Colorado
19-12, 8-8
Nebraska
19-11, 7-9
Buffs Roll Past Huskers, Keep NCAA Dreamin?
March 05, 2011 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - It was the only scenario the amped up "White Out" crowd craved: Get the (Big) Red out for a final time, take it to Kansas City next week and see what happens. By the end of a feverish Saturday night, the Colorado Buffaloes had done their part.
CU kept its NCAA Tournament hopes flickering, defeating Nebraska 67-57 in the final Big 12 Conference game at the Coors Events Center.
The Buffs ended the regular season at 19-12 and 8-8 in the Big 12, earning a No. 5 seed in next week's conference tournament and a welcome rematch against No. 12 seed Iowa State. They play at 1 p.m. (MST) on Wednesday in the Sprint Center.
If CU defeats Iowa State, which shredded the defenseless Buffs 95-90 in their next-to-last regular-season game, No. 4 seed Kansas State awaits at 1 p.m. (MST) on Thursday. The Wildcats earned one of four first-round byes, but were swept by the Buffs this season for the first time since 2003-04.
"If we should have any kind of emotional edge on anybody, it should be Iowa State," first-year CU Coach Tad Boyle said after his team set an Events Center seasonal record with its 15th victory and sent the Cornhuskers home with a costly loss in their last trip to Boulder. CU heads to the Pac-12 next season, Nebraska to the Big Ten.
If Saturday night's victory kept the Buffs perched on the NCAA bubble, the defeat probably swept the Huskers (19-11, 7-9) off of it. But CU's foothold is tenuous; the Buffs, whose last NCAA bid came in 2003, likely will have to win a pair of games in KC to be among the 68 teams selected for the "Big Dance."
Or, they can flush the suspense by winning the Big 12 tournament outright and earning the conference's automatic bid. Just a thought - but Boyle and his players are trying their best not to think about anything that far into the future.
"He's pretty good about keeping us focused," said Levi Knutson, one of five CU seniors honored Saturday night before and after their final regular-season home game. "Obviously it's hard to avoid all the media talk (about the NCAAs). But in the locker room, in practice and on the court, our focus is always on the next game."
Boyle's approach since he's been coaching has been to separate seasons into four parts - non-conference play, conference play, the conference tournament and whatever else the postseason brings. The conference tournament portion can be as long as four days or as short as one, but Boyle said the Buffs' goal is the obvious one: "Let's try to win this championship . . . at this point it's all about surviving and advancing."
Although Boyle acknowledged his team didn't play its best Saturday night, he said it still was "a great night for Colorado basketball in a lot of different ways, on a lot of different levels. I'm proud of our team."
He might have been proudest for his quintet of seniors, who concluded their first winning regular season and seem assured of reaching postseason play. "We haven't talked about the (NCAA) bubble, but we have talked about the postseason," Boyle said. "But we have to take care of the next business at hand."
The Buffs did that from the opening tip against the Huskers, who won the first meeting 79-67 in mid-January in Lincoln. CU hit its first four shots and seven of its first eight, building a 12-point lead before allowing Nebraska to go on a 10-2 run and creep to within 33-28 at halftime. The Cornhuskers closed to within one point three times in the second half but never took the lead.
"We just wanted to come out and punch them in the mouth and really turn up the defensive intensity," said senior Cory Higgins. "We went after the ball; I think we did a good job of that."
Senior Marcus Relphorde led the Buffs with 19 points. Knutson added 13, Higgins and Alec Burks - the Big 12's leading scorer (19.8) - had 12 each. CU committed just five turnovers to Nebraska's 15 and stayed within two of the bigger Huskers on the boards (34-32). Buffs freshman Andre Roberson continued on his rebound rage, grabbing a game-best 10.
CU honored its five seniors - Higgins, Knutson, Relphorde, Javon Coney and Trent Beckley - in a pregame ceremony before a record fifth sellout crowd in a season that also saw several other attendance marks set.
"This crowd has been great for us all year," Knutson said. "We love playing here at home. Obviously, we have to take this show on the road now and play on a neutral court. But it means a lot to end with a win here."
CU finished the half at 41.9 percent from the field (13-of-31), but went to the free throw line just four times (three made). One of those foul shots was hit by Burks, who stepped to the line amid chants of "One More Year, One More Year" from the CU student section.
The chant was repeated at halftime for long-time PA announcer Alan Cass, who was recognized for his 50-year career announcing CU athletic events. Saturday night marked his final regular-season game behind the mic at the Events Center.
Nebraska scored the first four points of the second half, pulling to 33-32, but missing the opportunity to take its first lead when Brian Jorge Diaz clanked a pair of free throws. The Buffs outscored the Huskers 7-2 over the next 2:30 and went up by six points (40-34).
But the final-time visitors were far from done. After Brazilian center Andre Almeida, a 6-foot-11, 310-pounder, got back-to-back baskets inside, CU's lead was down to 40-38. At the next timeout Boyle inserted Beckley (6-10, 240) to guard Almeida. On the offensive end, Beckley - who joined the team at mid-season - contributed his first two points of the season on a short jump hook to make it 42-38.
The Cornhuskers countered with a free throw by Almeida and a jumper by Brandon Ubel. With 12:16 to play, the Buffs' lead had slipped to 42-41 - and Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler said that's where the night turned.
"Bottom line is we got the ball game back to 42-41, took three quick shots and turned it over three times," he said. "I thought our guys played hard, did all the things to get to that point, then kind of lost our poise a little bit."
CU answered quickly, outscoring Nebraska 8-2 over the next 3 minutes and going ahead 50-43 with 9:17 to play. The Huskers closed to 52-48 on a three-pointer by Brandon Richardson at the 6:28 mark. But after Knutson matched that trey and Roberson followed a missed tip by Coney, CU was in front 57-48.
When Higgins hit a layup and two free throws, the Buffs were up 61-50 with 1:34 left and within a point of matching their biggest lead of the night. They closed it out by making six of eight free throws in the final 1:12.
The Big Red, with Athletic Director Tom Osborne watching courtside near his team's bench, was out for a final time.
Relphorde, whose 40 points in the past two outings is his best two-game stretch of the season, said the Buffs "definitely gained some momentum" for their trip to Kansas City. Being the fifth seed "is good," he said. "Of course, the higher the seed, the better . . . I think we all would like to play (Iowa State) again, considering what happened last game. We're going to be ready."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
