Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
11-11, 2-6
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Kansas
21-1, 7-0
Slow Start In OT Dooms Buffs, 72-66
February 04, 2010 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - What could have been a much-anticipated breakthrough on Wednesday night for Jeff Bzdelik and his Colorado men's basketball team went the way of the Buffaloes' other close encounters this season.
And coming close isn't on Bzdelik's to-do list as he revamps CU hoops.
"I'm not into that," Bzdelik said in answer to a "moral victory" query after No. 1 Kansas had survived in overtime, 72-66, against resolute CU.
With a capacity crowd (11,027) standing at the Coors Events Center - and for once, the venue wasn't Allen Fieldhouse West - the Buffs couldn't convert on their final possession in regulation and end their gut-wrenching string of near-misses.
With the score tied at 60-60 and CU in possession with 10.6 seconds left, Bzdelik called a time out to set a play. The Buffs didn't get what they wanted - a drive by Cory Higgins, who wound up shooting a long three-ball as the shot clock expired.
"I wanted to drive the ball, but they switched screens," Higgins said. "I think I wanted too long and the (shot) clock got close to zero and I ended up with that shot."
And it left CU with very little shot to win, especially after KU opened the overtime with a 7-0 run. The Buffs pulled to 67-64 in the extra period before Jayhawks senior Sherron Collins shook loose for a layup and junior Brady Morningstar hit a free throw to give KU a 70-64 cushion with 34 seconds left.
CU, which had taken a top-ranked opponent into overtime for the first time, couldn't recover.
"We kind of settled there on the last couple of possessions," said Bzdelik, whose team was defeated by three (Kansas State), four (at Texas A&M) and one point (at Iowa State) in three of its last four Big 12 Conference losses.
"We wanted to drive the basketball; we had it set up so we were either going to win it or go to overtime - and we just settled."
But Bzdelik couldn't be that perturbed with his team. "I think our guys care so much," he said. "Gaining wisdom and experience come at a cost . . . they care so much I think they're pressing a little bit.
"We just have to break through and believe in ourselves. I hurt for them and they hurt because they want to do well and win."
CU put itself in position to do that, rallying from a 14-point first-half deficit and staying with KU on the boards (the Jayhawks ended with a 45-41 advantage).
"We didn't play our best by any stretch," KU coach Bill Self said. "Not that Colorado didn't play great; I thought they were the better team . . . the biggest thing was, they played with great energy.
"They rebounded the ball better than have been rebounding it. I thought the crowd was really good. They played well. I'm not going to say we played poorly because it doesn't give them the credit they deserve."
But for all the Buffs did well, they couldn't take advantage of the Jayhawks missing 20 free throws (18-for-38).
"We couldn't buy one," 6-foot-11 center Cole Aldrich said. "We're going to shoot free throws tomorrow."
The Buffs, however, missed seven (10-of-17) themselves and shot a season-low 58.8 percent from the line. Moreover, they shot only 37.5 percent (24-of-64) from the field for the game - including 16.7 percent (1-of-6) in overtime.
"We had our chance to win," Bzdelik said, pointing mainly to the foul line clunkers. "We had been the nation's leading free throw shooting team, but that's gone by the wayside. We had some open looks at threes that missed and we missed a couple of layups as well."
CU played the game minus its second-leading scorer, freshman Alec Burks, who suffered a mild knee sprain Saturday at Iowa State and was held out. Bzdelik said Burks had been medically cleared to play, but it was a coach's decision that kept the talented guard on the bench.
"He was cleared by the doctors, but he wasn't 100 percent," Bzdelik said, adding he did not want to "jeopardize anything" by playing Burks. "He wanted to play, but he understood why (he didn't)."
Burks' status for Saturday's game against Missouri (2 p.m., Coors Events Center, Big 12 Network) remains day-to-day, Bzdelik said.
KU (21-1, 7-0) entered the game with a 13-game winning streak over CU, including six in a row in Boulder. The Buffs (12-12, 2-6) haven't beaten the Jayhawks since 2003. In conference play, the Jayhawks own a 26-1 advantage over the Buffs, and overall they lead 117-39.
Marcus Relphorde led CU with 18 points and 11 rebounds - his first double-double, while Higgins had 14 and a season-high seven rebounds. Levi Knutson added a season-best 13 points.
For KU, Collins and Aldrich scored 16 each, while Marcus Morris added 15.
After taking a 6-4 lead on three-pointers by Casey Crawford and Austin Dufault, the Buffs succumbed to a 20-2 Jayhawks run that produced a 24-8 advantage with 9:12 remaining before intermission.
But CU wasn't nearly ready for the fork.
Over the half's final 9 minutes, the Buffs kept on pushing, finally cutting the deficit to six points (30-24) on a trey from the left corner by Nate Tomlinson.
KU went back in front 34-26 on consecutive baskets by Aldrich, but Higgins answered with his first field goal of the half - and that was a tip-in - to make the score 34-28 at the break.
Bzdelik went to his locker room in a huff, apparently believing Aldrich goal tended on a Relphorde layup attempt with 4 seconds to play in the first half.
The Buffs, particularly Knutson, returned to the court on a mission. The junior from Littleton hit back-to-back treys to tie the score at 34-34 only 1:21 into the second half.
"I'm always ready to play," Knutson said. "I just try and take advantage of the time I'm out there to help the team win. But we just didn't have quite enough today."
The score was tied twice more before Collins scored five of KU's next six points and gave the Jayhawks a 48-43 lead. Knutson then cut the deficit to 48-45 on a 14-foot jumper from the left wing.
But that was CU's only basket until Higgins hit a foul-line jumper just over 3 minutes later.
In the meantime, Aldrich worked inside for consecutive field goals and KU went in front 52-45 with 9:48 to play. From there, the Buffs crept to within three points on four occasions, then finally pulled to 59-58 on a layup by Relphorde with 2:40 remaining.
After stymieing KU on the offensive end, and with a chance to finally pull ahead, Tomlinson launched an ill-advised trey with 1:40 left, then was stripped on a lay-up attempt.
But the Buffs survived both, and Relphorde hit two free throws to push CU ahead 60-59 - its first lead since 6-4 - with 56 seconds left.
Collins, however, was fouled by Higgins with 36.6 seconds to play and made one of two free throws to tie the score at 60-60.
Then came CU's final, ill-fated possession and overtime, which was bad news for the Buffs.
"With a team like (KU), you have to take the chances you have and take advantage of them," Higgins said. "And we missed a big one at the end of regulation.
"We have known that we can play with anybody . . . it's just a matter of beating those teams now that we've been in enough close games."
The Buffs want to distance themselves from that word - close - particularly when it comes to losses.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
