San Francisco vs. Colorado Preview

USF Dons (4-2) vs. University of Colorado Buffaloes (4-1)

Date and Time: Wednesday, December 3, 2014 at 7:00 pm PST

Location: University of Colorado Campus, Coors Events Center, Boulder, CO

TV: Pac-12 Network

Audio: http://new.livestream.com/thewtv/USFmbbaudioonly

Meet the Teams

USF
A solid test for USF against a Pac-12 team, on television too, for those of us that subscribe to the Pac-12 Network with our cable provider. Why we should have to pay extra for the privilege of watching Pac-12 anything is a topic for another time.

Jan 18, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Dons forward Kruize Pinkins (15) takes a shot against the San Diego Toreros during the second half at War Memorial Gymnasium. The San Francisco Dons defeated the San Diego Toreros 64-62. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

This game comes along at a good point in USF’s pre-season schedule. Florida Gulf Coast and Evansville were the appetizers. Colorado is the next course on the way to the full meal – West Coast Conference play.

Solid play from the USF regulars Kruize Pinkins, Mark Tollefson and Tim Derken combined with careful effort from Matt Glover and Derrell Robertson should put USF in contention to win this game. If the Dons analyzed their two losses and have allowed the scouting report to gel, Dons will be ready.
Worse case scenario? The team drowns their sorrows with a few frosty mugs of Coors beer which was the closest thing to an exotic microbrew back in the day when you could only get Coors beer in Colorado.

Colorado

How “Buff” are the Buffaloes? Led by senior guard Askia Booker, junior forward Josh Scott, senior forward Wesley Gordon, and junior guard/forward Xavier Johnson, this

Nov 22, 2014; Laramie, WY, USA; Colorado Buffaloes forward Josh Scott (40) drives against the Wyoming Cowboys during the first half at Arena-Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports

team is tough to beat at home. They are on a 22 consecutive non-conference game winning streak at home. Colorado has lost at home but when you are in a conference with an NCAA Elite 8 team like Arizona, Colorado is losing games against some very tough competition and the final scores against their fellow Pac-12 members are not runaway trains either. USF’s ace scouting team had its work cut out for it this week.
Colorado sole loss thus far in the preseason was to Wyoming. Coach Tad Boyle characterized the game between Colorado and Wyoming as a “butt whipping.” Folks in the country know what it means when cowboys go at it in any kind of contest, there is one clear winner and one clear loser. The rivalry between “cowboy” states like Colorado and Wyoming are legendary. This game will be intense for different reasons. Will the Buffaloes regard the “city boys” from USF as sourdough bread soft? Will USF find a raucus Colorado home crowd distracting?

After the Wyoming game, Coach Boyle said that clearly, if his team is going to beat better teams, “they have to play better than they did” against Wyoming. The question is, where is USF in the continuum of good teams? In the game against Air Force, Coach Boyle was happy with the defensive play but the team had eyebrow raising statistical silliness – 15 turnovers and 13 assists for example. Josh Scott is the “post with the most” and Colorado’s equivalent to USF’s Kruize Pinkins. Scott ended the game against Lipscomb with 13 rebounds and 29 points leading the team in both categories. If USF can contain him and unleash Kruize Pinkins, they can win this game.