will be his 200th at UCLA. Lorenzo Romar’s next win will be his 300th at Washington.
