Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
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Kansas
CU FALLS TO NO. 2 KANSAS, 76-61
January 15, 2005 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER, Colo. (AP/Staff) -- Wayne Simien had 23 points and 17 rebounds and Keith Langford hit a handful of big shots Saturday to help No. 2 Kansas to a 76-61 victory over surprisingly persistent Colorado.
Playing with a soft cast on his broken left thumb, Simien was a force underneath, and his solid play helped the Jayhawks (13-0, 3-0 Big 12) to a 17-point lead in the first half.
Colorado (8-6, 0-3) rallied in the second, though, and it was Langford who came through big seemingly every time things got tight. He scored 11 points in a key 17-10 Kansas run midway through the second half after being held to just three prior to the span.
The senior guard, coming off a concussion last Sunday in a win at No. 9 Kentucky, forced a running 10-footer through the hoop to set up a three-point play with 10 minutes left, moments after Colorado's Chris Copeland missed on a 15-footer that would have given the Buffs a one-point lead.
On Kansas' next trip down, Langford hit a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks ahead 51-46. A few minutes later, he somehow got another runner to fall as he was being smothered to start a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach. Langford finished with 14 points.
Kansas, off to its best start since opening 22-0 in 1996-97, defeated Colorado for the 31st time in the last 32 games of this series but as usual, had its hands full in Boulder.
This one wasn't as easy as the final score indicated, though, and at times things looked uncomfortable in the KU camp. Leading by 13 points at halftime, the Jayhawks received a major tongue lashing in the locker room. During Colorado's comeback early in the second half, Kansas coach Bill Self pulled Langford from the game and the two had an animated argument on the bench.
Led by Glean Eddy's relentless work, the Buffs grabbed 22 offensive rebounds to stay competitive despite missing a variety of open shots, especially in the first half, when they went 8-for-34 from the field.
Kansas shot its second worst percentage from the floor this season, connecting on just 38.6 percent of its shots; the Jayhawks only worse effort came in the season opener against Vermont (38.2). It was the fourth time KU was held to under 40 percent shooting in 13 games this season, as Colorado's defense often outshined that of KU's and the smaller Buffs hung in there on the boards. KU held just a 48-44 edge, and CU hit the glass hard for 22 on the offensive end.
Eddy finished with five points and a career-high 12 boards, six on the offensive glass. Copeland had 22 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth career double-double and Richard Roby scored 14 points for Colorado.
Colorado twice got the game within a possession. Trailing 45-44, Copeland missed on a 15-footer from the baseline. The teams played evenly over the next five minutes, with Kansas owning a 60-56 lead with 6:44 remaning before going on a 9-0 run to establish some distance between the two that the Buffs couldn't make up.
