BOULDER — Colorado coach Tad Boyle expects to see a different USC team when the No. 18/17 Buffs and Trojans square off Thursday in a 7 p.m. game at the CU Events Center (ESPN2).
Not that the names and faces will be different. The roster hasn’t changed.
But Boyle does expect the Trojans to remember their last meeting — a 78-57 Colorado win on the Trojans’ home court on Feb. 1 — and play accordingly.
“If I’m USC, one of those players or on their coaching staff, I want another crack at Colorado,” Boyle said. “I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again. So we know we’re going to get a good USC team, a hungry one, a competitive one. We just have to come out and do what we do and do it well.”
The Buffs (20-6 overall, 9-4 Pac-12) enter the game tied with Oregon for the Pac-12 lead. But just a half-game behind are Arizona and Arizona State (both 8-4 in conference play), followed closely by and USC and UCLA, just a game behind at 8-5.