Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
14-4, 3-0
Oklahoma State
13-4, 1-2
Cold-Shooting Buffs Get It Done In Other Ways
January 15, 2011 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Tad Boyle had advised his players that over the grueling course of a season, particularly once conference play began, there would be grind-it-out, gut-it-out days and nights when outcomes were decided by the gritty, unglamorous sides of their games.
Saturday afternoon, Colorado's first-year men's coach watched his normally sharpshooting team go stone cold. But he also watched it go rock solid during crunch time.
Overcoming a 12-point second-half deficit, streaking CU finally caught and controlled Oklahoma State 75-71 before a supercharged sellout crowd (11,096) at the Coors Events Center. The Buffaloes are on an uncharacteristic hot run in hoops; they're 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference for the first time since opening 6-0 in 1996-97, have won 11 consecutive home games this season and are basking in a seven-game winning streak.
"I don't know if it was the most impressive win or not," said senior Cory Higgins, "but we're really encouraged by it because it showed something else this team can do. It's the first time we've had to come back at home . . . we played with a lot of grit and determination out there. It was big for our team showing that we could do that, too."
Boyle is loving every minute of it, but he's telling himself the same thing he's telling his players: It's OK to savor success, but always remember to stay humble and hungry. And the Buffs, who improved to 14-4 overall, had to be both on Saturday to overtake the Cowboys. They compensated for their frigid field goal shooting with determination on the boards and a feathery touch from the free throw line.
"That was a heck of a Big 12 game," Boyle said. "Hats off to Oklahoma State; they came in with a great game plan and took it to us in the first half . . . to get out of here with a win is a testament to our players."
CU shot only 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the field and made only three field goals in the game's final 8:11, but as Boyle said, "When you're not scoring the basketball, you have to find other ways. You have to rebound it, get stick backs and get to the free throw line."
The Buffs wound up doing all three, thus the win. But in the final 16 minutes, after trailing by a dozen points, they also had to overcome deficiencies other than their poor shooting.
"We were getting outhustled, out-toughed; they were getting loose balls," Boyle said. "We talked in huddle about it being unacceptable on our home floor. We turned it around, we got those loose balls, those long rebounds."
And the Buffs eventually got another win that will help further establish their identity. But it didn't come easy.
Hammered 71-48 on Wednesday night at Texas A&M, the Cowboys (13-4, 1-2) elected to travel to Boulder two days early. They practiced Thursday and Friday at the Events Center, and for just over a half, it appeared the early arrival might be beneficial.
The Cowboys shot 46.7 percent from the field in the first half, limited the Buffs to 25.9 percent and took a 38-34 halftime lead that ballooned to 54-42 with just over 16 minutes remaining. CU stayed close for a half due only to its free throw shooting - a season-best 17-of-18 - and eventually won the game at the line when sophomore guard Alec Burks hit four consecutive foul shots in the final 10.8 seconds.
The Buffs were 34-of-39 from the free throw line to the Cowboys' 11-of-14. Said OSU Coach Travis Ford: "You're not going to win a game when one team shoots 39 free throws and the other shoots only 14 - it is just like banging your head against the wall. We were playing offensively, getting whatever we wanted offensively, executing; but just fouling, fouling, fouling at the other end."
But with such a big free throw discrepancy also comes a huge obligation to make the free throws. Boyle has a simple philosophy on the subject: "If it's not good enough, get your tail in the gym. I don't talk about it. It's an individual thing. If you don't take care of it, you're probably not going to find yourself in the game."
If his players don't rebound, they won't find themselves on the floor either. But this is an area in which Boyle's Buffs have made a quantum leap. They out-boarded the Cowboys 39-24 - the sixth consecutive game in which CU has won the rebound battle.
Ford was dismayed by that total: "We want to rebound the ball and we were just annihilated on the glass," he said.
Boyle pointed to the Buffs' board work and getting critical late stops as the keys to sending the sellout crowd - the first this season after two last year - home with good reason to return.
"That was a big thing why we needed to get this win - to get people to come back," Higgins said. "I don't want anyone to think it's a fluke. We're here for the whole year, so we're just building on this."
Burks called the electric home atmosphere "crazy . . . it brought me back to high school and my games. So I just love it."
Scoring 20 points and collecting 11 rebounds, Burks was one of three Buffs in double figures. Higgins hit a game-high 23 and Marcus Relphorde added 14.
Here's how frigid the Buffs were from the field in the first 20 minutes: From the 6:44 mark until the halftime buzzer, CU had a trey by Higgins - it gave the Buffs a 29-27 advantage - but not another field goal.
Following Higgins' three-pointer, the Cowboys outscored the Buffs 11-5 to take their four-point lead in a first half that saw nine ties and 10 lead changes. Yet during that nearly 7-minute span to close the half, the Buffs managed five-of-six free throws to keep it close.
Higgins was the only Buff who came close to being a first-half sharpshooter. He hit two of his three trey attempts and went eight-for-eight from the free throw line for 14 points.
CU had trailed at halftime only once this season, but rallied from that 33-30 deficit to defeat Colorado State 90-83 in overtime. But on Saturday a second-half rally seemed doubtful given the way the second half started.
OSU came out of its locker room with a clear strategy - go inside to 6-foot-7 senior Marshall Moses. He scored eight of the Cowboys' first 10 points, helping build a 48-40 lead that was his team's largest of the afternoon until Ray Penn and Keiton Page hit back-to-back three-pointers to push OSU ahead by a dozen (54-42) with 16:08 to play.
The Buffs needed a spark - and fast.
And there was Higgins. He canned another three-pointer from the deep left corner, then followed with a short jumper. When Relphorde's soft jumper settled into the net, CU had completed a 7-0 run and trailed 54-49 - and the capacity crowd was back in full throat.
Boyle said Higgins "is understanding what it takes to be a senior, what seniors need to do. He's playing like a senior in every way."
But the decibel level was mild compared to what was coming.
The Cowboys went back in front by seven points, but the Buffs kept battling. When Levi Knutson's only trey of the game dropped in with 8:11 to play, CU had pulled back to within two (58-56) - and the old building shook.
Completing a 16-4 run, the Buffs tied the game at 58 on a pair of free throws by Burks at the 7:09 mark, then took their first lead (60-58) since 29-28 on a reverse layup by Austin Dufault with 5:56 to play.
Page hit a straightaway three to give OSU a 61-60 advantage, but Dufault hit one of two free throws to forge another tie. Over the next 5:07, CU got six free throws before finally getting another field goal - a stuff by Relphorde. He then hit two free throws with 1:22 remaining to push CU ahead 71-67.
Boyle called Relphorde, who scored six of his 14 points in the final 4:14, "to me the difference in the game. He's the guy nobody talks about, but he brings toughness, he's a tough matchup . . . and he plays at a high level."
Meanwhile, OSU's Jean-Paul Olukemi was keeping the Cowboys in contention, scoring eight points in the last 3 minutes and cutting the Buffs lead to 71-69. But his three-point attempt with 17 seconds to play caromed off the rim and went out of bounds, giving CU possession with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Fouled on the in-bounds pass with 10.8 seconds left, Burks hit two free throws and CU led 73-69. After an OSU timeout, Page hit a foul-line jumper to cut the Buffs' advantage to 73-71 at 1.2 seconds.
But Burks again was fouled on the in-bounds pass, and with three-tenths of a second left, he added another pair of free throws - and CU was home free.
When Oklahoma State had been dispatched, CU students struck up a chant of "We Want Kansas, We Want Kansas." On Jan. 25, they get their wish. The No. 3 Jayhawks visit the Events Center (6 p.m.) for what could be the final time.
But thoughts of KU must wait. CU embarks on its first back-to-back Big 12 road trips, playing at Nebraska on Tuesday and at Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 22.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
