The biggest tests of the nonconference schedule already are in the past. After completing final exams and taking on a foe few of the Colorado Buffaloes know about, the CU men’s basketball team will indulge in a few days off in the final extended layoff of the season.

It is an easy time to become distracted. Yet for a team that expects to be part of the race when Pac-12 Conference begins at the end of next week, the Buffaloes are focused on finishing the semester strong when they complete nonconference play on Thursday night at home against Utah Tech (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

Following two days off in the wake of a Friday night home win against Northern Colorado, the Buffs returned to practice on Monday.

“It’s a mental thing every year. And look, all teams go through it,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Every team has either been through finals, or is coming out of them. Or they’re in them like we are right now; you’ve got one game and we have a break. (Monday’s) practice was just what I call a run-and-shoot. We didn’t go anything live. There was no defense. Just working on our offense, working on our shooting, working on our passing, working on our fundamentals. (Tuesday) and Wednesday we’ll start prep for Utah Tech.

“We’ve got to win one more game. That’s all we can do. We’ve come this far and this is an important game.”

Despite rolling to a 90-68 win against UNC, the Buffs actually lost traction in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll released on Monday.

Last week, the Buffs finished as the top team among others receiving votes with 116 points but managed only 84 points in this week’s vote, unofficially falling two spots to No. 28. Ole Miss, which collected 86 points last week and was the next team behind CU, moved into the No. 25 spot this week with 180 points despite Ole Miss’ only result being a 10-point win on a neutral floor against California.

Essentially, voters believed that Ole Miss win against Cal was worth 94 additional points, while the Buffs’ rout of Northern Colorado was good for a 32-point drop. Regardless, the Buffs’ ultimate goals have nothing to do with the results of the AP poll and everything to do with taking care of business in the nonconference finale.

“I don’t really feel like it’s too much of a challenge. This is our life. This is what we’re used to,” CU point guard KJ Simpson said. “We just have to make sure we lock in and finish well, finish strong in the classroom. We’ve pretty much been doing that all year. It’s all about having a sense of focus and understanding what’s important.

“As far as the game, we can’t approach it any different than any other game. It’s just as important. It’s the most important game because it’s our next one. We just have to understand that and keep going hard and don’t change nothing.”

The tipoff time and TV information was finalized for CU’s game at Arizona State on Jan. 6. The game will begin at 6 p.m. MT and air on ESPNU. … Washington guard Sahvir Wheeler was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after recording a career-high 14 assists in a double-overtime win against Seattle. Wheeler also kept UW alive with a shot that tied the game at the regulation buzzer. Wheeler’s 14 assists were the most by any Pac-12 player since former CU guard McKinley Wright IV recorded 14 in a hone win against USC on Feb. 25, 2021. … Stanford’s Andrej Stojakovic was named the Freshman of the Week.