Colorado Basketball: Buffaloes season review

After receiving an NCAA Tournament bid this season, Colorado basketball thanked the committee with another first round exit.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series of articles to summarize this past season for every team in the Pac-12 conference.

The series will start at the bottom of the conference with Washington State and we will work our way to top of the final standings with Oregon. Beyond a final summary, I will attempt to provide some insight on each team as they approach the offseason in hopes of an improved 2016-2017 season.

2015-2016 Season

Overall Record: 22-12

Conference Record: 10-8

Final Conference Standing: five out of 12

Conference Awards: George King (Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year), Josh Scott (Pac-12 All-Conference: First Team, Pac-12 All-Defensive Team)

Summary: Colorado’s only non-conference losses came at the hands of No. 7 Iowa State in the season opener and No. 18 SMU to wrap up non-conference play.

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With the record of 11-2, the Buffaloes would roll into the New Year optimistic about their postseason chances.

Colorado struggled against the ranked Pac-12 teams, going 1-3 against these squads. The Buffaloes fared well enough in the season to receive a NCAA Tournament bid as an eight seed, as they faced nine seed Connecticut in the first round.

After jumping out to a strong first half lead (nine points), the Huskies would storm back and take the game by seven.

Out of the six NCAA Tournament berths Colorado has received since 1997, four have resulted in first round exits. The other two years, in 2012 and 1997, the team lost in the second round.

With a historical record of 10-16, the NCAA Tournament has served as fool’s gold to the Colorado Buffaloes.

2016-2017 Season

Leaving: Xavier Talton (senior), Eli Stalzer (senior), Derrick White (senior), Brett Brady (senior), Josh Scott (senior)

New Faces: Bryce Peters (SG, 4-star recruit), Dallas Walton (PF, 2-star recruit), Lucas Siewert (PF, 2-star recruit), Deleon Brown (SG, not rated)

Outlook: Head coach Tad Boyle has had decent success in the Pac-12 conference since their entry in 2012, posting a winning record every season except once in 2014-2015. Forward Xavier Johnson will return for a fifth season after missing his last year due to a torn Achilles tendon. During the 2014-2015, Johnson was able to average double digit scoring in less than 30 minutes of play.

One would think more scoring opportunities will await him with the loss of Scott. Look for Josh Fortune, King and Johnson to lead this crew in scoring. The Buffaloes lack size with Scott’s departure and may need to expedite the development of some of the incoming recruits, or call upon Wesley Gordon to matchup with bigger opponents.

An improvement in Dominique Collier’s playmaking skills would go a long way towards helping a team that ranked 146^th in assists this past season.

Next: 10 best National Championship finishes of all-time

I see this mostly experienced crew continuing to succeed and would expect to find them in the top half of the Pac-12 again.

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