MBB Hosts Nebraska On Senior Day

SENIOR SALUTE: Senior Dominique Coleman and senior team manager Mark Ost will be participating in their final games at the Events Center today. Coleman, a two-year standout from Oakland, Calif. has made his impact felt this season season leading the Buffaloes in assists, steals, field goal percentage, and ranks second in rebounding and ranks third in scoring. He also leads the Buffs with three double-doubles. Ost, a team manager for four years will graduate in December 2007 with a degree in finance. Complete Notes Attached.

Television: ESPN RegionalTelevision (Altitude Sports & Entertainment)

Announcers: Bill Doleman (PxP), Stacey King (Analyst)

Radio: KKZN 760: Mark Johnson/Charles Johnson

SENIOR student SALUTE: From a sports information office view, the students who assist us in the office and on game day are an invaluable asset. Here’s kudos to the following quartet, also participating in their last basketball game at the Events Center: Merrick Jackson, Kyle Meyer, Jennifer Radcliffe and three-year student assistant, Allie Musso. What do you say, Allie, why didn’t we ask D’Napoli’s to provide the pregame meals?

LAST GAME AT CECC: On page two, there’s a list of Ricardo Patton accolades spanning the 11 plus years as head coach of the Buffs. Today is Coach Patton’s last game in the Events Center after he announced back on Oct. 25 (Basketball Media Day) this would be his last season of coaching at CU. Patton said he would not seek nor accept an extension of his contract (expires June 30, 2007). In 11 years, Patton has accumulated 183 victories, four NIT appearances, two NCAA Tournaments, and three 20-win seasons.

HOOK SHOTS: Richard Roby stands in eighth place on CU’s all-time scorers list with 1,416 points. He’s 13 points from seventh (Michel Morandais, 1428 pts.) ... Xavier Silas has double-digit scoring in nine of his past 12 games. He has 73 points in the last five contests (14.6 ppg.) ... In his last seven games, Dominique Coleman is averaging 13.0 ppg., 8.6 rpg., 21 assists, 11 steals and shooting 34-for-55 (.618). Coleman has six or more rebounds in 13 of the last 15 games. His points average and six blocked shots rank second on the team ... Roby has led CU in scoring three of four games (19.8 ppg.) ... Jeremy Williams has a 9.3 ppg., 4.2 rpg. in his last 10 games along with eight steals and seven blocks TEAM: The last time CU lost 20 games in a season was 1988-89 (21) ... Last time CU failed to win at least conference games was 1995-96 (three: Patton on interim basis) ... CU will finish a school-first last place in Big 12 play ... Six straight losses mirrors the last six games on the 2000-01 season; last time lost more than seven was eight straight games in 1995-96 ... CU is 6-3 in Big 12 home season finales, 2-0 against Nebraska (2002-03, 2003-04) ... The Buffs have allowed eight Big 12 opponents to shoot 50% FG or better ... CU has used 13 different starting combos ... In 15 conference games, CU has netted 60 points or less in four of five road games.

FOR STARTERS: CU has lost a school-record nine games at home this season ... CU has closed the conference season at home for the ninth straight year (5-3 in the last eight) ... Dating back to last season, CU has lost 13-straight Big 12 road games, seven in a row this season (last Big 12 road win, Jan. 21, 2006 at Oklahoma State, 80-78, ot) ... In those 12 road losses, the opponent outscored CU with scoring 75 or more points, nine times ... The 10 road losses ties Coach Patton and the 1999-2000 season with 10. Ten plus road losses in a season happened 16 other times in school history and the last time CU lost 19 games occurred in 1988-89 (21 defeats) ... CU is 2-13 in conference play tying the 1992-93 campaign; the last time they lost more than 13 conference games was 1985-86 (0-14) ... CU has not won consecutive games this year; the last time that happened was 1971-72 (35 years).

POSITIVE BITS: Dominique Coleman keeps moving up the season rebounding list for guards. With 162 boards so far, he’s seventh overall (No. 1 is 173, Donnie Boyce, 1993-94) ... Coleman has made 105 field goals this season compared to 48 last year; his assists total has increased from 83-to-57 ... With 32 blocked shots, Marcus King-Stockton had only 30 combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons ... Xavier Silas has 294 points for eighth place on CU’s freshman scoring list ... Roby and Coleman led the team in FGs made with 145 and 105, respectively ... Roby (426 pts.), Silas (294) and Coleman (275) can equal the 2004-05 season with at least three players with over 300 points (Roby, 480; Chris Copeland, 340; Marcus Hall, 324).

LAST TIME vs. NEBRASKA (complete box and story on page 24): Aleks Maric scored 28 points and Jamel White added 18 points leading Nebraska to a 71-50 victory over Colorado back on Jan. 20. The Huskers held Colorado to just 13 first-half points, the lowest single-half point total by any conference opponent in the history of the Devaney Center. It was CU’s second lowest first half output of the season after scoring 11 points in the first half against Air Force back on Nov. 18.

CU vs. nebraska: Coach Patton teams are 7-4 at home against the Cornhuskers and have won four of five dating back to the 2001-02 season. Overall, CU is 10-13 under Patton against Nebraska. All-time, Nebraska leads the series 72-67, however have a losing record in Boulder, 39-22. Last Husker sweep of CU occurred in 2004-0 and in 1998-99 and 1997-98.

QUICKLY ON the huskers: Nebraska is 2-3 in their last five games and bring a 2-5 Big 12 road record into Boulder with road wins over Texas Tech and Missouri. Junior Aleks Maric has 21 career double-doubles, tied for fourth (Rich King) in school history. The total is more than any active Big 12 player. Maric has recorded 20 points or more 10 times overall in 2006-07. Senior guard Charles Richardson has 161 assists this year. He needs six dishes to set the NU season record for a senior.

X Factor: After missing the game at Iowa State with a left ankle impingement, freshman Xavier Silas remains a force in the CU lineup, perhaps better in the starting lineup. In 16 starts, Silas averages 13.5 ppg. and 4.1 rpg., 72-for-171 from the field (.421) and has led the team in scoring five times. He’s come off the bench in pair of home games, Kansas State and Kansas as well as the first six games of the season. In those eight games, Silas is averaging 9.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg. and shooting 26-for-77 from the field (.338) with 11 3-pointers.

LONG DISTANCE IS BETTER: If you look at his overall stats, freshman Kal Bay is second on the team in treys made (42). Bay has a higher percentage from the arc (.368) than the rest of the field (.340). In fact, 42 of his 49 made field goals are treys. In 15 Big 12 games, Bay has 21 3-pointers (second on team), four from the rest of the field.

SIXTH MAN...no more: With two games coming off the bench for the first time in his career (KU, Feb. 14; at Texas Tech, Feb. 17) Richard Roby returned to the starting up at Iowa State (Feb. 21) with 23 points, seven rebounds and 26 points, six rebounds against Kansas State (Feb. 24). His 21 shots from the field at ISU were the most since firing 24 back on Dec. 4 against Pepperdine. His two-game total in a reserve role was 12.0 ppg. 5.5 rpg. and 10-for-21 FG% (.476).

Hyphenated NAMES: Finally did some research and CU has the only two hyphened names (Marcus King-Stockton and Jermyl Jackson-Wilson) in seven college basketball conferences (Big 12, ACC, SEC, Missouri Valley, Big East, Pacific-10, Big 10).

LAST TIME OUT (complete box on page 28): With four Colorado players scoring in double-figures, led by senior Dominique Coleman with 19, the Buffaloes were unable to continue a second-half surge and came up short in the 91-82 loss to Missouri. Freshmen Jeremy Williams and Xavier Silas scored 15 points each for the Buffs and junior Richard Roby added 13. Matt Lawrence scored all of his 17 points in the first half for the Tigers (18-10, 7-8 Big 12), who survived a second-half charge by the Buffaloes to win their third straight at home.

TOP-10 SHOOTER: Richard Roby ranks among the top-10 field goals attempts list. Entering tonight’s game, Roby has 1,170 attempts good enough for sixth place. As for field goals made, Roby is a bit behind Scott Wedman’s 10th place of 516. Roby has 486 field goals made.

HALL ALMOST ELIGIBLE: Next season is almost here for Marcus Hall, who redshirted this year academically. The 6’1" guard from Houston, Texas will join seniors Richard Roby and Marcus King-Stockton along with a talent returning group. Hall has played 88 career games played (44 starts) and averages 8.3 points and 3.4 assists per game. He ranks ninth on the school’s all-time assist list (295), 10th in 3-pointers made (99) and 19th in steals (82). Hall was also one of the captains on the 2005-06 team.

Colorado University Athletics