The on-court maturation and education of RJ Smith wasn’t going to reach its eventual end phase without a few hiccups and hurdles along the way.
Smith is dealing with his first extended challenge of the campaign right now.
One of the biggest pleasant surprises of the early stages of the season for the Colorado men’s basketball team, Smith hasn’t exactly hit a rut. But he is in the midst of his first mini-slump from 3-point range, and he is coming off an uncharacteristic six turnovers during CU’s one-point loss on Wednesday at Central Florida.
Smith and the Buffaloes are aiming to get on track Sunday and end a winless start in Big 12 play as they host No. 21 West Virginia at the CU Events Center (1 p.m., ESPN+). It will be the first matchup between the programs.
“I’ve just got to make shots,” Smith said. “The ball hasn’t been going in the basket for me, so I’ve been trying to do other things — defend and rebounding. The last few nights weren’t my night, it was my teammates’ night. I’m not a selfish player. I’m going to have nights, I’m not going to have nights. It’s part of it. I have to embrace that and know I’m going to have a good night soon.”
Much of the season has featured good nights for Smith.
After going 3-for-6 on 3-pointers with a career-high 14 points against No. 3 Iowa State in the Big 12 opener on Dec. 30, Smith owned a 3-point percentage of .590. To that point, Smith had posted only one under-.500 mark from the arc through 12 games, and that was just an 0-for-1 showing against Michigan State at the Maui Invitational.
Smith has gone 0-for-3 on 3-pointers in each of the past two games, road losses at Arizona State and UCF. That’s hardly cause for alarm, especially as the first-time starter has found other ways to contribute. At ASU, Smith matched a career-high with five assists without committing a turnover in 28 minutes, 31 seconds of action. At UCF, Smith finished with a career-high eight rebounds.
Smith, though, is focused on making certain there isn’t a repeat of Wednesday’s performance on the turnover front. Smith had only one prior bad turnover game this season, committing five against Colorado State during the first start of his career. Prior to the UCF game, Smith had recorded just five total turnovers over the previous five games.
Smith said he has looked to CU’s home loss against Iowa State, when he committed two turnovers early but none the rest of the way while playing nearly 33 minutes, as an example as he looks to play at a more methodical pace against West Virginia.
“I’ve just got to slow down,” Smith said. “I’ve just got to slow down, read the defense, and not really think and just play my game. I know I’m capable of doing it. It’s just being confident when I’m out there. I’ve just got to be smarter.”
In addition to the 3-point marksmanship, Smith lately has steadily improved his rebounding numbers. He grabbed a combined nine rebounds through the season’s first six games, but has averaged 3.9 over the past eight games.
“Coach (Tad) Boyle really challenged the guards, after Arizona State when we got our butts kicked on the boards, and he really called me and Julian (Hammond) out and challenged us the next game to do that, be more physical. And we did that,” he said. “We combined for 13, which is pretty good for guards. We’ve just got to be consistent with it.”
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