Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
11-13 (2-8)
Kansas State
20-4 (7-3)
Kansas State Pulls Away From Colorado
February 13, 2010 | Men's Basketball
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Colorado hung around with No. 9/9 Kansas State for the first half, but the Wildcats dominated after halftime to cruise to a 68-51 victory over the Buffaloes at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Kansas State opened the second half on a 29-12 run to take control of the game and capture their largest lead at 57-38 with 7:52 remaining. Luis Colon scored all nine of his points in this span to allow the Wildcats to pull away.
"We turned the ball over four or five times early on in the half and we gave them 26 free points off our turnovers," said CU Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik following the game. "You can't help a team like that, the ninth-ranked team in the country, can't help them score like that."
The Buffs committed a season-high 22 turnovers and were outrebounded 36-28.
Colorado led for much of the first half behind 12 points from Cory Higgins, but Kansas State ended the half on a 12-6 run with seven of those points coming from Jacob Pullen to take a 28-26 lead into the break.
Higgins led CU with 21 points and Alec Burks added 17. There was not much scoring production beyond those two as the next leading scorers were Dwight Thorne II and Casey Crawford with four points apiece. Burks led with six rebounds.
Marcus Relphorde did not play due to tendinitis in his left knee and is day-to-day. Relphorde had started all 23 games this season prior to today. Trey Eckloff made his first career start for the Buffs.
Pullen led Kansas State with 15 points and Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels each scored 12. Pullen and Kelly both recorded double-doubles as Pullen had ten assists and Kelly notched 11 rebounds.
The Buffaloes return to the court on Wednesday to host Oklahoma at the Coors Events Center. The game will tip at 7 p.m. and be televised on ESPNU.
