CU Buffs host Marquette in final test of basketball preseason
Colorado faces its final competitive hurdle of the preseason on Sunday when it hosts Marquette in a closed scrimmage. It has been only 19 months since the Buffs and Marquette collided in a thrilling second-round battle in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, with the Golden Eagles eliminating the Buffs in an 81-77 decision. As is the current norm in college basketball, the Buffs have only one player — Bangot Dak, then a little-used freshman — who played in that game. Marquette actually is above the curve, coming to Boulder with five players that were on that tournament team. But only Chase Ross and Ben Gold saw action against CU. As they did for the exhibition win against Grace College, head coach Tad Boyle and his staff have put together a scouting report on Marquette, even if it’s more of an outlined sketch than a detailed plan. Yet with 10 new players (including redshirt freshman Andrew Crawford), putting together a preseason scouting report serves another purpose in teaching the newcomers what’s expected in terms of digesting, and then implementing, information. Boyle said assistant Nate Tomlinson took the lead on compiling the Marquette scouting report, since Tomlinson spent the past two seasons at Providence, one of Marquette’s rivals in the Big East. “Against Grace, we did do a scouting report. It just wasn’t very in-depth,” Boyle said. “It was more like, ‘Hey, here’s No. 15 and he’s right-handed.’ Against Marquette, we’ll go a little more in-depth. There’ll be a game plan. Here’s what they’re going to do, here’s how we’re going to attack it. There’s always going to be elements of surprise, and it’s how you handle those. Especially early in the season. “Those (early) scouting reports that you put together, they may not be as in-depth, they may not be as accurate, as you’d like them to be. Now, as the season goes and you get data, and you get a lot of film under your belt, they become much, much more reliable.” While representing the Buffs at the Big 12 men’s basketball media day earlier this week, Dak admitted he’s still trying to be patient with his comeback from an offseason knee injury. “I feel like I’m still getting there a little bit,” Dak said. “I feel like I see flashes of stuff I’m used to myself doing, seeing a little bit of improvement in myself. But for me, it’s really the consistency part of it. Being able to do it throughout the whole week and into the next week at the level I want to.” Dak was one of the bright spots in a 14-21 season, but he spent his summer recovering from a knee injury that kept him on the sideline during CU’s four-game exhibition tour in Australia. Dak went 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 on free throws with 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and two turnovers in 25 minutes, 44 seconds of floor time in the exhibition win against Grace. “When I go back and watch some film, it’s not as bad as I always think it is,” he said. “I’ve got to think that I didn’t play the whole summer, so obviously I’m not going to be moving the same way I’m imagining in my mind. I know that I’m slowly getting there.” Looking the part Even with the summer injury, Dak is listed at 203 pounds, up from 185 at the end of last season. Sebastian Rancik is listed at 220 pounds, up from 210 last year. The Buffs have added brawn along the perimeter and the frontcourt, and Rancik is confident CU will be better prepared for the rigors of Big 12 play. “We look like a Big 12 team,” Rancik said. “It’s good. It gives you some level of confidence. Our freshmen are looking great and I’m just excited to compete with this group.”