Where last years‘ Buffs relied on their outstanding offense, these Buffaloes lean on their rock-solid defense and rebounding. That’s exactly how they won on Saturday, taking a 64-63 decision from the Wildcats, in front of an over-capacity crowd at Coors Event Center.

Colorado women ended a disappointing 0-2 homestand with a 54-80 loss to the fourth-ranked Stanford Cardinal. I thought (Stanford) came out and played hard and were the aggressors,” said CU head coach Linda Lappe. “We had a tough time getting shots to go down in the first half.”

Tad Boyle gave a wry smile when reminded of where the media picked the Buffs to finish in the Pac-12 after his Buffs defeated Washington State 71-60 at the Coors Events Center.

After laughing Utah out of the Coors Events Center on Saturday, Tad Boyle’s Colorado Buffaloes looked forward to a challenge, coming in the form of a talented Washington Huskies team.

In years past, the beginning of conference play for Colorado represented a major upgrade in competition. On Saturday afternoon, it was difficult to tell who the better team was – Pac-12’s Utah, or Division II New Orleans.

After trailing by eight with 8:33 to go, Colorado women’s basketball held Utah scoreless for the duration of the game to win, 58-52.

It may not have been the way Linda Lappe drew it up, but the ending to Colorado’s non-conference season couldn’t have been much sweeter.

With 31 seconds left in the first half, things looked pretty grim for Colorado's men’s basketball. Mid-major Cal State Bakersfield held possession and a surprising two-point lead when Roadrunners’ guard Stephon Carter had his layup blocked by the scrappy Chen with just four second left on the clock.

Chucky Jeffery’s 17 points led a balanced Colorado scoring attack to a victory over visiting Weber State by a score of 77-59.

After two straight unimpressive wins over San Francisco and Idaho, Colorado women’s basketball coach Linda Lappe started to wonder where her defense went. After allowing 66 and 59 points to the Dons and the Vandals, respectively, CU buckled down defensively and held a talented University of Denver (6-3) team to only 36 points on Thursday night.