WVU Basketball - Colorado Preview

Opponent Preview of West Virginia’s Matchup with the Colorado BuffaloesThe West Virginia Mountaineers will be back at the Hope Coliseum (where they are 11-0 this season) when they host the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday evening. After a bit of a statement win against Kansas at home last Saturday, the Mountaineers were humbled on the road at Houston in a 77-48 beatdown. How to Watch WVU Basketball vs ColoradoDate: January 17th Time: 6:00 PM EST Venue: Hope Coliseum, Morgantown, W.VaHow to Watch: CBSSN Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network/Varsity Network WVU Record: 11-6 Colorado Record: 112-5 Colorado PreviewHow They Got HereThe Colorado Buffaloes will enter Saturday night’s matchup against the Mountaineers with a 12-5 (2-2) record. In their non-conference slate, the Buffs picked up notable wins over Providence and Washington while falling to Colorado State, Stanford, and Northern Colorado. In Big 12 Conference play, Colorado won their first two games (Arizona State, Utah) and has lost their two most recent matchups. Last Saturday, Texas Tech beat Colorado 75-73 in Boulder. Colorado then fell on the road at Cincinnati by a final score of 77-68 on Wednesday night. Numbers to Know78.1Colorado holds the best free-throw shooting percentage in the Big 12, making 78.1% of their shots from the charity stripe this season. In their two conference wins, the Buffs' efficient free-throw shooting made a big difference. Against Arizona State, Colorado got to the line 38 times and made 32 (84%) of their attempts. The trend continued in the win at home over Utah, as the Buffs made 19-of-21 free throws for just over 90%. In 4 Big 12 games, the Buffs are knocking down a rather remarkable 84% of their free throws. 36.5Colorado’s three-point defense has been the worst in the Big 12. Opponents are knocking down 36.5% of their shots from downtown. West Virginia’s Honor Huff, who has made more threes this season than anyone in the Big 12, will certainly be looking for his shot against this Colorado defense. 17Although they are amongst the top teams in the Big 12 in terms of fewest turnovers per game, Colorado turned the ball over 17 times in the road loss to Cincinnati. The Buffs will certainly be hoping to clean that up as they make the trip to Morgantown for Saturday’s matchup. Players to KnowColorado’s roster features a strong balance of freshmen, returning players, and transfers. The leading scorer for the Buffs is the freshman guard, Isaiah Johnson, who is averaging nearly 16 points per game while knocking down 44% of his three-pointers on 3.4 attempts per game. Johnson is not the only freshman having a big impact this season. Alon Michaeli is averaging nearly 10 points and 5 rebounds per game. Sebastian Rancik is a 6’11 sophomore big man from Slovakia who is averaging nearly 14 points and 6 rebounds per game in his second season with Colorado. Rancik is joined in the front court by another returner in the 7-foot Bangot Dak, who has elevated his production in year 3 with the Buffaloes. Dak is averaging 11.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Finally, 6’1 guard Barrington Hargrress is a transfer from UC Riverside, where he put up 20 points per game as a sophomore. He has been a bright spot in Boulder, where he is averaging nearly 14 points and 5 assists per game. Though he doesn’t shoot a ton of threes (over 2 attempts per game), Hargress is making over 52% of his shots from beyond the arc.