Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
11-12, 2-7
Missouri
17-6, 5-3
Sluggish CU Falls Hard To Mizzou
February 06, 2010 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Freshman Alec Burks returned to the Colorado lineup Saturday afternoon, but something equally vital for the Buffaloes went AWOL - the emotion and resolve CU exhibited on Wednesday night in pushing top-ranked Kansas into overtime.
The Missouri Tigers recognized the missing intangibles early and licked their chops, cruising to an 84-66 victory at the Coors Events Center and winning a Big 12 Conference game that Buffs fans believed their team was capable of taking.
"Hats off to our guys," Mizzou coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought it was one of our most important games."
It should have been for CU, but Burks, after scoring a game- and career-best 27 points, said CU coach Jeff Bzdelik told his team it played as if it had reached a milestone in the 72-66 loss against the No. 1 Jayhawks.
"He said we didn't play with effort (Saturday), that some of us were too comfortable, some of us felt we didn't have to work hard because we took Kansas to overtime," Burks recalled.
"So we were complacent; we were at home, we thought we could play comfortable. I don't think we came out with the same effort as we did against Kansas."
Indeed, home court has been good to the Buffs; they were 10-2 at the Events Center before Saturday. Plus, Mizzou, now 17-6 overall and 5-3 in the league, came calling with just one road win on this season's resume.
But check Mizzou's history against CU under Anderson. He's now 7-0 against the Buffs, including four straight wins in Boulder, giving the Tigers seven wins in their past 11 trips here.
The Buffs, dropping below .500 (11-12) for the first time this season and slipping to 2-7 in the Big 12, should recognize by now that minus their intensity they're cooked. And they were nowhere close to matching what they showed the Jayhawks.
Senior Dwight Thorne II called the KU loss "a tough one to bounce back from; I didn't foresee it being the way it was today. But you can tell there was a little bit missing that was there during the Kansas game."
Whether that defeat or Mizzou's 40 minutes of mayhem was the problem, the Buffs struggled with everything they attempted in the first half and for most of the second. After taking a 1-0 lead - their only advantage - they quickly fell behind by as many at 10 points before trimming the deficit to a basket on a free throw by Levi Knutson with 8:19 left before intermission.
From there, more deterioration set in and the Tigers steadily pulled away, taking a 13-point lead (42-29) they held at the break. Mizzou pulled away in the second half, taking a 63-40 lead on an alley-oop dunk by Laurence Bowers with 12:47 remaining. CU never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
CU associate head coach Steve McClain, filling in for Bzdelik in the postgame interview session (Bzdelik left immediately for Chicago to attend funeral services for his mother, who died late last week after an extended illness), credited Missouri for its efficient opening on the road.
"They got off to a great start and we didn't," he said. "Missouri is a team that, when they get into that groove, that's the game they like.
"They shoot the ball a little bit more, they shoot it with better rhythm and they just get into a flow. We couldn't ever get them out of that flow."
CU scored only two field goals - both by Burks - in the game's first 10:31 and hit just five more for the remainder of the half, finishing the first 20 minutes 7-of-23 from the field (30.4 percent, a season low). The Buffs had two more turnovers (nine) than field goals in the first half.
In the 24 hours before the game, Bzdelik was concerned about his team being "hung over emotionally" from the KU loss. McClain preferred to pin CU's lethargy on the false comfort of playing at home: "Even when we got down early, I think our guys were like, 'I think it will be OK.' That's why I give Missouri credit; they put the throttle down."
Compounding CU's first-half problems were two quick fouls committed by junior Marcus Relphorde. Whistled for No. 2 at 16:50, he went to the bench, didn't return until the 3:58 mark and went to the locker room with no points in 4 minutes of duty. He finished with two points, both on free throws.
CU's leading scorer, Cory Higgins, fouled out with 5:29 to play after contributing 15 points. There were no other Buffs in double figures, while four Tigers reached double digits, led by Marcus Denmon (22) and Kim English (20).
Each team finished with 16 turnovers - a wash in a category that Mizzou usually uses to its advantage. CU got 18 points off MU's errors, MU got 15 off of CU's. The Tigers entered the game leading the league in steals (12.5 a game) and turnover margin (7.95), and forcing an average of 21.4 turnovers a game.
CU doesn't play again until Saturday, Feb. 13, traveling to Kansas State (4 p.m. MST, Big 12 network). McClain said the Buffs will spend their extra time off this week taking a look in the mirror, taking self-inventory and asking themselves, "What do I have to do to help us get better?
"As we continue to tell these kids, 'There's a lot of basketball to play. If you spend too much time on any win or any loss, you're going to have a lot more (losses)."
CU's regular season is down to seven games, followed by the Big 12 Tournament (March 10-13 in Kansas City). If any of the Buffs feels a sense of urgency, it's Thorne, the team's only senior.
"The clock is ticking," he said. "Every time I go out there I give it all I got. That's good enough for me."
His teammates should take a cue. They didn't on Saturday.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
