MBB Hosts Texas Saturday In Big 12 Conference Opener
BROADCAST: Today's game will be televised on Altitude Sports & Entertainment in the Denver, Boulder viewing area. All Colorado men's basketball regular and post season games are broadcast live on KKZN AM 760, Boulder's Progressive Talk station. Mark Johnson will handle play-by-play duties and is joined by Charles Johnson with the color commentary. Live internet audio can be accessed through Yahoo! Sports. Live video streaming of Saturday's battle will be available to Stampede Online subscribers at CUBuffs.com.
FOR STARTERS: Colorado will be looking for its first win (nine straight losses) since the 1996-97 season when Texas visits the Events Center, Jan. 6. The Buffs have not won a conference opener since Jan. 4, 1997 and are 0-2 against the Longhorns.
Jan. 7, 2006 at Texas L, 64-89
Jan. 8, 2005 at Oklahoma L, 55-85
Jan. 5, 2004 KANSAS L, 62-77
Jan. 11, 2003 at Oklahoma L, 54-69
Jan. 5, 2002 KANSAS L, 85-97
Jan. 6, 2001 at Baylor L, 56-61
Jan. 8, 2000 KANSAS L, 69-84
Jan. 2, 1999 TEXAS L, 68-73
Jan. 3, 1998 OKLAHOMA L, 68-69
Jan. 4, 1997 Nebraska W, 79-73
HOOK SHOTS: Dominique Coleman and Jermyl Jackson-Wilson have been stellar in their last four games. Coleman: 13.3 ppg., 6.3 rpg., 3.3 apg., 1.8 spg.; 17-of-20 FT (.850), 17-of-38 FG (.447); Jackson-Wilson averages 7.0 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 2.0 apg., 2.5 bpg., 1.8 stl.; he also has 11 blocks and ranks 87th nationally in rebounding (7.7) ... CU has had four double-doubles this season: Jackson-Wilson (2), Coleman and Richard Roby (1) ... Roby has led the team in scoring six times, including one shared and has scored double figures in nine of 10 games ... Kal Bay notched career-bests in his last game vs. UCF: 21 pts., five three-pointers, three steals ... Coach Patton teams are 3-8 against the Longhorns ... TEAM: CU has used seven different starting combinations through 10 games ... CU is 1-5 at home in Big 12 openers ... CU is 96-for-124 from the FT line in the last four games (.774) ... Shot a season-best .529 from the field (27-of-51), a school-best since shooting .577 against Savannah State in 2005-06 ... Against UCF, both teams combined for 55 free throws made breaking the Coors Events Center record of 53 ... CU's 36 made free throws against UCF are the most since making 36 back on Feb. 22, 1997 (Missouri) ... CU is on TV for its next 11 straight games.
NONCONFERENCE PLAY: CU finished 4-6, their first losing season in nonconference play since 1988-89 when they finished 5-8. It's also the fewest nonconference games the Buffaloes have played since the 1997-98 campaign when they finished 6-4.
CU vs. Texas: Texas leads the head-to-head series, 9-8 and defeated CU last season in Austin, 89-64 (Jan. 7, 2006). The last time CU defeated the Longhorns at the Events Center was Feb. 8, 2005, upsetting the then-No. 23/22 ?Horns, 88-79. That was the same season the Buffs shocked Texas at the Big 12 Tournament (March 10), 81-69, becoming the first No. 11 seed to upset a No. 6 seed.
Texas UPDATE: The Longhorns have won five of their last six games and have not won in Boulder since Feb. 7, 2001. Texas is led by freshman sensation Kevin Durant, who is eighth nationally in scoring (21.5 ppg.), 13th in rebounding (10.3 rpg.) and 64th in blocked shots (2.1). He also leads the Big 12 in those categories and has posted seven double-doubles and reached the 20-point mark in 11 of UT's 13 games (CU footnotes: have allowed three double-doubles and seven 20 point performances). Head coach Rick Barnes is a perfect 8-0 mark in Big 12 Conference openers, while Coach Patton is 1-9 (nine straight losses).
LAST TIME OUT: Kal Bay scored a career-high 21 points and Marcus King-Stockton scored 11 of his career-high 18 points in the second half leading CU to a 96-87 victory over Central Florida, Wednesday night. It was the first CU men's basketball in 25 days since last playing December 9 against Colorado State. Two games were cancelled due to inclement weather on December 23 (UC Davis) and December 30 (TCU). Richard Roby added 14 points, 12 of those in the second half.
A total of six CU players netted double figures, a first since Dec. 3, 2005 against UC Irvine.
Adding to the scoring mix was Jermyl Jackson-Wilson (13 points), Dominique Coleman (12 pts.) and Jeremy Williams (10 pts.). Bay added six assists, three steals and season-best five 3-pointers.
THE REST OF THE BIG 12: CU was the only team not to play a game during their extended holiday break due to the inclement weather, the Christmas holiday and final exams. Texas, Iowa State and Nebraska played the most games (5) from Dec. 10-31. The schools playing four games were Baylor, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State; Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech have played three.
SCOUTING THE NEXT THREE: The Buffs will take on three members of the Big 12 South Division to start the 2007 conference slate. Each of the Buffs' next three opponents?Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M?boast Big 12 award winners for the week of Jan. 2. Texas, which CU will face first, has the league's top freshman in Kevin Durant. The 6-9 guard/forward was named the conference Rookie of the Week for the second straight time and fourth time overall. Durant leads Texas in scoring (21.5 ppg), rebounding (10.3 rpg) and blocked shots (27). Next up for the Buffs is Oklahoma led by Co-Big 12 Player of the Week Longar Longar. The junior center scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against SMU and leads the team in scoring (13.3 ppg), rebounding (7.8rpg) and blocked shots (18). Texas A&M, which comes to town last, will counter CU with a powerful lineup including sophomore forward Josh Carter who was also the Co-Big 12 Player of the Week. Carter tied a conference record with seven three-pointers in the first half against Grambling State, finishing with 24 points. The Aggie sharpshooter is second on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and second in the conference in three-point FG percentage (.534).
RECENT TRENDS AGAINST THE NEXT THREE: The Buffs are 7-8 against their next three opponents in the combined last five contests between each team:
Texas (CU is 3-2 in last five games): CU dropped an 89-64 decision to Texas last season after sweeping the Longhorns in two games during the 2004-05 season. The Buffs have struggled against the Longhorns at home. CU is 2-5 against Texas in Boulder, but 6-3 against the burnt orange on the road or in neutral sites.
Oklahoma (CU is 2-3 in last five games): The Buffs have taken two of the last five contests between the schools with the two wins coming at home. CU beat No. 19 Oklahoma 84-75 last season in Boulder behind 28 points by Richard Roby and 18 points by Chris Copeland.
Texas A&M (CU is 2-3 in last five games): The Aggies have won the last three games between the two teams, although CU still leads the all-time series 9-4, including 4-1 at home. Last season, the No. 25 Buffs traveled to College Station and could not hold a one-point halftime advantage, losing to the Aggies 61-58. In the second round of the Big 12 tournament, the two teams met again with the Buffs opening a quick 9-2 lead over A&M before succumbing to poor shooting in an 86-53 defeat.
CANCELLED GAMES: The CU/UC Davis game (Dec. 23) was cancelled due to the inclement weather in the Denver area that caused severe travel difficulties; and on Saturday, Dec. 30, both the Texas Christian (men) and Houston (women) schools opted not to board their respective flights to Colorado. Officials from both schools cited the weather conditions in Colorado, despite the fact that their flights were not cancelled. The doubleheader had the TCU men playing Ricardo Patton's Buffaloes at 1 p.m. at the Coors Events Center, with the Houston women to play Kathy McConnell-Miller's team at 7 p.m. The games will not be rescheduled this season.
crashing the boards: In their last four games the Buffs have five players with at least 20 rebounds apiece. Jeremy Williams and Jermyl Jackson-Wilson each have 26 (6.5 rpg.), Dominique Coleman has 25 (6.3 rpg.), Richard Roby is next with 23 (5.8 rpg.) and Marcus King-Stockton rounds out with 20 (5.0 rpg.). As a team, CU has only out-rebounded an opponent four times (Denver +13, Pepperdine +9, Northern Colorado +4, Central Florida+3).
INJURY LIst UPDATE: Freshman center Marc Van Burck is currently back as a reserve after suffering a right foot stress fracture. He was active for the Central Florida game, but did not play. He has not played in a game since the season opener against Denver. Freshman walk-on Trent Beckley is still out with a left Achilles tendon strain.
FREE THROWS WHEN IT COUNTS: After 10 games, we're starting to see whose cool under pressure from the free throw line. Listed below are totals with five and two minutes remaining in the game.
2-5 minutes to play
Jeremy Williams 3-3 1.000
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson 2-2 1.000
Chase Perkowski 2-2 1.000
Richard Roby 7-8 .875
Sean Kowal 3-4 .750
Xavier Silas 4-6 .667
Dominique Coleman 2-4 .500
Dwight Thorne II 1-2 .500
Marcus King-Stockton 0-1 .000
last 2 minutes remaining
Dominique Coleman 2-2 1.000
Kal Bay 2-2 1.000
Xavier Silas 2-2 1.000
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson 2-3 .667
Sean Kowal 1-2 .500
Marcus King-Stockton 1-2 .500
GETTING CLOSE: Richard Roby is nearing the school's top-10 field goals attempts list. Entering today's game, Roby has 963 attempts nearing the 10th spot held by Jay Humphries (1980-84) with 1,058. As for field goals made, Roby is a bit behind Scott Wedman's 10th place of 516. Roby has 400 field goals made.