Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
10-7, 1-2Big 12
Kansas State
15-2, 2-1Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas State | 38 | 49 | 87 |
| Colorado | 34 | 47 | 81 |
Buffs Fall Short Against No. 13/12 Wildcats
January 16, 2010 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Jeff Bzdelik didn't dally in searching for a game comparable to the one his Colorado Buffaloes played Saturday against No. 13 Kansas State.
"I was with the Miami Heat when we played the Knicks . . . it lasted for days," he joked.
This Big 12 Conference game didn't give the impression of lasting quite that long, but it did require nearly 21/2 hours to complete, mainly because of the 68 fouls called -- a Coors Events Center record -- and 94 free throws attempted.
Neither Bzdelik nor his players wanted to pin their 87-81 loss against the Wildcats on what seemed like a whistle every 20 seconds, but they did acknowledge it's difficult to establish any offensive rhythm against the backdrop of an almost constant "tweet."
"Yeah, it started, stopped, sputtered," Bzdelik said of what loosely passed for a pace in the Buffs' first home loss (9-1) of the season before the season's largest crowd (10,852).
Bzdelik and the Buffs saluted their boisterous fan and student support. Guard Cory Higgins called the crowd "the best Colorado crowd since I've been here," and Bzdelik added, "Our fans have been absolutely awesome. I sincerely hope they'll continue to support this team and create the kind of environment we had (Saturday)
"We'll have some fun in this building."
Fun appeared to be on Saturday's menu, but there were those whistles . . . Understated CU senior guard Dwight Thorne II: "There were a lot of fouls called . . . . It was hard for both teams to get in a rhythm. You have to deal with it."
However, the Buffs, trying to defeat back-to-back ranked men's opponents for the time ever, had more to deal with than the adverse effects of a foul-fest.
Consider: They were out-rebounded 44-27, gave up 23 points on 17 turnovers and saw their bench outscored 32-18 by the Wildcats.
"When it's all said and done, we need to take care of the ball better," Bzdelik said. "We can't have that many turnovers . . . and we missed free throws."
Indeed, the Buffs (10-7, 1-2) hit just 27 of their 40 attempts, while the Wildcats (15-2, 2-1) were 38-of-54 from the line. A telling companion stat: K-State shot 41.5 percent from the field (22-of-53), CU shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47).
The Buffs were whistled for 36 fouls, the Wildcats 32. K-State coach Frank Martin said the inordinate number of fouls is "becoming a common theme with our basketball team.
"We commit most of them. We didn't foul early in the year, now all of a sudden all we do is foul . . . it's bad defense and bad basketball, and we have to stop."
So to say this game was won (and lost) at the free throw line has plenty of merit.
"Free throws . . . I missed four (6-of-10). That puts us right in the game if we make them. We don't have the luxury of missing those," said Higgins, who led the Buffs with 30 points.
CU's other double-figure scorers were Marcus Relphorde (18), Alec Burks (14) and Thorne (12). K-State had five players in double figures, led by Jacob Pullen's 18.
 Relphorde wasn't among the three Buffs who fouled out (Trey Eckloff, Austin DuFault, Thorne), but he and three of his teammates finished with four fouls each. And Relphorde, averaging 14.0 points in CU's previous four games, scored only three first-half points as a result of spending most of the half on the bench.
"I felt like I could have helped the team in the first half," he said. "The fouls definitely affected things for us."
CU endured a jittery opening and a late 7-0 run by K-State to only trail 38-34 after a foul-a-rama of a first half - with more to come. A total of 36 fouls were called in the first 20 minutes - 19 on CU, 17 on the visitors.
But aside from quick whistles, errant whistles or whatever, for most of the first 20 minutes the Buffs simply weren't sharp offensively. They also suffered early turnover problems, committing five of their 17 - the Wildcats had the same total - in the first 4:10.
CU trailed 38-34 at halftime, holding K-State without a field goal in the half's final 2:43 and outscoring the Wildcats 7-3 to close to within four at the break.
Relphorde opened the second half apparently wanting to make up for his missed time. After making one of two free throws, he buried a three-pointer to tie the score at 40-40 with 16:53 remaining. Higgins then scored consecutive baskets to push the Buffs up 44-42 less than 5 minutes into the second half.
It would be CU's last lead.
Meanwhile, Relphorde couldn't escape the whistles; he picked up his fourth personal with 11:14 to play and immediately went to the bench.
The Buffs stayed close until Austin DuFault failed to convert a three-point play that would have tied the score at 52-52. That might have been the opening the Wildcats needed; they went on a 9-2 run for an eight-point (61-53) lead and increased it to nine (78-69) with 2:13 to play.
CU pulled to within four points four times over the final 8 minutes, including 78-74 with 1:20 left, and couldn't get any closer. But the Buffs tried . . .
Thorne hit a trey with :38.4 left to bring CU to 82-77, then CU got a turnover less than a second later. But Higgins' three-point attempt was deflected by Chris Merriewether and teammate Curtis Kelly was fouled in the scramble for the ball.
Kelly converted both free throws (84-77), and with 25.2 seconds left, CU was spent.
The Buffs now go on a two-game road trip, playing Wednesday at Oklahoma State and Saturday at Texas A&M.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
