MORGANTOWN, West Va. — At some point, assuming he stays at Colorado, Isaiah Johnson will become a fixture in the Buffaloes’ starting lineup.
After a 77-68 defeat at Cincinnati on Wednesday, Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle once again made a comment, albeit a brief one, regarding the status of the CU rotation.
“I think all things are on the table for us,” Boyle said.
While Boyle has used the same starting lineup the entire season — Barrington Hargress, Felix Kossaras, Sebastian Rancik, Bangot Dak and Elijah Malone — the loss at Cincinnati marked the second time in as many games that Johnson replaced Kossaras to start the second half.
The move might have been made just to provide the Buffs with a scoring spark in games in which they faced significant halftime deficits. And Boyle made a similar comment regarding the state of the rotation following a Dec. 28 home loss against Northern Colorado, but ultimately didn’t make significant changes.
Yet the rotation watch might be in the spotlight once again as CU attempts to salvage a split of its two-game road trip at West Virginia on Saturday.
“Isaiah’s a good player. There’s no doubt about it,” Boyle said. “I like scoring punch coming off the bench. We have trouble sometimes scoring when he and Barrington are not out there on the floor. And I like playing them together a fair amount. (Johnson) plays starter’s minutes, so it’s not a minute issues. I think it works better for our team from a scoring standpoint, because we’ve got guys that struggle to score coming off the bench. He doesn’t. So he gives us kind of a punch coming off the bench.”
Boyle has opted to keep the 6-foot-5 Kossaras in the starting lineup for defensive purposes, as opposed to pairing two 6-foot-1 guards together out of the gate in Hargress and Johnson. Yet with CU’s defense struggling early in games even with Kossaras in the mix, a move to Johnson likely wouldn’t make the Buffs’ defense any worse.
Kossaras has scored more than three points just once in the past six games, scoring six against Utah on Jan. 7, and scored just two points in 24-plus minutes of playing time the past two games. Kossaras grabbed five rebounds in a Big 12-opening win at Arizona State, but has only five rebounds in his other six most recent games. He has only one assist in the past four games.
Kossaras, though, hardly is the only rotation regular struggling at the moment. Backup forward Alon Michaeli has gone 12-for-38 in his past five games, dropping his field goal percentage from .519 to .453. And Malone hasn’t recorded a double-digit scoring game since a Nov. 27 win against San Francisco.
“(Cincinnati’s Moustapha) Diop is 7-foot-2. He’s a load down there, and Elijah’s kind of a below-the-rim guy,” Boyle said. “I know one of the things he dealt with last year was handling double-teams and having to kick the ball out. He’s a weapon usually in the low post, but he struggled (at Cincinnati) scoring down there. But he’s not the only one that struggled. We have some guys who are capable players who didn’t play well.
“I like our team. I like our personnel. Our margin for error is really, really thin. The guys that are playing have to play well. And if they don’t, in this league, you’re going to struggle.”
CU Buffs men’s basketball at West Virginia Mountaineers
TIPOFF: Saturday, 6 p.m. MT, Hope Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia.
TV/RADIO: CBS Sports Network/KHOW 630 AM.
RECORDS: Colorado 12-5, 2-2 Big 12 Conference; West Virginia 11-6, 2-2.
COACHES: Colorado — Tad Boyle, 16th season (324-209, 380-275 overall); West Virginia — Ross Hodge, 1st season (11-6, 57-30 overall Division I).
KEY PLAYERS: West Virginia — G Honor Huff, 5-10, Sr. (17.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, .400 3%); G Chance Moore, 6-6, Gr. (11.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, .462 FG%); F Brenen Lorient, 6-9, Sr. (10.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, .508 FG%); G Treysen Eaglestaff, 6-6, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg); F DJ Thomas, 6-9, Fr. (7.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, .580 FG%); G Jasper Floyd, 6-3, Sr. (7.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .456 FG%). Colorado — G Isaiah Johnson, 6-1, Fr. (16.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, .517 FG%, .456 3%); G Barrington Hargress, 6-1, R-Jr. (13.6 ppg, 4.6 apg, .560 FG%, .525 3%); F Sebastian Rancik, 6-11, So. (13.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.0 apg); F Bangot Dak, 7-0, Jr. (11.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg, .487 FG%); F Alon Michaeli, 6-9, Fr. (9.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, .453 FG%); C Elijah Malone, 6-10, Gr. (6.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .560 FG%); G Felix Kossaras, 6-6, So. (5.8 ppg, .530 FG%).
NOTES: The teams split their two matchups last season, with West Virginia winning in Boulder before the Buffs got payback in the Big 12 tournament. Those were the first two games ever between the programs. … The Mountaineers boast a similar defensive profile to the Cincinnati defense that gave the Buffs fits on Wednesday. West Virginia goes into the weekend ranked second in the Big 12 in scoring defense (63.2) and fourth in defensive field goal percentage (.404). … CU still is averaging only 10.6 turnovers per game, which is the fourth-fewest overall in the Big 12. However, the Buffs have averaged 12.5 turnovers in Big 12 games, which is the fourth-most in league games. … Malone enjoyed a big game during the Buffs’ upset win against West Virginia in the Big 12 tournament, going 7-for-10 with 14 points. … West Virginia’s Honor Huff leads the Big 12 in 3-point attempts with 165. … CU is expecting the return of reserve guard Jalin Holland after the freshman missed the past two games due to injury. … The Buffs return home for a pair of home games beginning Tuesday against Kansas (9 p.m., ESPN).
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