Colorado Buffaloes basketball hosts doubleheader on Thursday

Both teams are looking to impress heading into the holidays

Wendell Cruz, USA Today

Colorado hosts an exciting doubleheader going into the heart of the holiday season on Thursday.  

The 8th-ranked CU women’s team returns to action after a 16-day hiatus to play Northern Colorado at 2:00 p.m. ET. They're followed by Tad Boyle's men's team, who face Utah Tech at 5:00 p.m. with both games at CU Event Center.   

For JR Payne and the women, this is a slight pause in between two breaks. They'll have another nine-day "dead period" between games after tonight. 

"It's been really important for us to take our eyes off scouting opponents and put them more on ourselves the past 10 days or so," said Payne via CUBuffs.com. "You just don't get that opportunity very often, especially in the middle of the season. I think that we're better because of it. We're certainly excited to play again and get back to a more normal schedule, but that's been good for us."

The CU men are sitting at 8-2, but still couldn't crack the Top 25 for a second straight week despite a blowout win over then 15th-ranked Miami in Brooklyn two weeks ago. The team will close out their non-conference schedule against a struggling Utah Tech squad. The Trailblazers have dropped three straight games, including a 79-62 loss to North Dakota on Sunday. 

The Buffs will tip-off off their final season of Pac-12 play on December 30th vs Washington. 

The first 500 fans through the gates for both games at CU Event center will receive a special holiday gift. A festive Christmas shirt to cheer on the Buffs during the holiday season. The shirts offered for the women’s game say “Tis the season for Colorado basketball” and “Run Ralphie Run” for the evening men’s game.