Men's Basketball Hosts Kansas State, Wednesday

BOULDER ? The University of Colorado men’s basketball looks to even its Big 12 Conference record when they host the Kansas State University Wildcats, Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the Coors Events Center. Tip is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Buffaloes (9-8, 1-2 Big 12) are coming off a hard-fought 69-67 loss at then-No. 19 Texas, while the Wildcats (12-4, 2-0) upset No. 9 Texas A&M, last Saturday, 75-54.

The game will be televised by ESPNU and can be heard on AM-760 AM with Mark Jonson and Charles Johnson. It can also be heard on Sirius Satellite channel 114.

FOR STARTERS (individual): Richard Roby netted 18 points at Texas moving into fourth all-time on Colorado’s all-time scoring list (1733). He’s 144 points from passing Shaun Vandiver (1989-91) for third place ? Marcus Hall has led the team in assists four of the last five games (4.8 apg.) ? In his last three games, Cory Higgins is shooting .542 from the field (13-of-24) with 12.0 ppg., 6.3 rpg. and six 3-pointers ? Also in their three Big 12 games: Roby is 14.7 ppg., 5.7 rpg.. 567 FG%; Xavier Silas: 12.3 ppg., 5.7 rpg.; Hall: 10.3 ppg., 3.7 apg. with all four players averaging over 34 minutes a game ? Hall, Higgins and Roby have started every game (17) ? Roby has an individual season-best three double-doubles and the Buffs are 7-1 when he performs that feat ? Hall, Higgins, Knutson and Thorne II are the only players with more assists than turnovers.

FOR STARTERS (team): CU made a first-half best seven 3-pointers at Texas ? In three conference games, the Buffs are shooting .483 from the field and committing 11 turnovers a game (2nd in the Big 12-only games); compared to last year after three games, CU was shooting .417 and committing 18.3 turnovers a game ? CU has won nine games this season surpassing last year’s total of seven. They are shooting .498 from the field and averaging 68.6 ppg. in nine victories and allowing 52.7 ppg. ? CU is 5-1 when shooting over 50 percent from the field ? After 17 games, CU starters are out-scoring the opponent starters by an average of a 52.4-to-44.5 margin; however the opponent bench is out-scoring CU by an average of 17-to-12 ? The senior class of Hall, King-Stockton, Roby have led CU in scoring 15 times (525 pts,/30.9) compared to one each by the freshmen (266 pts./15.7) and sophomore (227 pts./13.4) classes; the junior class of Jermyl Jackson-Wilson has 74 points/4.4.

CU v. kansas state: The ?Cats have dominated the history books holding a 91-44 advantage over the Buffaloes, however are only 30-31 in Boulder. K-State has won four of five since 2005, including three in a row. CU holds an 8-4 edge in Boulder in Big 12 play. In their last three meetings in Boulder, K-State has won two of three and holds an 82.0-77.3 edge on the scoreboard.

CAT KILLER: Richard Roby has fared well in his three career games in Boulder against the Wildcats averaging 24.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He’s an impressive .521 (25-of-48) from the field and tallied one of his seven career 30-point efforts (Feb. 22, 2005). K-State has won two of three of CU during that span. Last year, Xavier Silas started his own scoring trend netting 17 points.

TRIFECTA: For only the third time this season, Cory Higgins joined Marcus Hall and Richard Roby for leading the team in rebounding, assists and steals in the same game outright. Higgins topped CU at Texas (8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal). Hall was led in all three categories against Tulsa and Roby against New Orleans. Roby is the closet to lead in all five categories (points, rebs, assts., stls., blks.) in a single game topping four of five against New Orleans, only missing the blocked shots category.

Steps in the right direction: Suppose to finish last in the Big 12 this year? After three games in conference play, the Buffaloes are playing their opponent tough and holding their own at Texas A&M (shooting 61.7% percent from the field); defeating Nebraska, 55-51 at home; and leading No. 19 Texas at the half by nine. CU is shooting .483 from the field, limiting its turnovers to 11 a game and placing four players in double figures.

ABOUT kansas state: The Wildcats bring a 12-4 record and a 2-0 mark into Boulder after defeating Texas A&M (75-54) and at Oklahoma (84-82). Tonight is K-State’s second true road game of the year with a 9-1 mark at home and a 2-3 record on neutral courts. Head coach Frank Martin is one of three first-year head coaches in the conference.

BIG 12 TOP-10: Colorado’s top two seniors of Roby and Hall highlight the conference top-10 leaders (all games played):

FT %: Roby 2nd .794

Scoring: Roby t5th 16.3 ppg.

FG%: Roby 8th .498

Steals: Hall 5th 2.00

Assists: Hall 6th 3.94

Ast-Turn Ratio: Hall 10th 1.76

1,000 POINTS: Marcus Hall is 58 points away from becoming the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career. Hall has 942 points entering tonight’s game and stands in 28th place overall.

TEAM LEADERS: CU’s leading scorers are Richard Roby (16.3 ppg.) and Marcus Hall (12.4 ppg.); leader on the glass is Roby (6.0 rpg.) and Jermyl Jackson-Wilson (4.5 rpg.); Hall tops the team in assists (4.1 apg.), steals (2.0 spg.) and 27 3-pointers.

LAST GAME REVIEW: Richard Roby scored a team-high 18 points and Xavier Silas added 15, however No. 19 Texas rallied in the second half to score a 69-67 victory over CU, last Saturday night. Colorado took a 41-28 lead early in the second half behind a seven 3-pointers in the first half, but the Longhorns went on a 15-0 taking a 43-41 lead and held on for victory.

SEASONED VETERAN?: With 17 starts under his belt, freshman Cory Higgins is making the most of his initial season with 31.2 minutes per game. Higgins recorded his seventh and eighth double-digit scoring game, respectively with a team-best 13 points against Nebraska and 15 points at Texas A&M. He also grabbed a season-best eight rebounds (all defensive) at Texas.

Trends after 17 games

In Wins (9) In Losses (8)

FG % 49.8% 41.7%

3-pt. FG % 36.6% 32.9%

FG made 24.8 21.4

FT% 68.9% 71.7%

Turnovers 13.4 13.1

Assist/TO Ratio +1.9 -0.7

Off. Rebounds 9.1 8.4

Def. Rebounds 23.3 19.0

Steals 8.0 4.9

Blocks 4.6 4.3

In nine wins ... Roby: 16.8 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 3.3 apg.; Hall: 13.9 ppg., 3.3 rpg., 3.4 apg.

- Jackson-Wilson: 6.2 rpg., 5.0 ppg. 1.2 bpg.

4th all-time: Richard Roby scored a team-high 18 points at Texas moving him into fourth place all-time on CU’s all-time scoring list. Roby has 1,733 points and is 144 points from passing Shaun Vandiver (1,876). Vandiver played three years from 1989-91 scoring 1,876 points in 91 games (20.6 ppg.).

BUFFALO GOLD: For the first time since the 2000-01 season, CU wore gold uniforms in their conference home opener against Nebraska. The last time CU wore gold was an 81-71 home win versus Oklahoma State (Jan. 27, 2001). During the 1999-2000 season, CU also wore gold in a 69-64 loss at Nebraska on Feb. 26.

HALL or ROBY: Through 17 games, Richard Roby and Marcus Hall have led the majority of games in scoring. Roby has led eight times, Hall six times, while Cory Higgins has done it in back-to-back games (at Texas A&M, Nebraska). Xavier Silas (24 pts. vs. Florida A&M) has performed it once. In his eight games, Roby averages 21.6 ppg., while Hall is 16.2 ppg.

EASY POINTS: In recent years, CU was not a very good free throw shooting team. This year, the Buffaloes are shooting .701 (fifth in the Big 12). With under two minutes to play in the game, Marcus Hall is an impressive 20-of-22 (.909) during that stretch, while the entire team is 43-of-52 (.827 percent).

CAN’T PASS THROUGH THIS HALL: Senior Marcus Hall’s eight steals against Tulsa were the most since Jose Winston had eight for the Buffs in a 67-56 win over St. Mary’s on Nov. 11, 1999. It’s the second-most steals in a game this season in Division I (Lester Hudson, Tenn.-Martin, 10). The school record for steals in a game is 10 by Jay Humphries against Milwaukee-Wisconsin on Jan. 15, 1983. Hall’s 116 career steals puts him in ninth place on the all-time list at CU (teammate Richard Roby is fifth on the all-time list with 161 career swipes).

AK-47 MEET MH-1: The stat sheet will tell you Hall didn’t even record a double-double against Tulsa, but that’s doesn’t explain how close he was to notching the first quadruple-double in NCAA Division I history. Hall shot just 2-of-14 against Tulsa, preventing him from reaching 10 points, usually the easiest stat to fill. Other than that, he was just one teammate’s missed lay up and two tipped passes out of bounds away from infamy. A lot of what if’s, but Hall is turning into the Andre Kirilenko of college basketball with his ability to fill a stat sheet in several categories. His final line: 4 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 8 steals.

CU During Big 12 Inception: After 17 games, CU not only has won more games this season than last, but their field goal percentage and limiting their turnovers per game rank near the top over the last 12 years.

Year PPG FG % 3-Pt.% FT% To W’s

2007-08 64.2 .459 .349 .701 13.3 9

2006-07 69.1 .417 .313 .655 17.5 7

2005-06 76.8 .434 .342 .646 14.0 20

2004-05 71.6 .435 .353 .629 14.4 14

2003-04 74.2 .464 .372 .621 14.6 18

2002-03 75.2 .443 .326 .669 14.0 20

2001-02 79.7 .453 .357 .677 17.0 15

2000-01 80.6 .460 .359 .715 16.5 15

1999-00 75.2 .426 .339 .686 14.3 18

1998-99 73.1 .414 .344 .702 14.7 18

1997-98 71.4 .404 .346 .688 14.3 13

1996-97 73.1 .420 .362 .681 13.9 22

IRON MAN: Marcus Hall ended his streak of 161 consecutive minutes played. From Nov. 29-Dec. 22, Hall played 196 out of 200 possible minutes spanning five games (40 each at Air Force, Stanford, at Wyoming, New Orleans, at Colorado State). For the season, Hall averages a conference best 36.2 minutes a game.

REDSHIRT YEAR: Sophomore forward Jeremy Williams will be redshirted this season and will return next year with three full years of eligibility. He was academically ineligible for the fall semester. Williams averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rpg. last season with 18 starts.

FOUR IN A ROW? - Richard Roby will be looking to become only the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring four consecutive seasons. From 2004-05 (16.0 ppg.), 2005-06 (17.0) through last year (17.3), Roby has made it three straight. Here are the others:

Donnie Boyce 1991-95 4-straight

Shawn Vandiver *1988-91 3-straight

Emmett Lewis 1975-79 4-straight

Cliff Meely *1968-71 3-straight

Pat Frink ^1964-65, ’66-68

(3 of 4 years)

* - Played only three years

^ - did not play 1965-66 season

3-Point Streak: Dating back to the 2001-02 season, CU has made a 3-pointer in 180 consecutive games. Last time they failed to make at least one trey was Jan. 16, 2002 against Iowa State in Boulder. The Buffs won 63-61.

FUN ?n Sun: For the next two seasons the Buffaloes will be making multiple trips to the Hawaiian Islands. Next season, CU will be making their first-ever trip to the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. In 2009-10, CU will play in the Maui Invitational. Hosted by Division II college Chaminade, and sponsored by EA Sports, the Buffaloes will be one of eight schools participating in the 26th edition of the tournament. Joining CU two years from now will be Arizona, Gonzaga, Louisville, Maryland, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin.

CU IN THE PRO WORLD: There is a number of CU basketball members with ties to the professional ranks. From head coach Jeff Bzdelik to the five student-athletes.

Coach Bzdelik: Head Coach of the Denver Nuggets (2002-05);

Casey Crawford: father, Steve played with the Boston Red Sox;

Cory Higgins: father, Rod played in the NBA from 1982-95, currently the general manager of the Charlotte Bobcats;

Richard Roby: half-brother of Kenyon Martin (Denver Nuggets);

Xavier Silas: father, James, played professionally for 10 years, eight years with the San Antonio Spurs;

Dwight Thorne II: cousin, Acie Law IV played for the Texas A&M Aggies and great uncle, Ernie Banks played with the Cubs.

BUFF BITS: Richard Roby has tallied double-figures 15 of 17 games, Marcus Hall 13 of 17 games ? Over the last two seasons, Xavier Silas has made the most 3-pointers with 61, followed by Roby (60), Hall (27), Levi Knutson (18), Cory Higgins (16) and Dwight Thorne (11) ? ? Senior Marcus King-Stockton did not play at Air Force marking the first time he did not play in a game since his freshman season (Mar. 2 at Nebraska), a string of 66 consecutive games.

TEAM BITS: CU committed a season-low 10 turnovers at Texas A&M and Nebraska ? CU shot a season-best 62 percent from the field at Texas A&M. It’s the first time CU has shot over 60 percent since making .627 against Mercer in 2005-06, and .611 percent against a Big 12 foe since 2002-03 against Texas A&M. In the same game, the Buffs shot a school second-best from the field in the second half (.773) ? CU’s 16 rebounds at A&M were the fewest since grabbing 16 against Arkansas State, Mar. 21, 1991 (w, 81-75) ? The Buffs played with only seven players against SMU and Tulsa ? The Buffs victory at Moby Arena was CU’s first in four years and it snapped Colorado State’s 24-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents ? CU shot a season-high 33 3-pointers at Wyoming, their most since attempting 34 at Nebraska (Feb. 22, 2006) ? For the first time since the 1998-99 season, CU won back-to-back road games (at Denver, at Air Force) ? The Buffs win at Air Force ended the Falcons’ 38-game home winning streak against non-conference foes ? DU’s 44 points were the fewest allowed by a CU team since a 71-44 win over Tennessee State on Dec. 19, 2003 ? CU won three straight games, twice for the first time since 2005-06 when they won nine and five straight games on two separate occasions.

AT HOME vs. RANKED TEAMS: Since the 2002-03 to 2006-07 (five years), CU has defeated at least one ranked opponent at the Coors Events Center. Please turn to page 169 to see the year-by-year breakdown of home, away and neutral court records versus the nation’s elite.

roster changes: In the 2007-08 media guide, senior guard Richard Roby and freshman guard Cory Higgins are listed as #20 and #22, respectively. Both of those numbers are retired (#20 Cliff Meely, 1968-71; #22 by Burdette Haldorson, 1952-55). Roby now wears #23 (the # worn he wore his freshman, sophomore, junior seasons); Higgins has selected #11.

NO NAME JERSEYS: For the first time in many years the 2007-08 Buffaloes will not have their last name on the back of their uniforms. It was an idea always discussed in recent years, but never followed through until head coach Jeff Bzdelik decided that the name on the front is more important than the one on the back.

MEDIA GUIDE CORRECTION: On page 59 of the 2007-08 CU media guide it states that Cory Higgins’ father, Rod is the general manager of the Golden State Warriors. In fact, he’s the GM with the Charlotte Bobcats.

COACHES say: For the second season in a row in Big 12 history, the conference coaches have picked the Buffaloes to finish in 12th place. Last season, the coaches correctly predicted CU for 12th. Here’s each season since 1996-97, the predicted finish and the actual placing that CU ended up ...

Season Predicted Actual

2007-08 12th ?

2006-07 12th 12th

2005-06 9th 5th

2004-05 10th 11th

2003-04 6th 4th

2002-03 9th t-5th

2001-02 7th 9th

2000-01 7th 9th

1999-2000 8th 7th

1998-99 10th 8th

1997-98 9th 9th