Colorado
Oklahoma
Buffs Suffer Costly Stumble Against Sooners
January 22, 2011 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
NORMAN, Okla. - If the Colorado Buffaloes haven't come back to earth with a thud after a head-turning 3-0 Big 12 Conference start, they've at least drifted out of the clouds. A disappointing 67-60 loss to highly beatable Oklahoma here Saturday was CU's second consecutive in league play - and the slide comes at a most inopportune time.
CU, slipping to 14-6 overall, now must regroup and rediscover its offense (and more) in time for a Tuesday night visit by No. 2 Kansas to the Coors Events Center. With a victory at historically unfriendly Lloyd Noble Arena, the Buffs could have conjured some momentum and a little moxie to face the formidable Jayhawks.
Instead, they waved bye-bye to Norman and left with their eighth straight loss in Big 12 play and the 24th consecutive loss here overall. In moving next season to the Pac-12 Conference, the Buffs will look at a 60-59 win on Feb. 9, 1980 as their last at OU.
It didn't have to be such an ugly farewell. Despite waging an uphill battle for most of the game against one of the Big 12's least impressive teams, CU - after trailing by 11 early in the second half - finally caught OU at 52-52 on an Alec Burks layup with 3:26 to play. But as was the case throughout the afternoon, crunch time found the Buffs short on critical stops and efficient possessions.
In a game whose importance couldn't have been overlooked, did they have sufficient focus?
"Some people did, probably some people didn't," Burks said. "We've just got to come together next game and play better . . . (OU) just played harder than us."
Added Cory Higgins:Â "I thought everyone knew and felt the importance of this game."
For the second consecutive game, OU (10-9, 2-3) had all five starters in double figures, while only three CU players - Burks and Higgins with 15 each, Andre Roberson with 10 - reached double digits. The Buffs, held to a season-low point total, shot only 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field while the Sooners were at 52.2 percent (24-of-46). CU was one-of-10 from behind the three-point arc.
Of his team's cold shooting, Burks said, "It's going to be like that - some days it's going to be good, some days it's not. It's the game of basketball."
But it's not the game CU has been playing. Despite that frigidity and operating "not very good" overall, CU Coach Tad Boyle offered another reason for the defeat: "I think we got beat by a team that wanted it more than us . . . they outplayed us, they out-toughed us, they out-scrapped us. They got long rebounds and loose balls. It was an extremely frustrating and disappointing day for our basketball team and our program. This is a game we could have won, should have won and we didn't win - and that's hard to swallow when you're a coach."
The Sooners, dwelling in the lower third or bottom in a handful of Big 12 statistical categories, hit 13-of-16 free throws in the final 3:04 to keep the Buffs in a catch-up mode. CU only went to the foul line 16 times in the entire game, sinking 13 shots. OUÂ attempted all of its 25 free throws (16 made) in the second half.
As they were in Tuesday night's loss at Nebraska, the Buffs were erratic offensively. Averaging 7.3 treys in four previous Big 12 games, they didn't get No. 1 Saturday until Levi Knutson canned his team's only three-pointer of the afternoon with 4:26 remaining.
That bucket from the left wing brought CU to within 52-50 and Burks' layup tied the score a minute later.
But from there, the Buffs lapsed back into inefficiency at both ends of the court and the Sooners began capitalizing at the free throw line. Boyle pointed to his team not converting a late steal into a basket from point-blank range, then OU responding with a layup to go ahead 58-54 as "the big play of the game . . . I think if we score there and tie it up, I think they get a little tight and we might get momentum on our side, but it didn't happen.
"I give (OU) credit . . . I don't want to be one of these moaning coaches. Oklahoma beat us today. The way the league works now, there's some teams you'd like to have a second crack at, but you don't get it. So we have to live with this one for the rest of the year."
If the Buffs didn't go to the locker room at halftime with a bad feeling about the first 20 minutes, they were deluding themselves. When Cade Davis, the only senior in the Sooners' starting lineup, hit a fall-away jumper at the buzzer, OU went up 32-26, matched its biggest first-half lead and sent CU to its fewest first-half points of the season and its largest halftime deficit so far in Big 12 play.
CU only managed a big lead of four (19-15) after Roberson scored six consecutive points midway through the first half. But OU outscored CU 17-7 over the final 8:30 before intermission to take its six-point lead and put the Buffs behind at the break for the third consecutive game.
If the Buffs were going to make a stand and recover some of their newly minted national recognition, they needed a quick and efficient start in the second half.
They didn't get it.
The Sooners opened the last half with five consecutive points, including a deep three from Davis, and took a 37-26 lead - their largest of the afternoon - with 18:30 to play.
Still cold from the perimeter, the Buffs initiated a mini-run on an inside basket by Austin Dufault (he was the recipient of a goal-tending call), a pair of layups by Marcus Relphorde and a free throw by Higgins to cut the Sooners' lead to 41-37 with 12:17 remaining.
OU Coach Jeff Capel called a timeout, but his team immediately turned it over. At the other end, Roberson drove the baseline for a stuff and a two-point CU deficit (41-39). The Buffs had worked themselves back into it, creating a gut-check for the final 10 minutes.
But in the next 2 minutes they muffed two chances to tie the score, missing a pair of shots in the paint and again fell behind by four (47-43). OU increased it to 48-43 on one of two free throws by Andrew Fitzgerald with 7:33 left.
A minute and a half later, the Buffs caught a break when Fitzgerald missed another, but they couldn't capitalize. A turnover spoiled one possession and Burks missed a layup after a steal. Cameron Clark's put-back shot the Sooners ahead 52-45 before a pair of free throws by Higgins at the 5:01 mark again trimmed the deficit to five (52-47).
Knutson followed with his trey, Burks with his layup for the tie - and for an instant, CU had hope. But with stops and efficient offensive possessions now critical, the Buffs came up short in both.
"We're not back where we want to be; we let another opportunity slip away," Higgins said.
With the Jayhawks on deck, Boyle said, "I tell you what, we should be ready. We should have the eye of the tiger; we should have had (it) today. Today was the game. Now that this one's behind us, we've got KU. It's a great opportunity for our guys, just like today was a great opportunity.
"The problem with college basketball is you let too many opportunities slip by and you're looking up. We were looking down for a minute, but we're not anymore. We're right in the muck of the Big 12 . . . we had our chances but we didn't capitalize on them. Winning on the road - if you want to make a statement in any league, you've got to win on the road. People aren't going to give it to you, you've got to take it - and we didn't take it today."
Higgins, a senior facing his final chance for a home win against KU, doesn't believe Saturday's loss "changes (the KU game) at all. It's going to be a big game regardless. Now, it's an even bigger game. We just have to get back to work, correct this and get back on the right track."
KANSAS INFO: The CU-KU game (6 p.m.) is officially sold out, making it the first time in the history of the Events Center that the Buffs will play before back-to-back home crowds. The building also was at capacity (11,096) for last weekend's victory against Oklahoma State.
Fans attending the KU game are advised to arrive as early as possible due to the 6 p.m. tipoff, classes still in session and the on-going construction on the basketball/volleyball practice facility adjacent to the Events Center.
CU has teamed with the Go Boulder and is also encouraging people to park at the 29th Street Mall and catch The Hop bus route from the mall to the corner of Colorado Avenue and Folsom Street and walk to the game from there. Fans should catch the orange route and there will be no charge for fans who present their game ticket to the bus driver.  The normal Hop route runs every 10-15 minutes between the 29th Street Mall, CU, The Hill and Downtown Boulder.  After the game, across the street from where the bus dropped fans off, they can catch the purple line of The Hop back to the mall.
Check out CUBuffs.com early next week for the most up-to-date information.
TAKING A LOOK: In addition to attracting a house full of fans, the CU-KU game also has drawn strong interest from the NBA. Representatives - 36 in all - from 22 NBA teams will be on hand for the Jayhawks' last trip to Boulder for the foreseeable future. CU leaves the Big 12 after this season for the Pac-12 Conference.
IOWA STATE TICKETS: Tickets are still available for the Buffs next home game, vs. Iowa State on Tuesday, February 1. Prices range from $10-$20, available on CUBuffs.com.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
