Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Missouri
Strong Second Half Powers Missouri Over Colorado, 63-54
February 22, 2005 | Men's Basketball
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Jason Horton made three straight 3-pointers midway through the second half Tuesday, helping Missouri blow open a close game and beat Colorado 63-54.
Horton scored 14 points - all of them in the second half. Jason Conley had 13. Linus Kleiza had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season.
Jayson Obazuaye had 16 points and Glean Eddy 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double for CU. Richard Roby, Colorado's leading scorer with 16 points per game, scored nine points before fouling out with 4:12 to play.
Missouri (14-13, 6-7 Big 12) has followed a five-game losing streak with a four-game winning streak. If the Tigers can win their final three regular-season games - and that's a tall task with road games at Texas Saturday and at Iowa State on March 2, then a home game against No. 8 Kansas on March 6 - they could be back in contention for an NCAA bid.
The Buffaloes (13-12, 4-9) beat Missouri 64-62 on Jan. 26 in Boulder, Colo., but came into this game short-handed. Coach Ricardo Patton announced Monday that four players - Julius Ashby, Marcus Hall, Chris Copeland and Martane Freeman - were suspended for the Missouri game for violating team rules. Patton did not specify the violation.
That was a big loss to try and overcome. Copeland is second on the team with 12.6 points per game, Hall leads the Buffaloes in assists with 4.4 per game, and Ashby is the leading rebounder with 6.1 per game.
The short bench appeared to catch up with Colorado in the second half.
The Buffaloes built a 24-18 lead during a sloppy first half, when Missouri committed 10 turnovers and made just six of 22 shots (27 percent). The Buffaloes played a matchup zone defense that dared the Tigers to shoot 3-pointers.
Missouri was willing, but unable to convert. The Tigers were 3-for-14 from 3-point range (21 percent) in the first half. In fact, the Tigers didn't even try a shot from inside the arc until nearly five minutes into the game.
Colorado wasn't much better, shooting 37 percent (10-for-27) in the first half and committing eight turnovers. Still, the Buffaloes built a 24-18 lead.
Missouri tied it 26-26 four minutes into the second half on Horton's short jumper. The Tigers went ahead for good 33-31 with 12:25 to play on Marshall Brown's jump shot. Brown's put-back 30 seconds later gave Missouri a four-point lead, then Horton scored the Tigers' next nine points during a 15-3 Missouri run, putting Missouri up 46-34 with 7:57 to play.
After that, Colorado never really threatened.
