Colorado University Athletics
MBB Hosts Mercer Thursday at Events Center
Television: none; Radio 760-AM: Mark Johnson (p-b-p), Charles Johnson (analyst)
THE LAST TIME this happened: The last time the Buffs were 7-1 after eight games was the 1989-90 season. The last time CU started a season 8-1 was 1979-80 (26 years ago).
CU vs. MERCER: The Buffs defeated the Bears, 78-61 back in Boulder on Dec. 6, 1991 in their lone meeting against one another.
SCOUTING MERCER: Junior guard Jacob Skogan bring a 21 points per game average into Boulder for the 1-4 Bears. Four of MercerGÇÖs first five games have been on the road with their lone win coming at home against Savannah State (88-63), CUGÇÖs opponent on Jan. 3. Mercer represents the Atlantic Sun Conference where CU is 2-0 against (Stetson, Gardner-Webb).
Individual Notes: Richard Roby has led CU in scoring the last six games (20.6 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 2.8 apg.) ... Marcus Hall has led CU in assists four times, has 204 career assists, tying for 20th all-time ... Chris Copeland scored all of his 14 points in the second half at TCU, heGÇÖs averaging 13.4 ppg., 5.6 rpg. in his last five ... Hall shared game scoring honors for the first time this season with 17 pts. at TCU ... Roby owns three 20-plus games this year (11 career) and has led CU in scoring 22 of 38 career games ... Glean Eddy (99) will tie current CU Director of Basketball Operations Will Smith (100) tonight for consecutive games played without fouling out. Antoine McGee is close behind (98). However, Smith played 2,178 minutes, Eddy has only played 1,490, McGee (1,402) ... TEAM: CU has held five of their eight opponents under 70 points -- all wins ... The Buffs are ahead of last yearGÇÖs 3-point record pace (223 made) with 62-of-179 after eight games (last yearGÇÖs eight-game total was 48-of-132) ... CU averages 7.8 treys a game and have made 29 in their last three ... CU is 4-0 at home and has won 13 straight non-conference games dating back to Jan. 10, 2004 ... The current senior class is 22-3 in non-conference home games (.880) ... CU is 61-7 since 1996-97 in home non-conference games (.897) ... CU has out-rebounded the opponent in all eight games (+8.9) ... The starting five averages 59.1 points, while the bench averages 21.9 points per game.
TOP 25 RANKINGS ... almost: Hey, weGÇÖre getting votes, four to be exact in this weekGÇÖs ESPN/USA Today poll (week seven) AND two in the AP poll. CU 12th in the Sagarin ratings. The last time the Buffs were ranked in either poll came in 1997 at No. 24 (Associated Press). The others were 1969 (#18), 1963 (#10), 1962 (#9) and 1955 (#15).
WHATGÇÖs AHEAD: TonightGÇÖs game is the last before Christmas and a nine-day break in between games for the Buffaloes. CU returns to action Dec. 31 against former CU assistant Terry Dunn and the Dartmouth Big Green (1-5). On Jan. 3, the Buffs close the non-conference portion of the schedule against Savannah State (1-11).
ON THE ROAD: In the last four years, CU is 9-8 on the road in non-conference games excluding the neutral court. With its 2-1 record this year, the Buffs were 2-3 in 2004-05; in 2003-04 (3-2), and in 2002-03 (2-2).
10 days of rest or more: CU returned to action defeating UC Irvine for their highest scoring outing of the year, 96 points. Since the 1997-98 season, CU improved to 6-2 with at least 10 days or more in between games due to fall semester final exams.
Dec. 07-17, 2005 W, UC Irvine, 96-80
Dec. 07-18, 2004 W, Colorado State, 89-83
Dec. 10-19, 2003 W, Tennessee State, 71-44
Dec. 11-21, 2002 L, at Rice, 80-61
Dec. 13-31, 2001 W, Wis.-Milwaukee, 93-87
Dec. 08-18, 2000 W, E. Washington, 79-61
Dec. 09-21, 1999 W, Texas-Arlington, 97-71
Dec. 09-20, 1998 L, UMass, 79-68 (at Vegas)
BIG 12 OPENER: After the Buffaloes roll through their non-conference schedule, nationally-ranked Texas looms on the schedule in Austin on Jan. 7. CU is 1-8 in Big 12 openers and 0-3 on the road.
Jan. 07, 2006 at Texas ??
Jan. 08, 2005 at Oklahoma L, 55-85
Jan. 05, 2004 KANSAS L, 62-77
Jan. 11, 2003 at Oklahoma L, 54-69
Jan. 05, 2002 KANSAS L, 85-97
Jan. 06, 2001 at Baylor L, 56-61
Jan. 08, 2000 KANSAS L, 69-84
Jan. 02, 1999 TEXAS L, 68-73
Jan. 03, 1998 OKLAHOMA L, 68-69
Jan. 04, 1997 NEBRASKA W, 79-73
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: CU is 9-10 on this date in history and 6-2 at home. The last time the Buffs played on Dec. 22 was back in 1997 and defeated Denver, 72-54. In fact, entering tonight CU has played the last five games on this date at home since 1984 and are 3-2.
MORE BUFF Tidbits, INDIVIDUAL: Richard Roby collected his third career double-double versus Utah (19 pts., 10 rebs.) ... Andy Osborn collected his second career double-double at CU, 17 pts., 10 rebounds against Cal Poly (four at Loyola Marymount) ... Roby is 69th in all-time scoring (628 pts. with a 16.5 ppg.) ... Copeland has 315 career rebounds; only Glean Eddy (344) has more of current players ... Scott Senger grabbed a career-best five rebounds (four offensive) against Saint MaryGÇÖs ... Against CSU, senior Martane Freeman posted career-highs in points (17), field goals (6), attempts (8), free throws (5), FT attempts (6), steals (3), minutes played (24) ... Marcus Hall tied a career-best in steals (4) and handed out seven assists, the most since having 10 against South Dakota State (Feb. 14) last year; Hall ranks 20th overall at CU in assists ... Richard Roby scored 480 points during his freshman season, the most of any frosh in its history, including Chauncey Billups (465) ... On page 7, a handful of CU players are moving upward on career school lists ... Seniors Chris Copeland, Glean Eddy, Antoine McGee, and Jayson Obazuaye close out their final year in 2005-06. ItGÇÖs also the first senior class under Head Coach Ricardo Patton that four players will have played their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years at CU.
TEAM notes: Against UC Irvine, the Buffs placed six players with 10 or more points, a non-conference first since Nov. 22, 2002 (Cal Poly) ... ItGÇÖs also the third time that five or more scored in double-figures (CSU, Cal Poly, Irvine) ... CU launched a school-record 37 3-point attempts (12 made) in the win over Utah ... UC Irvine attendance (1,416) lowest since Nov. 24, 2002 (Stetson, 1,093) ... CU is 5-0 this season when holding opponent under 70 points ... Current senior class 22-3 (.880) at home (only losses Utah, Richmond, Georgia) ... Holding Utah to 16 first-half points was a non-conference school-record low in for opponents in the first 20 minutes ... The Buffs committed only five turnovers against Cal Poly, the least amount since the home win over Texas (Feb. 8) ... The 22 offensive rebounds against Cal Poly matched last yearGÇÖs 22 at Iowa State (Jan. 22) and Kansas (Jan 15) ... CU has made a 3-pointer in 109-straight games (last time CU didnGÇÖt was Jan. 16, 2002, Iowa State, W, 63-61) ... With 10 seniors, eight senior scholarships, CU has the most nationally ... The CU men resemble what a box of Total cereal looks like, they return 100% of their scoring, 100% rebounding, 100% blocked shots, 100% of everything from a year ago with the exception of the Fall semester with Julius Ashby ineligible, he could return Dec. 31 (Dartmouth) or Jan. 3 (Savannah State). Stayed tuned, an announcement on Ashby could come any day now.