CU USES STRONG SECOND HALF TO BEAT UMKC 79-68

CU USES STRONG SECOND HALF TO BEAT UMKC 79-68

December 21, 2004

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By JOHN MARSHALL AP Sports Writer

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Richard Roby hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, and Colorado rallied from a lackluster first half to beat Missouri-Kansas City 79-68 Tuesday night.

Jayson Obazuaye added 16 points and Colorado (5-2) shot 58 percent in the second half to win its eighth straight game against UMKC.

Quinton Day and Mike English had 17 points each for UMKC (0-6), which looked ragged in the second half after a steady first.

Colorado played it the opposite - the Buffaloes struggled in the first half and started find a rhythm in the second.

Pressuring the Kangaroos into mistakes and using crisp passes to get open looks, the Buffaloes went on a 21-6 run, capped by Obazuaye's three-point play that put Colorado up 59-50 with 7{ minutes left.

The Buffaloes also did a good job of hitting the glass, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds -10 in the second half - that led to 17 points.

Roby found his stroke after going 2-of-5 in the first half, hitting a pair of 3-pointers during Colorado's big run and two more on consecutive possessions that put the Buffaloes up 67-57. He finished 8-for-15, hitting 5-of-9 from long range, and had six rebounds.

UMKC had some success kicking the ball out of the post for open shots in the first half, but Colorado closed down the passing lanes and was better at rotating out to the Kangaroos' shooters in the second. Not surprisingly, UMKC spent much of its time forcing shots and didn't make many, ending the half 10-for-30.

Both teams were aggressive defensively in the early going, making it difficult for either one to get into much of a flow.

Colorado was sloppy at times, throwing two balls into the backcourt and another into the stands for turnovers in the first 10 minutes. The Buffaloes were able to work the ball around the perimeter for some open shots and took a few bad ones, with few going in. Colorado shot 8-for-25 and was just 2-for-9 on 3-pointers.

UMKC had a little more success by working the ball through the post.

The Kangaroos did a good job of getting the ball deep even though center Carlton Aaron played just four minutes because of foul trouble, and were even better at kicking out to the perimeter, where they hit 6-of-15 to take a 39-34 lead.

CU hosts Radford on Dec. 23, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The Buffs will then play one more game at the Coors Events Center against Gardner-Webb on Dec. 28, before embarking on a three-game road swing to finish out their non-conference schedule and tap into their Big 12 foes.

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