AUSTIN, Texas — Colorado head coach Tad Boyle has realized the Brandon Paul game film is an anomaly.

The book on the Illini men’s basketball team is simple — prevent Paul from hitting the long-distance shots that cause spectators to wince upon release and rub their eyes in astonishment after the swoosh.

As Gonzaga, Indiana and Minnesota have learned, it’s easier said than done.

But Boyle and his Buffaloes have their own bullet in the chamber. They enjoy somewhat of a luxury on the defensive end, as Colorado has just the man who can smother Illinois’ leading scorer in Friday’s second-round matchup in the NCAA tournament.

Buffaloes forward Andre Roberson was this season’s Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was the leading rebounder in his conference and was ranked second nationally with 11.3 boards per game. As he’s done all season, he’ll be tasked with guarding the opposing team’s most dynamic scorer for as long as Colorado can hang in the tournament.

Against Illinois, that’ll be Paul. Against teams with a big man with a nose for the hoop, he’ll slide over and play big.

“You have a guy that you can say, ‘Hey, I want you to shut down Jason Washburn, who is a very good center at Utah,’ or ‘Hey, I want you to shut down Brandon Paul, who is a prolific two guard,’” Roberson’s teammate Spencer Dinwiddie said. “So when you have a guy who can guard the two through the five on the collegiate level, I mean it makes our whole just better.”

That’s what many teams missed about Roberson during his high school years in San Antonio. The 6-foot-7 junior has arms that hang closer to his knees than his hips. His 7-foot wingspan and high-flying athleticism have helped him earn a reputation as one of the nation’s premier defenders.

The Texas teams close to home missed it, and for that reason, Roberson was a self-described “late bloomer” when it came to recruiting boards.

He didn’t receive a legitimate scholarship offer until after his junior year, when Boyle realized the swingman’s potential and amped up his recruiting pitch while still coaching at Northern Colorado.

With the exception of Texas Tech, the Big 12’s Texas schools showed little to no interest in recruiting him. A last chance effort by Texas head coach Rick Barnes wasn’t enough to pry Roberson and Boyle apart.

When Boyle accepted an offer to coach the Buffaloes, Roberson made an official visit and committed.

“Just kind of recruiting me late and not really in the beginning since I’m in Texas and all, I just felt disrespected,” Roberson said. “I felt like going to another Big 12 school in this conference and kind of getting back at them.”

Colorado moved from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 this season, so it appeared the time for Roberson’s revenge was over. That was until Sunday, when Colorado made the tournament for the second straight season and drew a regional matchup in Austin, Texas.

Now Roberson has a chance to make a statement in Texas’ house, while the Longhorns sit at home without a postseason invitation from the NCAA tournament or the NIT committees.

“I tried to get as many tickets from coach as I could,” said Roberson, whose family will travel less than an hour-and-a-half to attend Friday’s game. “They were planning on going wherever I was going, but it is awesome that it is in-state and that they can bring friends and family.”

Roberson’s presence on the court is crucial to Colorado’s success. He snapped a 102-game streak when he caught a viral illness March 7, two games before the Pac-12 Tournament. Without Roberson, Colorado easily handled Oregon but suffered a tough loss to Oregon State on March 9. Once Roberson returned for the conference tournament, Colorado avenged the loss with a 74-68 win over the Beavers in the first round.

“We missed him a lot. I think you could see that right away with the back-to-back Oregon State games,” Colorado senior guard Sabatino Chen said. “It makes everyone’s job easier, and without him we lack some depth that we have when he’s in the game.”

Roberson said he’s back at 100 percent, which could mean trouble for Paul. The senior struggled against National Defensive Player of the Year Victor Oladipo in Illinois’ second-round loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. Paul was 2-for-13 from the field and had three turnovers.

Roberson won’t be much easier. Boyle has instructed his junior to stay in front of Paul from the catch and defend him high, knowing all too well that the Illini senior has a quick trigger and isn’t afraid to use it.

“I’ve seen all types of defenses (in the Big Ten), so going against these guys, I’m going to look at it as if I look at every other game,” Paul said. “Scoring is not going to be an easy task, but at the same time I’m a gifted scorer. I know that, the team knows that, so I’m going to look forward to my God-given abilities and my teammates and coaches putting me in a position to score because that’s what I do best.”

Illini head coach John Groce tried to downplay the heavyweight bout between Paul and Roberson before Thursday’s shootaround at the Frank Erwin Center.

“I want to make on thing crystal clear,” Groce said. “It’s not Roberson versus Paul tomorrow and Paul versus Roberson. It’s Illinois versus Colorado.”

That may be so, but Paul and Roberson should be a fun watch. At the least, it should make for some better than usual game film.

Ethan can be reached at [email protected] and @AsOfTheSky.