Not long after his team put on an absolute clinic, Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger offered a note of hope for Colorado.
The Buffaloes’ time is coming. But that time certainly wasn’t on Thursday night.
CU returned to Boulder following a 97-67 thumping at the hands of the eighth-ranked Cyclones, a defeat that was by far the ugliest in a losing streak that has reached six games. Yet Otzelberger, whose own club extended the best start in program history to 19-2, expressed confidence the Buffs team that was run out of the gym quickly at Hilton Coliseum will get things turned around.
If that’s true, the next week-plus will be telling, as the Buffs tackle a run of more favorable Big 12 matchups that begins on Sunday against TCU at the CU Events Center (noon, TNT).
Following the matchup with the Horned Frogs, the Buffs travel to Baylor, which is 1-7 in the league with no Big 12 home wins. Then CU gets a visit from Arizona State, which the Buffs defeated on the road to open Big 12 play.
“There’s not a coach that I look up to and respect more than coach (Tad) Boyle,” Otzelberger said. “I think he’s somebody that has done this for so long with such tremendous character, great leadership. He’s somebody that I really admire. You know what a great job they do of bringing freshmen in and developing players. He’s done it for so long at such a high level.
“They pose a lot of challenges and problems. As a team, all it’s going to take is a big win to get their confidence going again. It’s tough in this league when things aren’t going your way and you have to go on the road and play in an environment like the one they had to play in (Thursday). They’re going to keep putting the time in and they’re going to have their breakthrough.”
That breakthrough certainly didn’t happen on Thursday, as the defeat broke a tie for the third-longest losing streak for CU under Boyle. The six-game skid trails only a seven-game losing streak during the 2016-17 season and last year’s 13-game losing streak.
As has been the case for much of the losing streak, the Buffs’ frontcourt struggled at ISU, with starters Bangot Dak and Elijah Malone, plus top reserve Alon Michaeli, combining for six points (all by Dak) and five rebounds. That trio also combined for six of CU’s 10 turnovers.
Malone again played sparingly (6 minutes, 22 seconds), but freshman forward Tacko Ifaola continued a push for more playing time with his best outing of the season. Ifaola played a season-high 15:09 — his first appearance with double-digit minutes — and he finished with three rebounds, including two of the Buffs’ four individual offensive rebounds. Fellow freshman reserve Josiah Sanders grabbed the other two, and no other CU player recorded any offensive rebounds.
“The one thing about Tacko is he plays hard,” Boyle said. “He does bring a physicality to the game. We’ve got some guys who think they play hard, but they don’t. Until they figure it out, it’s going to be tough to win. But Tacko, Tacko’s earned his time. He’ll get more of it if he keeps earning it. I’m proud of that kid. He comes to practice every day, he works hard, he’s got a good attitude. Good things are going to happen to that kid.”