We're six conference games into the season, and Colorado has hit a rough patch. After winning their first two against Arizona State and Utah, they've dropped four-straight and are searching for answers.
In their most recent loss to #19 Kansas, Colorado got dominated on the boards, dropping the rebounding battle 44-32.
This has been a common theme for Tad Boyle’s young Colorado team.
Look no further than Colorado's road loss in Morgantown on Jan. 17, where West Virginia more than doubled Colorado’s production on the boards 36-18.
If it's not rebounding and boxing out, it's Colorado losing games through careless turnovers. The Buffs are staying competitive, but they keep falling short on the fundamentals.
When it comes to rebounding, Tad Boyle has a frontcourt problem.
Elijah Malone joined the University of Colorado in 2024 as a graduate transfer from Grace College, an NAIA school and it was a cool story.
During Colorado's first year back in the Big 12, the center averaged 18.7 minutes per game, contributing 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists across 34 games.
Fast-forward to this season after gaining another year of eligibility, and Malone has watched his minutes drop to 16.2 while scoring 5.6 points and grabbing 3.5 rebounds per game.
Teams are attacking Malone off the dribble because he doesn't pose a shot-blocking threat and lacks lateral quickness.
Colorado lacks the frontcourt depth to mask this.
Colorado has players such as Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak in their starting lineup, but those two are your prototypical fours that lack the physicality aspect.
Dak leads Colorado in rebounding, averaging 7.3 boards per game, while Rancik follows at 5.4.
Freshman Alon Michaeli is third on the team at 5.0, but again, he's more of a prototypical four.
Boyle added two centers this past offseason—Tacko Fawaz and Leonardo Van Elswyk—who they view as more developmental pieces, but Fawaz has been getting some run lately.
Fawaz has appeared in seven games so far this season, including Colorado's last two conference games, where he stepped in due to foul trouble and injuries.
Speaking of injuries, Malone got hurt just two minutes into Tuesday night's game against Kansas while trying to draw a charge.
Boyle mentioned he'd be OK, though he'd probably be sore for a day or two.
The injury to Malone led to Michaeli getting 28 minutes off the bench, where he pulled down seven rebounds.
If Malone isn't ready for Saturday's game against UCF, it'll be interesting to see whether he gives Fawaz any minutes at all.
He doesn't look quite ready for the college game and hasn't earned much playing time yet, but Colorado is desperately short at the center position.