Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
10-6, 1-1Big 12
Baylor
13-2, 1-1Big 12
Buffs Humble No. 22 Bears, 78-71
January 12, 2010 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Home basketball venues in the Big 12 Conference soon might require a posted warning: "Enter At Your Own Risk." After last weekend, league teams owned a staggering 111-1 collective home record - proof that out-of-the-way outposts such as Stillwater, Austin, Ames, Norman, et al, can be Little Courts of Horrors.
Better count Boulder in that group, too.
Ask Baylor. Better yet, ask Colorado, which remained unbeaten at home (9-0) this season with a 78-71 victory over the No. 22 Bears in the Buffaloes' Big 12 home opener Tuesday night.
It was a night unseen for a while in the Coors Events Center - a respectable (6,957) and respectably loud crowd, a Top 25 opponent, a tight back-and-forth game and a Buffs win.
CU improved to 10-6 overall and evened its conference record at 1-1. Baylor, debuting this week in the Top 25, is 13-2 and 1-1.
None of that was lost on Buffs coach Jeff Bzdelik, who immediately thanked CU's students and fans in his postgame press conference: "They were absolutely awesome and contributed in a huge way to this win."
The win was fairly huge for Bzdelik, too. Although he refrained from calling it a milestone, it was CU's first victory over a ranked foe in his 21/2 seasons as head coach.
Offered Bzdelik: "We need more milestones . . . (but) it was a very important game."
The Buffs realized it, played like it and - best of all - finished it.
"To see us pull away at the end like that is great for us," said guard Cory Higgins, whose 18 points was the highest among five CU players in double figures. "We were knocking on the door; we finally busted it open."
Committing a season-low five turnovers to Baylor's 18 and getting double-figure scoring from five players, CU rallied from a five-point halftime deficit and held Baylor at bay in the final 1:37.
The Buffs didn't score a field goal during that time, but hit just enough of their free throws (12-of-18) to dispose of the Bears, who were fresh off a 31-point home win against Oklahoma on Saturday.
Freshman Alec Burks said the Buffs' near flop at the foul line couldn't be blamed on pressure - at least not in his case: "I don't believe in pressure . . . I just had to step back and knock them down, so that's what I did."
Bzdelik joked (maybe not) that his team's free throw shooting had "gone to pot" since the Buffs' recent No. 1 national ranking in that category.
But that late clanking probably can be forgiven, in light of how the Buffs responded defensively and how players took a big step up in hitting critical shots - something Bzdelik had been waiting to happen within his young team.
"One thing we have to do is credit Colorado because at the end of the day they are the ones that made the shots," Bears coach Scott Drew said. "We gave up 51 (points) in the second half . . . this (CU) is a good team.
"The Big 12 (on the road in conference play) is 1-14 now . . . it's tough to win on the road. I think this was Colorado's largest crowd and they did a great job; it was much different than previous years playing up here."
For the game, the Buffs shot 50 percent from the field (26-of-52) and were 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) in the second half.
Higgins got ample assistance from Marcus Relphorde (17), Burks (16), Nate Tomlinson (11) and Dwight Thorne II (10).
Badly outsized, CU compensated in the early going with defensive positioning and hustle, trailing Baylor by only three rebounds (17-14) at halftime and by five (32-27) on the scoreboard. Baylor eventually won the board battle 38-25.
CU took an early seven-point lead (18-11), but that's when Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn, a junior who might be comfortable shooting threes when he steps off the bus, found his range.
Dunn, the game's high scorer with 23 points, connected on three consecutive treys to highlight a 14-3 Baylor run. And on the Bears' next possession, maybe just to show his versatility, Dunn converted a conventional three-point play en route to Baylor's 32-27 advantage at intermission.
Bzdelik said his defenders "lost Dunn in the first half, but we did a better job on him in the second half." Dunn had 15 of his before intermission.
Baylor forward Epke Udoh, honored in consecutive weeks as the Big 12's player-of-the-week, didn't get his first basket until the 17:11 mark of the second half. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound junior transfer (Michigan) finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocked shots.
But the Buffs attacked him, as well as his massive front-line counterparts - 6-10 Anthony Jones and 7-0 Josh Lomers - who accounted for 10 points (all by Lomers) and 10 rebounds.
Udoh's first field goal gave Baylor a 36-31 lead, but CU outscored the visitors 7-2 over the next 1:55 to tie the score at 38-38. From there, Udoh scored six of his team's next eight points, enabling Baylor to go up 46-43.
Thorne answered from behind the arc, tying the score at 46-46 with 9:50 remaining, and a pull-up jumper by Relphorde 2 minutes later pushed the Buffs back in front, 50-48.
At that point, with the crowd urging and pleading, the Buffs needed to finish. And that's what happened.
CU promptly embarked on a 9-3 run and went ahead 59-51 - its largest margin of the game to that point - with 5:15 to play. The Buffs' advantage increased to nine (64-55) on a trey by Relphorde, then 10 (66-56) on a layup by Higgins with 2 minutes left.
That was CU's last basket.
The Bears closed to within six points twice in the final 1:06 on treys by Tweety Carter, but the Buffs made just enough of their free throws in the final minute to claim their most impressive win of the Bzdelik era.
Higgins, though, was reluctant to say he and his teammates would savor any newfound respect after the win. "But it doesn't really matter to us," he added. "Nobody's going to give us respect anyway; we've got to take it."
The Buffs didn't exactly ease into Big 12 play. They opened at No. 2 (now No. 1) Texas, hosted No. 22 Baylor, and close out the tough trifecta Saturday against No. 13 Kansas State.
Saturday's game (2 p.m., Big 12 Network) against K-State is the opener of a doubleheader. The CU women face Iowa State in the second game (tip approximately 4:30 p.m.).
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
