(CU Independent/Adam Milner. Rams logo courtesy CSU Athletics)
In search of their first road victory over a Division�I opponent in two years, the Colorado men�s basketball team heads to the last place they won away from Boulder, Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
The Buffaloes will try�to end their road woes in the basketball version of the 2009 Rocky Mountain Showdown on�Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and just like in September, the Colorado State team they will face presents a difficult challenge.
The Rams are 5-3 on the year and are an even more impressive 4-0 at home. Third-year coach Tim Miles is in a similar position to CU�s Jeff Bzdelik, since they are�both�coming off of a 9-22 season and�are looking to get�their clubs into the postseason.
Bzdelik said he recognizes this and knows CSU is a team on the rise.
�Tim�s done a great job of building that program where he wants it to be,� Bzdelik said. �They play extremely hard, they make shots and they pound the offensive glass really well.�
The Buffs (6-3) had a chance to pull out�a road�win last Friday at Oregon State, but let a late lead slip away in the final minutes and succumbed to the Beavers 74-69.
Bzdelik said he showed his team 35 defensive clips from the Oregon State game where they didn�t execute correctly by�either allowing a basket, committing a foul or allowing an offensive rebound.
Junior guard Cory Higgins, who had a team-high 25 points in CU�s win over Colorado Christian on Monday night, said the team learned a lot from watching the game film.
�It showed us we can�t take possessions off,� Higgins said. �We�re not that good of a team that we can take a break. We don�t have that margin of error.�
Bzdelik echoed his player�s sentiment, summing up Colorado�s problems this season in a single statement.
�[We have to] sustain the aggression, effort and execution both offensively and defensively for all 40 minutes,� he said.
In typical Bzdelik fashion, the coach stressed the importance of treating this game like they have treated�every game this season — the �one game at a time� approach –�and not getting caught up in the intensity and emotion that comes with playing a rival.
�To me it�s never really about who we play, it�s about how we play and just trying to get better every day,� Bzdelik said. �We�re still a very young team that�s growing.�
The Buffs say they hope senior guard Dwight Thorne II will return�against CSU as he missed the Colorado Christian game after injuring his ankle against Oregon State.
Freshman guard Alec Burks, who stepped up in Thorne�s absence with a game-high 19 points against the Beavers, said he is excited to get his first taste of the rivalry.
�I went to the football game and the rivalry was really big there, so I�m expecting the same thing,� Burks said. �I just can�t wait to play in it.�
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer David Starcer at David.starcer@colorado.edu.
