By the numbers, Colorado has been solid on the glass so far this season. Yet CU men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle wants to see more rebounding production from the Buffaloes’ frontcourt rotation. While the Buffs attempt to iron out the defensive shortcomings that led to the first loss of the seaso n last week at Colorado State, their work at one of the other longtime pillars of Boyle’s program, rebounding, has gone largely overlooked. CU has been solid but not great on the glass, giving up too many offensive rebounds while not collecting enough of their own at the offensive end of the floor. Boyle and the Buffs hope to correct that over the final four nonconference games before the start of Big 12 play, a run that begins Saturday against Texas-San Antonio. In particular, Boyle said the starting frontcourt of Elijah Malone, Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik, along with reserve forward Alon Michaeli, need to improve on the offensive glass. “Those four guys, against Colorado State, combined for zero offensive rebounds,” Boyle said. “In 90 minutes. What that tells me is those guys aren’t playing hard enough. And tough enough. Bottom line. Because we could’ve won that game on the glass. But we didn’t. Because we don’t have that mindset. We’ve got the offensive, I’m-going-to-outscore-you mindset. “That’s disappointing. There’s a lot of different ways we lost that game. Obviously not guarding the 3-point line was one of them. But the other one was not offensive rebounding. To have four guys that are 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-11 that combine for zero in 90 minutes? It’s embarrassing.” CU has outrebounded seven of its nine opponents, and in the other two (San Francisco, Colorado State) the Buffs still weren’t outrebounded, with the teams finishing even. However, CU is allowing an average of 9.3 offensive rebounds per game. The Buffs only allowed six during last week’s loss at CSU, but five of those occurred in the second half. Three of those five happened in the waning minutes, extending possessions for the Rams while preventing the Buffs from securing critical stops. Individually, Dak had matched a career-high with four offensive rebounds in each of the two games before the visit to CSU. Rancik has gone two straight games without an offensive rebound, but has averaged 6.3 rebounds per game since getting shut out on the glass in the season opener. Malone’s minutes have been limited the past two games, but after grabbing eight offensive rebounds in the season opener, he has recorded just eight more in the past eight games. “If we get those stops, it’s a different ball game,” Boyle said of the final sequence. “You gotta finish the possessions. We weren’t able to do that when it was winning time. A lot of different ways you can lose a game. There’s not just one way. Certainly the 3-point defense was one way. But the other way was not finishing possessions, not offensive rebounding.” UTSA offers a possible soft landing for a CU team that had to navigate finals week while coming off its first loss of the season. The Roadrunners have lost three of their past four games and are coming off a 42-point loss at No. 12 Alabama. CSU, the top 3-point shooting team in the nation, dropped 18 3-pointers against the Buffs, but UTSA makes its first appearance in Boulder in 30 years with a 3-point mark of just .293. “We attacked the week really well,” CU guard Barrington Hargress said. “We’re grumpy. We’re just trying to figure out things defensively, figure out how we can get better as a team. I think that’s where we’ve really attacked the little things we can do as far as helping, taking away threes, and just being better ball-pressure defenders. That’s definitely where we’re trying to keep on striving.”  UTSA Roadrunners at CU Buffs men’s basketball TIPOFF: Saturday, 2 p.m., CU Events Center. TV/RADIO: ESPN+/KOA 850 AM and 94.1 FM. RECORDS: UTSA 4-5; Colorado 8-1. COACHES: UTSA — Austin Claunch, 2nd season (16-24, 106-85 overall). Colorado — Tad Boyle, 16th season (320-205, 376-271 overall). KEY PLAYERS: UTSA — G Jamir Simpson, 6-5, Gr. (18.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg, .380 3%); G Dorian Hayes, 6-5, Fr. (8.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.1 apg); G Austin Nunez, 6-2, R-Jr. (8.6 ppg, 2.4 apg); F Kaidon Rayfield, 6-8, Fr. (7.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg); G/F Brent Moss, 6-6, Jr. (7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg). Colorado — G Isaiah Johnson, 6-1, Fr. (15.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .585 FG%, .538 3%); F Sebastian Rancik, 6-11, So. (13.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.7 apg); F Alon Michaeli, 6-9, Fr. (11.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .552 FG%); F Bangot Dak, 7-0, Jr. (11.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, .494 FG%); G Barrington Hargress, 6-1, R-Jr. (11.3 ppg, 4.9 apg, .532 FG%); G Felix Kossaras, 6-6, So. (8.2 ppg, .628 FG%); C Elijah Malone, 6-10, Gr. (7.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .636 FG%). NOTES: CU is 4-0 all-time against UTSA, but the teams haven’t met since the Roadrunners visited on Dec. 22, 1995. … CU had four double-digit scorers just four times in 35 games last season but has hit that mark in all nine games this year. … Dak has recorded multiple blocked shots in four consecutive games. … The Buffs have averaged 32.2 free throw attempts in their six home games. … Former CU receiver Tyler McCulloch, who also was an associate strength and conditioning coach with the CU men’s basketball team in 2019-20, is the head strength and conditioning coach for UTSA. … UTSA’s Nunez played at the Events Center three years ago as a true freshman at Arizona State, going 1-for-7 with four points. … CU hosts Portland State on Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPN+). ...read more read less