GAMETIME: 5:45 p.m. MDT
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke);
Westwood One (Dave Pasch, Danny Manning)
TV: TBS (Brad Nessler, Steve Lavin, Evan Washburn)
Watch Online: NCAA.com
Satellite (Westwood One): TBA
Live Statistics: CUBuffs.com

BUFFS IN NCAA TOURNAMENT: Colorado is making its 15th
appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2016. The
Buffaloes have two Final Four appearances in 1942 and 1955.
It is the fifth trip to the Big Dance in head coach Tad Boyle’s 11
seasons, which included three-straight appearances from 2012-14.
Prior to 2012, Colorado had advanced to just two NCAA Tournaments
in 42 years (1997 and 2003).
Colorado’s No. 5 seed in the bracket is its highest since the NCAA
began seeding the entire field in 1979. The Buffaloes previous best
was a No. 8 seed, achieved in their last two tournaments in 2014
and ’16.

LAST TIME OUT

Against Georgetown, Colorado had season-highs for points (96), field
goals made (35), field goal percentage (60.7), three-point percentage
(.640) and assists (27, the most in a game since Dec. 22, 2009 (27
in a 92-58 win over CSU-Northridge).
Colorado is now 11-16 in the NCAA Tournament (3-6 since seeding
began in 1979 when the tournament expanded from 32 to 40 teams,
1-2 as the higher seed (8, 8 & 5), 3-4 in first round games and 2-4
in those decided in double figures).

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 23-8 overall and finished in third
place in the Pac-12 Conference at 14-6. The Buffaloes were the runner up at the 2021 Pac-12 Tournament. As the No. 3 seed, Colorado
knocked off No. 11 California (61-58) and No. 2 USC (72-70) before
falling to No. 5 Oregon State (70-68) in the championship game. The
Buffaloes have won seven of eight, 10 of 13 and 16 of their last 21.
With the win, CU on a neutral court this season is now 6-1; that ties
the most ever a neutral site; the ‘11-12 Buffs, in Tad Boyle’s second
year, were 6-3.
The 12 wins away from home are the most in CU history; topping 10
in each of the 1941-42, 1954-55 and 2011-12 seasons (the 11 in the
regular season tied for the seventh-most in the NCAA).
CU’s 14 conference wins are the most in program history, surpassing
the 13 by the 1961-62 Big Eight Conference championship team (13-
1). The previous Pac-12 high was in 2011-12. The Buffaloes finished
11-7 and would go on to win the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament.
Colorado’s five road conference wins are the program’s most since
the 1961-62 team had six (6-1). The Buffaloes’ 6-6 overall road
record is their best since the 2000-01 team also finished 6-6. CU’s
six overall road wins are its most since 2003-04 (6-7 road record).
The Buffaloes won at least once on all four two-game Pac-12 road
trips this season.

20 WINS: Colorado has 12 20-win seasons in program history, eight
of which have come under head coach Tad Boyle, including the last
three. It’s the seventh time the Buffaloes have 20 wins during the
regular season (1968-69, ‘96-97, 2012-13, ‘13-14, ‘15-16, ‘19-20 &
‘20-21). Last year’s squad tied the school mark for regular season
wins at 21 eventually tying for the seventh best overall mark in team
history.
Colorado’s 23 wins tie for the third most in one season and a win
Monday would tie the all-time mark. Boyle coached teams now
own the top five and six of the top seven single-season win totals
in team history.
Most Wins In One Season:

1. 24 – 2011-12 22 – 1996-97
   24 – 2010-11 8. 21 – 2019-20
2. 23 – 2020-21 21 – 2012-13
   23 – 2018-19 21 – 1968-69
   23 – 2013-14 11. 20 – 2005-06
3. 22 – 2015-16 20 – 2002-03

Three-time All-Pac-12 guard and Cousy Award finalist McKinley
Wright IV leads the Buffaloes at 15.4 points, 5.8 assists and 1.1
steals per game. He is fourth in rebounding at 4.4 per game.
Wright is averaging 16 points and 6.8 assists in four postseason
games. He scored 12 points and dished out a CU postseason record
13 assists against Georgetown.
Wright earned All-Pac-12 Tournament Team honors averaging
17.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He had 24 points in the
semifinals against USC, hitting the 20-point mark for the eighth time
this season and 25th time in his career. He tied a career high with
four 3-point field goals in that contest.
On the Pac-12 charts, Wright ranks first in assists, second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.9), sixth in free throw percentage (.842) and 11th in scoring.
Wright’s 181 total assists lead the Pac-12 and rank third in the nation.
He is 16th in NCAA Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio and 15th in
assists average.

WRIGHT FIRST PAC-12 PLAYER WITH 1,800-600-600: McKinley
Wright IV became the first Player in Pac-12 history to reach 1,800
points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists after a 24-point performance
against USC. He had already been the first in league history to reach
1,600, 600 and 600. He’s is one of six in NCAA Division I dating back
to 1985-86 to reach 1,800 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists.
The 1,800, 600, 600 Club (DI since 1985-86)
Name, School Years GP Pts Reb Ast
Jon Elmore, Marshall 2015-19 133 2,638 636 783
Nate Wolters, South Dakota St 2009-13 127 2,352 601 668
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland 2006-10 136 2,171 647 772
DaAndre Kane, Marshall/Iowa St 2010-14 132 2,110 743 645
D.J. Cooper, Ohio 2009-13 143 2,075 620 934
McKinley Wright IV, Colorado 2017- 130 1,847 640 682
Wright is the Pac-12’s active leader in career points and assists and
is second in rebounds, third in steals (138) and fifth in 3-pointers
made (133). He is one of just three Pac-12 players to reach 1,500
points, 500 assists and 500 rebounds. Wright is the only player in
Colorado history to achieve those numbers.

WRIGHT NATIONAL, DISTRICT HONORS: Senior guard McKinley
Wright IV has earned honorable mention to the 2020-21 Associated
Press All-America Team. In addition, Wright earned All-District honors from both the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and
the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Wright is Colorado’s ninth player to be given honorable mention to
either a coaches or basketball writers All-America team and first
since Alec Burks was awarded by the AP in 2010-11. The NABC and
USBWA All-America teams will be released at a later date.
Wright was one of five players on the NABC All-District 19 First
Team and is Colorado’s first back-to-back NABC first team honoree.
Chauncey Billups earned consecutive second team honors in 1995-
96 and ’96-97 while Richard Roby picked up first team honors after
his sophomore (2005-06) and senior (2007-08) seasons. A total of
10 individuals were honored on the two five-player All-District 19
teams which encompasses the Pac-12 Conference.
Wright was one of 10 individuals selected to the USBWA District
VIII team which includes NCAA Division I players from the states of
Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada and Montana. It’s
Wright’s second-straight USBWA All-District honor and he’s the first
Buffalo to land consecutive spots on this team since Cory Higgins
did three years in a row from 2008-11.

SERIES RECORDS: This will be the first meeting between Colorado
and Florida State. The Buffaloes are 5-8 against current members of
the ACC: 1-0 vs. Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest;
1-1 vs. Duke; 0-1 vs. Louisville and Notre Dame; 0-2 vs. Pittsburgh
and 0-3 vs. North Carolina. Florida State will be the 10th school in
the league to line up against CU.

WRIGHT AGAINST COUSY FINALISTS: McKinley Wright IV was one of the top 10 finalists for the 2021 Cousy Award given to
the best point guard in the nation. He didn’t make the top five, but his numbers sure stack up there with the best of them. Here are
Wright’s numbers stacked up against the 2021 Cousy Top 5.
Ranked in order of total points/ranks of nine statistical categories together, 1 point for the top figure, 2 for second, etc.; the lower the
overall total, the higher the rank – Chart courtesy David Plati, Colorado Associate AD/SID:
Team FG 3-Pt FT
Player, School (combined ranks) G (W-L) Pts-Avg. Reb-Avg. Ast-Avg. Stl-Avg. TO-Avg. (A:TO) Pct. Pct. Pct.
McKinley Wright IV, Colorado 31 (23-8) 477-15.4 135-4.4 181-5.8 32-1.1 63-2.1 (2.87:1) 48.5 31.5 84.2
3 (29 points) 4 4 1 5 2 2 3 6 2
THE FIVE FINALISTS:
Ayo Dosumnu, Illinois 27 (24-6) 555-20.6 175-6.5 145-5.4 31-1.2 87-3.2 (1.67:1) 49.0 38.3 78.3
1 (25 points) 1 1 2 4 5 3 2 3 4
Jared Butler, Baylor 25 (23-2) 424-17.0 82-3.3 123-4.9 54-2.2 76-3.0 (1.62:1) 47.9 41.3 78.9
2 (28 points) 3 5 3 1 4 4 4 1 3
Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State 26 (21-8) 520-20.0 163-6.3 91-3.5 38-1.4 108-4.2 (0.84:1) 44.5 40.3 84.9
4 (33 points) 2 2 6 3 6 6 5 2 1
Jalen Suggs, Gonzaga 25 (27-0) 340-13.6 136-5.4 110-4.4 48-1.9 70-2.8 (1.57:1) 50.4 34.1 73.7
T5 (36 points) 6 3 5 2 3 5 1 5 6
Collin Gillespie, Villanova 20 (16-6) 279-14.0 65-3.3 92-4.6 19-1.0 32-1.6 (2.88:1) 42.8 37.6 83.3
T5 (36 points) 5 6 4 6 1 1 6 4 3

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Colorado was No. 15 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings (NET), used by the organization to evaluate
teams for the Division I Tournament, as of Mar. 14. The Buffaloes
debuted at No. 14 in the initial NET rankings released on Jan. 4 and
have been as high as No. 7 on Jan. 19.
Colorado appeared in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the thirdstraight week, climbing one spot to No. 22 in the Mar. 15 rankings.
This is Colorado’s 55th all-time appearance in the AP Top 25. The
Buffaloes were ranked a school-record 13 times weeks last season.
The Buffaloes had received votes in 10 AP Polls prior to their initial
ranking on Mar. 1. Colorado made its second appearance in the
Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, powered by USA Today, coming in at
No. 22 on Mar. 15. The Buffaloes were ranked No. 23 in the coaches
poll for one week, back on Jan. 18.

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS: Colorado’s 22 wins over ranked opponents in Boyle’s 10 seasons is by far the best in team history. In
fact Boyle coached teams, with a record of 22-35, have accounted
for 33 percent of wins over ranked opponents (66) since 1949-50.
Colorado is 3-2 this season against ranked teams after downing No.
24/23 USC on Mar. 12. The Buffaloes also defeated then ranked
No. 19/18 USC on Feb. 25. The Buffaloes split with Oregon, with
the Ducks ranked No. 17/15 in CU’s win in Boulder on Jan. 7 and
25th in the coaches poll in Oregon’s win on Feb. 18. CU dropped its
first game against a ranked team this season, falling to No. 12/16
Tennessee 56-47 on Dec. 8.

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