Sporting two prolific seniors and an NBA-bound sophomore, tomorrow's Colorado team is much tougher than the one who will join the Pac-12 later this year. Cal's underwhelming three-point defense will be put to the test tomorrow night.
"We have a coach who has that scout, and so, we've seen them," said Bears head coach Mike Montgomery. "I haven't seen much. They're good. It'll be a tough turnaround for us, with two days and then going on the road. This is worse than a Seattle-to-Pullman deal, just because of the distance. You don't usually get this. I would have been more comfortable with a Saturday or Sunday game, just to get the chance, but I think we're going to leave [Thursday] night."
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Colorado is led by 6-foot-6, 195-pound sophomore guard Alec Burks, who averages 20.3 points and 6.4 boards per game and owns a 46.4 shooting percentage. Burks is also the Buffaloes' assists leader, averaging 2.88 helpers per contest.
When it comes to the perimeter work, Colorado turns to sniper Levi Knutson. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior guard has hit 74 of 152 shots from three-point land (48.7 percent), and is equally as dangerous inside the arc, shooting 51.8 percent from the floor. Knutson is averaging 11.9 points and 2.9 boards per game.
As a team, Colorado is particularly eagle-eyed, shooting a collective 47.5 percent from the field. 6-foot-5 senior guard Cory Higgins is shooting 44 percent from the floor, averaging 16.1 points and 3.5 boards per game.
"It's a tough turnaround, but they're good. They've got Higgins and Burke, who are really good players, so they're really good scoring-wise," Montgomery said. "They spread the floor. It'll be a tough contest, and I'm sure they'll be fired up coming into the Pac-10. It's a great opportunity for them because they feel like they've been snubbed and should be in the NCAA Tournament, and, as I've said from the get-go, there are teams that should be in the NCAA Tournament, and are certainly better teams, and Colorado may be one of them."
After the jump the Pac-12 reveals a new logo, Jeff Tedford chats with fans, and the women's NIT title defense begins at Cal Poly.
The Pac-12 has revealed its new logo. No surprise: it's exactly the same but with a 12 instead of a 10.
Basketball
- Faraudo looks ahead to the Colorado matchup. Colorado's three-guard lineup should reduce the effects of losing MSF for the season.
- Daily Cal, BearTerritory.net, and Faraudo all wrap up coverage of the 77-74 win over the Fighting Ackbars of Mississippi.
- Monty talks MSF's injury, Kamp's illness, and the short turnaround time for the Colorado game at the post-game press conference.
- Bak Bak was featured on the wrong end of SportsCenter's #2 play of the day.
- Daily Cal previews tonight's WNIT matchup against Cal Poly.
- Faraudo has 20 questions for Robert Thurman.
- Daily Cal hands out midsemester awards to Mike Montgomery and Allen Crabbe. Nathan Adrian (swimming) and Caitlin Leverenz (swimming) also earned awards.
Football
- JO has a transcript of the chat with Jeff Tedford. Tedford was upbeat and positive, but did not divulge much new information.
Baseball
- The Bears sent the game to extra innings with a three-run ninth inning, but fell to San Francisco 7-6 after 11 innings.