Ducks Aiming to Get Monkey Off Their Back in Boulder Against Colorado

The Ducks are 0-8 against the Buffaloes in Boulder in the Dana Altman era and 0-10 all-time.

Author:
Graham Metzker
Publish date:
Feb 3, 2022 3:39 PM EST

The Oregon Ducks are on the ground in Boulder, Colo. eagerly awaiting a chance to take out the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday night.

It was just last week that Oregon had its six-game win streak broken in a 82-78 loss to Colorado at home. It was a disappointing result to say the least, as the Ducks started the game on a 10-0 run and led by as many as 15 in the first half.

That loss goes from disappointing to infuriating when seeing Colorado’s next game was a loss to Washington. The same Washington team that Oregon beat the breaks off of to the tune of 84-56 in the game two days prior to the Colorado loss.

Head Coach Dana Altman was visibly, and audibly, upset throughout the second half of the Colorado loss.

“You score 78 at home, you should win,” said Altman after the game. “I thought we had put some things together, but we got outworked.”

Altman surely worked his team as hard as ever in practice over the rest of the weekend because the Ducks brought a completely different energy to Matthew Knight Arena over the weekend.

Oregon bounced back in the best way possible on Saturday – with a dominant 78-56 win over bitter rivals Oregon State. It was quite a sight to see. Four Ducks were in double-figure scoring in front of 10,712 roaring fans, including new Oregon Football Head Coach Dan Lanning.

No matter how confusing the Colorado loss looks more than a week removed, it did highlight a recurring flaw for Oregon this year – only playing one good half of basketball.

Take Oregon’s 79-66 win against Utah on New Year’s Day. On paper, it looks like a convincing double-digit win fueled by a strong 26-point performance from lead man Will Richardson.

But the Ducks were in trouble early. They entered halftime trailing Utah 36-29, and Richardson had just three points. Utah currently sits in dead last in the Pac-12 with a 1-11 conference record. Against a better team, Oregon may not have the chance to come back in the second half.

The CU Events Center in Boulder is one of the most intimidating venues the Pac-12 has to offer, especially for Oregon. The Ducks have played Colorado in Boulder 10 times in their program history, and they have lost all 10 times.

The Ducks-Buffaloes matchup has almost always favored the home team in its relatively short history. Colorado’s win at Matthew Knight Arena last week was its first road win over Oregon since 2013, and it gave the Buffaloes a 14-10 edge in the series.

Colorado is certainly one of the most up-and-down teams in the Pac-12, sitting at 13-8 on the season but just 5-6 in conference play. But all signs point toward a competitive match on Thursday night.

Colorado matches up especially well with Oregon. The Buffaloes have a talented frontcourt of Jabari Walker, Tristan da Silva and Evan Battey while Oregon is much more centered around the small-ball lineup and a rapid pace of play.

Oregon and Colorado will tip off at 7:00 p.m. in Boulder, and FS1 will broadcast the game.

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