Colorado Buffaloes And Colorado State Rams Make Pushes To Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament
(CBS4) - The last time the Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State Rams both made the NCAA Tournament in the same season was in 2013. With the way both teams are playing so far, they are well on their way to punching their ticket to the postseason.
The Colorado Buffaloes are 13-4 and have won six of their last seven games. According to Jerry Palm with CBS Sports, the Buffs are currently a projected No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Buffs are third in the Pac-12 standings and are led by McKinley Wright IV. The senior point guard and averages 14.8 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.5 rebounds. Wright is a top 10 finalist for the 2021 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award and needs only 18 rebounds to become the first Pac-12 player to ever record 1,600 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists in a career.
Despite beating Washington State 70-58 on Wednesday night, Wright was not satisfied with his team's overall effort.
"A win is a win. But we're not satisfied. We're competing for a Pac-12 championship," Wright said on Wednesday night.
"We just got to be better if we want to contend for a Pac-12 championship and make a deep run in the tournament. we can't have performances like tonight. We had them down almost 20 in the first half. We let them cut it to six in the second half. We got to be better."
The Colorado State Rams are 12-3 and 9-2 in the Mountain West Conference. Jerry Palm has the Rams as a 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Rams are a half-game back from the top of the Mountain West standings and routed Boise State 78-56 on Wednesday night. They were led by David Roddy who had a career-high 27 points and 15 rebounds. The Rams aren't just a one-man show as they have three players that average double-digits, which is the way head coach Niko Medved likes it.
"Different games, different nights, you going to need different guys to step up," Medved said on Wednesday night. "I think these guys really do. They embrace being a team and the are embracing their role. It's one thing to accept it it's another thing to embrace it and want to be great at it and I think that it's starting to come along for our guys and that what makes us a really good team."
The Colorado Buffaloes host the Utah Utes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. while the Colorado State Rams plays the Boise State Broncos at 9 p.m. on Friday.
