BUFFS DROP CONFERENCE OPENER TO KANSAS, 77-62

Monday, January 5

Boulder, Colo.

7:00 p.m.

Colorado

Kansas

January 05, 2004 | Men's Basketball

By: Associated Press

BOULDER, Colo. ? Blair Wilson's 19 points was not enough to keep Colorado's conference home winning streak alive as the Buffs dropped their seventh consecutive Big 12 opener to Kansas on Monday night, 77-62.

Wayne Simien had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Keith Langford and Aaron Miles hit key baskets down the stretch.

Langford had 18 points, J.R. Giddens 15 and Miles 12 for No. 13 Kansas (9-2, 1-0 Big 12), which won its 13th straight conference opener.

Colorado (6-4, 0-1) was led by Wilson, Michel Morandais with 14 points and David Harrison with 13 points and 11 rebounds ? good for his fifth double-double of the season.

Kansas, leading 37-29 at halftime, used a pair of 7-0 runs in the second half to keep Colorado at bay.

Colorado -- which dropped its third straight game, all at home -- cut the deficit to 40-34 early in the second half before the Jayhawks' first seven-point surge, which included Jeff Graves' three-point play.

“I told the team afterwards that that was a really good basketball team out there and I was talking about ourselves,” Colorado head coach Ricardo Patton said. “I thought our team did a good job of battling back. I believe the team that was out there tonight wouldn't have dropped the previous two games.”

Kansas maintained a double-digit lead for most of the remainder of the half, but the Buffaloes chipped away and made it 66-59 on Harrison's free throw with 3:14 left.

Kansas responded with its second 7-0 flurry, triggered by a 3-pointer by Miles as the shot clock was winding down. Langford followed with a layup, and Miles hit two free throws for a 73-59 lead with 1:50 remaining.

The Jayhawks prevailed despite having two of their big men, Graves and David Padgett, foul out in the final six minutes.

Kansas, avenging last year's 60-59 loss here, outshot Colorado 45 percent to 36 percent.

Simien scored 14 points in the first half, during which the Jayhawks used a pair of 8-0 runs -- the first to open up an 11-point lead and the second to forge a 16-point advantage.

Miles made a fastbreak layup after a steal to highlight the first surge, which put Kansas up 21-10 with 11:39 left in the half.

Wilson's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 25-17 before Kansas scored eight straight points, the first six by Simien. Giddens' short jumper capped the flurry, making it 33-17 with 5:05 remaining.

Colorado responded with a 12-2 run, including a three-point play by Wilson and a 3-pointer by Morandais, trimming the lead to 35-29.

The Buffs now face two non-conference foes ? Savanna State and Northern Colorado ? on Thursday and Saturday before turning their attention back to the Big 12.