Colorado University Athletics
MBB Hosts TCU, Wednesday
FOR STARTERS (individual)... After five games, Cory Higgins is CU’s statistical leader in points, rebounds, steals, minutes played. Higgins has led CU in rebounding three of five games and in scoring twice (one shared) ... Dwight Thorne II has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season, and in seven consecutive games dating back to last season - a career long ... CU has four players shooting over 50 percent (min. of 17 attempts) ... Nate Tomlinson displayed his scoring touch against Stanford with a season-best 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting ... Thorne II is shooting a team-best .657 percent from the field (23-of-35) ... Trey Eckloff is showing grit in the paint getting a season-best four rebounds (11 overall) at Stanford ... Jermyl Jackson-Wilson has a blocked shot in every game and leads the team with six. JJW grabbed a career-best 11 defensive rebounds against Lafayette tallying his fifth career 10+rebounding game ... Austin Dufault has five straight 10+scoring games, a team-best ... Higgins and Thorne II each have 23 FGs made (almost five a game).
Complete Notes at the bottom ...
FOR STARTERS (team)... CU plays the first of seven FSN RM telecasts tonight against the Horned Frogs; tonight is also the first of two-straight games against the Mountain West Conference (Colorado State is next on Dec. 10) ... CU will enjoy a seven-day break in between games after tonight ... The Buffs begin another four-game home stand running through Dec. 23 before adding frequent flyer mileage across the Pacific Ocean at the Rainbow Classic starting on Christmas Day ... CU has placed four players in scoring double-digits in four of five games (except Stanford) ... The Buffs are shooting .506 from the field and have shot 50 percent in four of five games (except Montana State) ... CU has been outrebounded four of five games (except Harvard) ... The Buffs grabbed a season-high 10 offensive boards at Stanford ... CU starters are averaging 58.6 ppg., while the bench is adding 15.6 ppg. .... CU has made a 3-pointer in 200-straight games (since the 2001-02 season) ... CU is 3-1when shooting over 50 percent from the field (50% at Stanford) ... CU’s 11 steals against Lafayette were the most thefts since getting 13 at NCAA Tournament bound Kansas State last year (Mar, 4, 2008).
TCU UPDATE... First-year head coach Jim Christian and the Horned Frogs enter the game with a three-game winning streak and a 4-3 record with three of those coming at home. TCU gets their scoring from a one-two punch with Edvinas Ruzgas and Kevin Langford leading the team in scoring three times each. One of TCU’s losses comes to Nebraska, 62-50 back on Nov. 19.
CU vs. TCU... Colorado leads the all-time 2-1 having last played Dec. 20, 2005 and taking a 77-59 win in Fort Worth. The previous two meetings took place in 1983 (CU, 70-65 in Boulder) and 1982 (TCU, 77-52 in Fort Worth). This game is the follow up of a home-and-home.
CU vs. the MWC... The Buffaloes have a long successful history against Mountain West Conference (187 wins, 111 losses). After tonight, CU will play in-state rival Colorado State on Dec. 10 on FSN RM. Coach Bzdelik will look to remain perfect against the Rams aiming for his sixth straight win.
BROADCAST: The Colorado men’s basketball team can be heard live on KKZN AM 760. Mark Johnson and Charles Johnson call the action including the pre- and postgame. Live internet audio of all CU basketball games is available through Yahoo! Sports. Colorado’s games will also be streamed live on CUBuffs.com through the BuffsTV subscription service.
POSTER FEATURE... Tonight’s poster feature is freshman forward Austin Dufault. Dufault comes to Boulder from Killdeer, N.D. and is CU’s first student-athlete from the state of North Dakota since Ozzie Carlson, 1960-61 (Valley City). More Dufault info is located on page 22.
ON THIS DAY (Dec. 3)... CU brings a 13-5 mark on this day in history and last played during the 2005-06 season winning at home 93-75. The Buffs are 10-3 at home.
LAST GAME RECAP... Dwight Thorne II and Nate Tomlinson each scored 18 points, however the Stanford Cardinal ran to a 76-62 victory in the second year matchup of the two schools in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. Thorne also added six rebounds and two steals, tying his career-high in both. Freshman Austin Dufault netted 10 points, his fifth consecutive game in double figures and sophomore Cory Higgins scored nine points adding four rebounds for the Buffs in their first visit to Stanford in 17 years.
CECC RECORD...maybe a school record? Sophomore guard Cory Higgins was the first CU student-athlete to lead the team in rebounds AND assists the first two games of any season since 1973-74. It’s a Coors Events Conference Center mark (building opened in 1979). The research was stopped at the 1972-73 season because assists were not kept. So, in the last 35 years, no CU player has led his team in rebounding AND assists in the first two games of the season.
3-Point Streak... Dating back to the 2001-02 season, CU has made a 3-pointer in 200 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.
HAWAII BOUND...AGAIN... The Buffaloes will be making another trip to the Hawaiian Islands playing in the 2009-10 Maui Invitational in Honolulu. It will be CU’s first-ever appearance in the Maui 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 next year will be Arizona, Gonzaga, Louisville, Maryland, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin.
MORE TEAM NOTES... CU shot 50% from the field in both halves against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Harvard and Lafayette - all wins ... The Buffaloes made 10 three-pointers from the new NCAA 3-point line of 20’9" against Pine Bluff. The 10 treys the most since making 10 against Oklahoma State (Feb. 3, 2007) ... CU is playing a school-record eight home games before Christmas (previous high was seven set five times, most recently 1998-99) ... Entering the 2008-09 season, CU’s starting lineup may consist of freshmen and sophomores. It will be the school’s youngest starting five to play at one time since 1985-86 when four freshmen, one sophomore started three straight games ... For the 12th time in school history a CU team will have at least five freshmen on a roster ... CU plays nine non-conference home games, the most of any season since 1995-96 (nine). This season will be the first time playing Lafayette, Coppin State, George Washington (pending), Vermont (pending).
YOUTH movement... A combination of 10 underclassmen (five freshmen and five sophomores) highlight the roster matching one of the youngest CU teams in history. Back in 2006-07, CU had 10 underclassmen (eight freshmen), in addition to the 1992-93 season (four freshmen, six sophomores).
Defense through the years... Over his six years as a collegiate coach and two-plus seasons as a head coach in the NBA, Jeff Bzdelik has installed playing defense as a major part of the game. Here’s a look at his teams over the years. The 2005-06 season at Air Force was a nation’s best of all 970 collegiate schools in Division I (326), D-II (265), and D-III (379).
1986-87 UMBC 70.1 ppg. (28 gms)
1987-88 UMBC 78.0 (28 games)
2002-03 Denver (NBA) #92.4 (82 games)
2003-04 Denver (NBA) 96.1 (82 games)
2004-05 Denver (NBA) 97.4 (28 games)
2005-06 USAFA *54.7 (31 games)
2006-07 USAFA **56.0 (35 games)
2007-08 Colorado ^62.4 (32 games)
2008-09 Colorado 66.6 (five games)
* - nation’s best
** - runner up nationally (Princeton 53.3)
^ - lowest in CU history 46 years
# - franchise record (shattered mark by more than five points)
JUST A KID... Forward Trey Eckloff is perhaps the youngest men’s basketball freshman ever on any CU roster. Born April 30, 1990, Eckloff would be a senior at Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colo. He’s the youngest scholarship student-athlete in the Big 12 Conference, however, Nebraska non-scholarship freshman Ross Ferrarini, born May 25, 1990, is the youngest overall.
TV APPEARANCES... CU will play on television 20 times this season, six of those nationally (FSN, ESPN, ESPNU 4 times). Here are the rest ... ABC Regional: 1; FSN: 1; ESPN: 1; ESPNU: 4; Big 12 Network (previously ESPN Regional): 5; FSN RM: 8.
NO EXHIBITION GAME... For the first time since the 1985-86 season, CU did not play one exhibition game to start the season. Instead, the Buffs played a pair of closed door scrimmages against Utah and at Northern Colorado.
FROSH & SOPHOMORE STARTING... There might a time this season when the starting five could be comprised of only freshmen and sophomores. Here’s a look at youth in past seasons and how they fared.
2006-07: Three freshmen in starting lineup: Kal Bay, Jeremy Williams, Xavier Silas: four times (at KU, at BU, OSU, at KSU). The quartet went 1-3 (defeated OSU, 89-77), lost by an average of 18 points.
2006-07: Two freshmen in starting lineup: Xavier Silas/Jeremy Williams: five times; Kal Bay/Jeremy Williams - three times; Dwight Thorne II/Jeremy Williams: once; Thorne/Williams, Silas: once.
1985-86: Four freshman, one sophomore started three consecutive games and lost them all by average of 29.3 points per game.
Feb. 5, 1986 at Kansas, L, 64-100
Feb. 8, 1986 at Kansas State, L, 53-79
Feb. 12, 1986 vs. Iowa State, L, 57-83
Matt Bullard ? Fr.: Started all 28 games; Ken Countryman ? Fr.: Started only three games all season; David Kuosmen ? Fr.: Started four games all season; Jeff Penix ? Fr.: Started only three games; Scott Wilke ? So.: Started nine games.
COACHES saY... The conference coaches have picked the Buffaloes to finish in 12th place in the 2008-09 standings. Here’s each season since 1996-97, the predicted finish and the actual placing that CU ended up ...
Season Predicted Actual
2008-09 12th ?
2007-08 12th 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
1996-97 no poll 2nd
LOST FOR THE SEASON... Junior forward Trent Beckley will miss the 2008-09 basketball season with a stress fracture in his lumbar spine. He will be redshirted having two more years of eligibility. According to CU men’s basketball athletic trainer Larry Willock, Beckley’s injury does not require surgery, as the bone tissue is healing. Beckley, a native of Vail, Colo., played in 10 games last season. He was a walk-on during his freshman and sophomore years, and was awarded a scholarship at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year.