Colorado University Athletics
MBB Hosts Texas Tech Saturday at 2 p.m.
CU vs. TEXAS TECH: Since Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight has been in Lubbock, he leads the head-t-head match ups with Colorado holding a 4-1 advantage. The only setback was the last time the Red Raiders visited Boulder (Feb. 18, 2004, CU won 85-75). TTU has won the last two meetings, although CU holds an 8-2 advantage in Boulder. Overall, CU head coach Ricardo Patton is 6-4 lifetime against TTU, and 7-4 overall vs. Coach Knight having defeated Indiana at the 1997 NCAA Tourney. Television: ESPN Plus with Fred White, Kelly Hanfelt; KKZN Radio 760-AM: Mark Johnson, Charles Johnson.
QUICKLY ON THE RED RAIDERS: Texas Tech is an up and down team since beginning Big 12 play. Overall, the Red Raiders are 2-4 in their last six, and 0-4 on the road in conference play. In four road losses, TTU is averaging only 50.3 points per game, while allowing 72.3 a game. TTU defends the 3-point shot well, holding their opponents to 34.2 percent shooting, a good test for the Buffaloes who love to shoot from the 3-point arc. Only four opponents have shot over .400 percent against TTU (Furman, San Francisco, UNLV, Oklahoma State).
CHAUNCEY: The Chauncey Kid’s Roundup wall graphic is complete in the CECC and will be officially acknowledged at the CU-TTU game. Chauncey Billups parents, Faye and Ray Billups, will be attending and will be honored on Chauncey’s behalf in the first half of the game (first media timeout). Chauncey donated $100,000 over four years to the Athletic Department to create a program to provide tickets for children from his native Denver and surrounding communities to attend men’s basketball games. The wall graphic is 25’ tall by 68’ wide.
BUFF TIDBITS: Richard Roby ranks first in Big 12-only scoring (21.1 ppg.). He has led CU in scoring six of his last seven games (25.2 ppg.) and ranks 34th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 845 pts. (16.9 in 50 games). He ranks first in Big 12 (all games) 3-pt. FG% (51-of-111, .459)...Chris Copeland is tied for second in Big 12-only blocked shots (1.7). He’s ninth at CU all-time in that category (82)...Andy Osborn has made at least one 3-pointer in 17-straight games (2.1 a game)...Marcus Hall leads the team in assists (4.0 apg.), Big 12 assist-turnover ratio (all games, 2.16) and is seventh in conference-only games (1.79). Hall is averaging 13.8 points, 4.4 assists in his last five...CU has not had a double-digit rebounder since Julius Ashby and Marcus King-Stockton performed the same feat against Baylor (Jan. 18)...Excluding the game at Texas A&M because he did not travel due to conduct detrimental to the team, Martane Freeman is averaging 11.5 pts., four rebounds, 2.5 assists in his last two starts...Roby and Copeland are the only two players who have started all 20 games...TEAM: CU has shot over 40.0 percent eight times from the 3-point arc (Big 12 high .545 at A&M)...Conference-only stats, CU ranks first in blocks (6.3), offensive rebounds (15.8) and 3-pointers made (10.1)...CU is 9-1 when holding opponent under 70 points (Texas A&M)...CU is 42 3-pointers from breaking last year’s school record of 223.
TOP 25 RANKINGS: Believe it not, Colorado is still ranked No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll for the second straight week. The back-to-back weekly ranking is the first since the 1996-97 season. This week the Buffs received 45 votes, while in the AP poll, received 24 votes (33rd overall). Prior to last week, CU last made either poll in 1997 at No. 24 (Associated Press). The others were 1969 (#18), 1963 (#10), 1962 (#9) and 1955 (#15).
NCAA STATS: As of Feb. 6, the Buffs are ranked among the best statistically in the 12 national team categories:
8th Scoring Offense 81.2
11th Scoring Margin 13.2
11th Blocked Shots 6.0
13th Assists 17.5
14th 3-point FG Made 9.1
23rd Steals 9.4
46th 3-pt. FG% .388
C SQUARED: Senior forward Chris Copeland had seen a spike in his production until his three-point, four-rebound, limited-action performance against Texas A&M. In his previous two games against Kansas State and Iowa State, he was a combined 11-for-22 from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point range with a 17.0 ppg average. This season, Copeland is averaging almost two minutes less per game, however he has improved in points, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, turnovers blocked shots and steals.
SWEET 16: Junior Marcus Hall has been one of the Buffs’ most consistent players over the last five conference games?averaging 32.2 minutes, 13.8 points, 4.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds. In the course of those five games, he had posted 16 points three times (against Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Texas A&M). During his five-game roll, he is shooting .462 from the field. Hall is no stranger to getting hot down the stretch?last season he ripped off double-digit point totals in nine of his last 12 conference games, including a string of seven in a row.
ROBY STEALS THE SHOW: Sophomore Richard Roby has at least one steal in every game this season and leads the team with 43?15 more than teammate Marcus Hall who is second. The importance of creating turnovers was highlighted on ESPN Sports Center’s Top 10 Plays on Wednesday, as Roby’s steal-turned emphatic dunk over Texas A&M’s Chris Walker knotted the score at 55-55 with 1:10 left in the game, swung momentum in favor of the Buffs and earned him the No. 2 top play of the day. Roby is on pace to finish the season with 60 steals, which would rank him 10th all-time in single-season steals.
HIGH-RISE FROM DOWNTOWN: The Buffs are on pace to shatter the school record of three-pointers in a season, set last year with 223. CU is on pace to chalk up 255 treys this season, due in large part to the improved long-range shooting of individual players. Out of CU’s top six three-point threats, five of them have shot for a better percentage than last season. Here’s a look at each of these seven players and how their long distance numbers stack up against 2004-05:
2004-05 3FG-A, % 2005-06 3FG-3A, %
Richard Roby 67-179, .374 51-111, .459
Andy Osborn 45-110, .409 40-114, .351
Chris Copeland 51-136, .375 89-174, .430
Marcus Hall 38-122, .311 27-67, .403
Martane Freeman 4-19, .211 9-30, .300
Glean Eddy 4-27, .148 7-16, .438
SHOOTING THE THREE: CU has made the 3-pointer as their preferred offensive weapon of choice with 10 or more treys in six of their last seven games (only eight vs. K-State). The Buffaloes are inching closer to last year’s school record of 223. Entering today, CU is 182-of-469; last year at this time they were 141-of-385!
BIG 12 Start: Colorado has opened Big 12 play with five wins in its first nine games. The most recent time that has happened was the 2003-04 season. CU’s best start in any Big 12 conference season after nine games was the 1996-97 (7-2), then went to 8-2 the same season after 10 games. Today’s 15-5 start comes close to the 1996-97 team after 20 games (16-4 record).
REBOUNDING BY COMMITTEE: Five Buffs are averaging at least four rebounds per game in conference play: Richard Roby (5.1), Chris Copeland (4.8), Calvin Williams (4.7), Julius Ashby (4.4), and Martane Freeman (4.0).
BIG 12 ROAD WINS: In five road conference games, CU has won only two of those. The last time they won at least three Big 12 road games came in 2003-04 (NIT), 2000-2001 (non post-season), and 1996-97(NCAA Tournament). Here are the highlites of those two wins: Richard Roby scored 27 points, including the decisive basket in overtime as CU beat Oklahoma State 80-78 (Jan. 21). It was the Buffaloes’ second Big 12 Conference road win of the season. CU hadn’t won at Gallagher-Iba Arena since Jan. 12, 1980, a stretch of 20 games. The Buffs also hadn’t won at Missouri since the 1996-97 season and only the second time in Columbia since Jan. 15, 1973 (32 games). Roby scored a career-best 33 points and Chris Copeland hit the last of CU’s season-best 13 3-pointers with two-tenths of a second to go, giving the Buffaloes a 74-71 victory.
FREE THROW WOES: Excluding Baylor, who has played only nine games overall, means the Buffs are shooting a staggering .617 from the free throw line (last in the Big 12) in all games. It gets worse, in conference-only games (including Baylor), CU is last with a miserable .588 clip. Richard Roby is the lone CU player ranked among the top-15 individuals in all games (15th at .684).
RAINING THREE’S: After topping the 40 percent mark for three-pointers twice in non-conference play (.533 at Penn; .632 vs. Mercer), the Buffs have shot over the mark in five of their nine conference games. CU has reached double-digit totals in three-point field goals made six of their last seven conference games. CU performed a school-first with four-straight games with 10 or more since the introduction of the three-point line in the 1986-87 season.
TURNOVER BATTLE: The Buffs have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent in six of nine conference games this season (the exceptions: season-high 24 at Texas A&M, 14; 18 at Iowa State 13; 12 vs. Baylor 11. In 16 conference games last season?not including the tournament?the Buffs had fewer turnovers exactly half of the time. Surprisingly, CU was only 2-6 when turning the ball over less than the opponent.
HALL BALL: Junior Marcus Hall had perhaps his best game of the season against Oklahoma State (Jan. 21). His 16 points (and six assists) marked his fourth-highest total of the season (17 at TCU, 16 at Iowa State, 16 at Texas A&M). Against Kansas State, Hall started with 12 points and season-best seven assists. Entering today, he’s 12th on CU’s all-time assist list (251).
THE STEAL CURTAIN: With a conference high 10 steals against the Cornhuskers, CU’s season total stands at 188. The single-season record is 285 by the 1994-95 Buffs, led by Keith Higgins (72) and Donnie Boyce (66). This season, the Buffs are on pace for 260, led by Roby (43) who has registered at least one steal in every game this season, capped by his six-steal performance against Oklahoma State. If he continues his 2.2 steals-per-game average, he will finish the season tied for seventh in single-season steals (66) and tied for fifth in steals per game.
BETTER from the arc than the field: For the fifth time this season (at Texas A&M), CU shot better from the 3-point arc than it did from the rest of the field. The other games were at Penn, Mercer, Kansas, and at Missouri. In fact, only one time the Buffs have shot better from the 3-point arc than the free throw line (Mercer).
"LS" INITIALS: If you notice the "LS" initials on each of the CU player uniforms that’s in memory of senior walk-on Scott Senger’s mother, Linda died of cancer last July. Scott played at nearby Monarch High School where set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season and most points scored.
MAKING A RUN at TREY HISTORY: Most likely the CU men’s team will break the school record in treys made in a season. What about the Big 12 Conference record? Here’s a look at each year to see how far the Buffs need to go (i know it’s a little early to speculate):
2005-06: Colorado 182 (1st in Big 12)
2004-05: Texas 243
2003-04: Texas 227
2002-03: Baylor 254
2001-02: Nebraska 267
2000-01: Missouri 279
1999-00: Missouri 291
1998-99: Oklahoma 274
1997-98: Baylor 217
1996-97: Baylor 227
CLEANING THE GLASS: Marcus King-Stockton (career-best 11) and Julius Ashby (season-high 10) performed a CU first this season and the first since last year at Iowa State (Jan. 22, 2005), two players with 10 or more rebounds. Against the Cyclones, Ashby grabbed 13 and Glean Eddy had 11 in CU’s 54-52 overtime win in Ames. A CU win in Ames since Feb. 19, 1991.
MORE BUFF Tidbits: Richard Roby has scored double figures in 23 of his 25 career conference games (the other two were nine points) ... Roby holds the top four of CU’s top scoring games this season (33, 30, 29, 27) ... CU has played with a different starting line up five times (see page 5) ... Chris Copeland and Glean Eddy each have 373 career rebounds, 37thall-time at CU ... Roby has led CU from the 3-point arc 10 times this season (three shared) ... The Buffaloes have made 10 or more treys in 10 games this season, including the last six of seven games ... CU went 18+ minutes without committing a turnover in the second half against Kansas State (just had one in the second half), nine for the game, a Big 12 Conference low this season ... CU’s nine-game winning streak Nov. 26-Jan. 3) was the longest in school history since the 1961-62 season when the Buffaloes won 12-straight ... CU has made a 3-pointer in 125-straight games (last time CU they didn’t was Jan. 16, 2002, Iowa State, W, 63-61) ... Of the nine national categories kept by the NCAA, Roby leads CU in seven of them. The only exceptions are blocked shots (Copeland) and assists (Hall) ... Against OSU, Roby tied a CU record with six steals in a half (1st); his six steals also tied a CU conference high, a first for a CU player in the Big 12; And his six steals, tied five others as a sophomore best ... Roby collected his third career double-double versus Utah (19 pts., 10 rebs.) ... Andy Osborn recorded his second career double-double at CU, 17 pts., 10 rebounds against Cal Poly (four at Loyola Marymount) ... Roby failed to make a 3-pointer against SSU, ending his streak of 30 games going back to last season ... On page 9, 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. It’s 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.