Colorado University Athletics

MBB Hosts Louisiana-Monroe, Tuesday

MBB Hosts Louisiana-Monroe, Tuesday
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game notes vs. ULM

FOR STARTERS (individual)... Cory Higgins leads CU in scoring (18.3), rebounds (6.3), steals (1.5), minutes played (36.1), FGs made (44), FG attempts (86), free throws made (48) and attempts (64), FT % (.750) ? Higgins has led CU in rebounding six of eight games and in scoring five times (one shared) ? CU has five players shooting over 50 percent (min. of 33 attempts) ? Jermyl Jackson-Wilson has a blocked shot in every game and leads the team with10 ? Dwight Thorne II is shooting a team-best .576 percent from the field (34-of-59) and tied  a career-high five assists against Prairie View A&M ? Nate Tomlinson has recorded at least three assists in every game played ? Higgins made his last nine free throws (all seven in the second half against CSU and both of his attempts against PV A&M) ? After scoring 28 points in the second half versus CSU game, Higgins scored 15 in the first half against PV A&M totaling 43 points in the last 40:00 minutes of game time.  That is also 48 percent of CU’s points during that span (43-of-90) ? Thorne II has scored in double figures six of eight games ? Austin Dufault has made five FGs in four games  and has scored 10+ points in six of eight games.

 

COMPLETE NOTES at the bottom of the page. 

 

FOR STARTERS (team)... Colorado did not allow a single Prairie View A&M player to reach double-figures in scoring; the last time that happened came against Villanova at Honolulu (Rainbow Classic, Dec. 27, 1999) ? The Buffs are 5-1 when shooting above .500  percent from the field ? CU had a team-high 21 assists against PV A&M  and a season-best 37 rebounds and 32 defensive rebounds ? In five CU wins, the team is shooting .529 percent from the floor with four players averaging 10+ points a game ? Against PV A&M, CU tied a season-best 28 FGS made (the other Colorado State, Dec. 10) ? CU is  5-1 when shooting over 50 percent from the field (50% at Stanford) ?  Tonight is a school record eight home games played before Christmas ? CU is shooting a Big 12 best .505 from the field; the last time a CU team finished the season over 50 percent from the field was 1985-86 (24 years), in fact, that’s the only time since 1947-48 when percentages were kept.

 

CU vs. LOUISIANA-MONROE... This is CU’s second meeting all-time against Louisiana-Monroe, the first being a Buffalo win in Boulder during the 1975-76 season (71-70).

 

ULM UPDATE... The Warhawks are 3-7 on the season and 1-1 in Sun Belt play. Louisiana-Monroe is coming off a 72-66 win at home against New Orleans led by 25 points from Malcolm Thomas and 14 from Rudy Turner. ULM has five players averaging 10 or more points per game. ULM’s other of pair of wins were two-point winners over Morehead State (56-54) and Stephen F. Austin (60-58). Fourth-year head coach Orlando Early returns two starters from last year’s 10-21 team.

 

RAINBOW CLASSIC TIMES... CU will play Coppin State, Sunday, Dec. 28 at 10:30 p.m. (MST). If CU wins, they will play at 8 p.m. (MST) against either Buffalo or Pepperdine. If the Buffs lose,  they will play at 4:30 p.m. (MST). As far as the final day, here’s the schedule (barring a Hawaii loss on the first night), all are mountain times:

 

7th place - 2 p.m.

5th place - 4:30 pm

3rd place - 8:00 pm

Championship - 10:30 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 feature is freshman forward Toby Veal. Veal from Savannah, Ga., has played in six games with 0.8 points and 1.0 rebound per game. He is averaging 4.8 minutes and is 2-of-3 from the field (.667).

 

ON THIS DAY (Dec. 23)... CU is 8-5 on this date in history with a 7-1 mark at home. The Buffs last played on this date in 2004 defeating Radford, 74-58 shooting 50 percent from the field (30-of-60) led by  Richard Roby’s game-high 18 points and six rebounds..

 

CONFERENCE HONOR... Cory Higgins was selected the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 8-14) in voting by a panel of media covering the conference.  It is the first weekly honor for Higgins and first conference honor for CU this season. It’s also the first Big 12 Player of the Week honor for a CU student-athlete since the 2005-06 season when Richard Roby earned back-to-back honors. Higgins also established career bests in field goals made (11), field goals attempted (16) and 3-pointers made (3). 

 

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                          62.2              (8 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)

 

LAST GAME RECAP...  Sophomore Cory Higgins scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and junior Dwight Thorne II added 12 points leading Colorado to a 72-47 victory over Prairie View A&M. The Buffaloes (5-3) idle for nine days have won two-straight, while the Panthers lost their fourth consecutive falling to 3-8. Higgins, named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week (Dec. 8-14) after his career-best 33-points against Colorado State back on Dec. 10, remained red-hot in the scoring column, netting 15 first half points on a trio of three-pointers. Thorne also chipped-in with nine of his 12 points in the first half.

 

MORE TEAM NOTES... CU has placed four players in scoring double-digits in five of eight games  (except Stanford, TCU, PV A&M) ? CU has scored at least 70 points in all five victories ? CU shot 50% from the field in both halves against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Harvard, Lafayette, CSU - all wins ? CU recorded its least number of turnovers all season (8) vs. Colorado State, their lowest seven turnovers against Baylor on Feb. 27, 2008 ? The Buffs grabbed a season-high 10 offensive boards at Stanford (Nov. 29) ? CU’s 11 steals  against Lafayette (Nov. 25) were the most thefts since getting 13 at NCAA Tournament bound Kansas State last year (March 4, 2008) ? The Buffs made 10 three-pointers against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Nov. 14). The 10 treys the most since making 10 against Oklahoma State (Feb. 3, 2007).

 

3-Point Streak... Dating back to the 2001-02 season, CU has made a 3-pointer in 203 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.

 

VOLUNTEERS... One Saturday, Dec. 6, the CU men’s basketball team and more than 150 community volunteers teamed up to deliver gift baskets to nearly 1,000 low-income families.  The CU men’s team visited the Golden West senior residence in Boulder. The program was associated with RSVP of Boulder County.