Colorado 1/15 9:00 ESPN+

[Rufus]

Almost wholesale substitutions. That's different.

[GoBearcats31]

No change to starting lineup

Hickman still out

[GoBearcats31]

Chuckie Kempf and King McClure will have the ESPN+ call

Or Fran Fraschilla https://x.com/franfraschilla/status/...A2NHZ_hNyS2mFg

[Carthage World]

Can we trust Vegas? Vegas predicted UC wins over Villanova, K-State, and Arizona. All losses. Man, I hope that Vegas gets it right tonight. UC truly needs this win.

I've watched enough of both teams (dad is a CU alum) to know UC is vastly more talented than Colorado, which was not an advantage we had over the first four Big 12 games.

There'll still be a lot to overcome tonight (new arena, travel fatigue, altitude, bad shooting stretch), but UC is just as capable of winning by 15 as they are losing by 5.

I like our chances.

[swilsonsp4]

-2.5
134.5 o/u

Vegas predicts a 69-66 UC win.

The line moved to UC -3.5.

[GoBearcats31]

2 of CU's top 5 scorers could be out
https://www.dailycamera.com/2025/01/...big-12-squads/

CU men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle offered updates on starters Elijah Malone and RJ Smith, and while their outlooks are encouraging in the big picture, the Buffs still are likely to be without both players when they host Cincinnati on Wednesday night in a battle between the only two teams still winless in Big 12 play.

Neither Smith nor Malone played during the second half of Sunday’s loss against West Virginia. And while Boyle stopped short of ruling out the duo out against Cincinnati, he labeled the status of both players as “questionable” while saying neither practiced on Tuesday.

[leeraymond]

-2.5
134.5 o/u

Vegas predicts a 69-66 UC win.

Can we trust Vegas? Vegas predicted UC wins over Villanova, K-State, and Arizona. All losses. Man, I hope that Vegas gets it right tonight. UC truly needs this win.

[bearcatjd]

If the Bearcats score more points than CU we will win the game. Just saying!

[GoBearcats31]

As pointed out by @bearcatbunch on Twitter/X, UC has not won a Big 12 game (across FB, MBB) since the Arizona State football in mid-October.

[GoBearcats31]

Chuckie Kempf and King McClure will have the ESPN+ call

[GoBearcats31]

This is a "must win" in my opinion.

Could they, in theory, drop this game, and go 15-0 the rest of the way or 12-3? Sure.

But sometimes seasons just spiral out of control and I'm afraid that if they drop this one too there may be no coming back. Right the ship and stack some wins.

Upcoming opponents based on KenPom:
- at 86 Colorado
- 62 Arizona State
- 17 Texas Tech
- at 46 BYU
- at 79 Utah

UC just played #7, #15 and #22 in the last three games. The games get "easier" if they can take care of business at home and not get daunted on the road.

[Carthage World]

-2.5
134.5 o/u

Vegas predicts a 69-66 UC win.

[sedz]

Colorado has some strange offensive numbers. As swilsonsp4 noted, they don't take care of the ball, turning it over on over 21% of possessions. But they also have the fifth highest assist rate in the country. Over 65% of their baskets are assisted. It's like they're great passers and terrible passers all at once. It will be interesting to watch them to see what that's all about.

One thing that gives me hope is Colorado doesn't give up many midrange shots. Less than 20% of opponent field goals come from midrange - over 40% come from three and over 40% come at the rim. So maybe we can get some efficient shots despite our scheme.

[longtimefan]

This is no doubt a critical game for CWM and the Bearcats, but let’s was not pretend like the sky is falling. The loss to KSU was a close loss on the road, the other 3 were all top 10 teams at one point this season. There are still 16 games left in conference play, and frankly this UC team is good enough that 12-14 wins isn't out of the question. The only 2 I don't see us being a factor in is 1) at ISU and 2) at Houston. We've had some poor performances, but that doesn't mean this team doesn't belong. 12-8 in conference and 22-9 overall gets us back to the tourney, IMO. Get this W on Wednesday, get some confidence back, and go on a win streak. The next 9 are very winnable games (none currently ranked).

KU was preseason #1, and while I’m not sure they deserved that, they have elite on ball defenders. UC opened with a brutal 4 game stretch, so now the CU game is critical. But, if they miss open shots like they did the last two games, UC isn’t beating anybody.

[swilsonsp4]

Wednesday night's game is very winnable. The Buffs are not deep and do not take care of the ball (#342 in TO ratio per barttorvik.com). There is no one area where they really stand out, aside perhaps in defensive rebounding (#44).

Here's a recap of their home loss to the Mountaineers:

https://www.dailycamera.com/2025/01/...-off-cu-buffs/

They have not come close to selling out the CU Events Center, which seats 11K for basketball. Their largest crowd was about 8,900 for IA State.