MBB Heads To Nationally Ranked Kansas Saturday
FOR STARTERS: Where should we begin with this game? Colorado has lost 23-straight games in Lawrence dating back to Feb. 10, 1983 and 0-22 when playing a ranked opponent on the road. What else happened in 1983: North Carolina State won the NCAA Basketball Title, the 76ers won the NBA title, Washington won the Super Bowl, Baltimore in baseball and the N.Y. Islanders won their fourth and last Stanley Cup. Complete Notes Attached.
CU at kansas: The Buffaloes trail in the head-to-head series 111-39 and are 7-56 at Kansas dating back to March 14, 1947 when they first played in Lawrence. CU scored 15 first points last year at KU and didn't score their 10th point until 1:31 remaining in the half.
SURE THINGS IN LIFE: Death, taxes and a loss in Saturday's game at Kansas when you take in account CU's history on the road at Allen Fieldhouse. Coach Patton teams are 0-11; since 1995-96, the Buffs are shooting .388 from the field and are being outscored 91.2-to-69.6 over those 11 games. Factoring in national rankings, KU is No. 8 in both polls. The last time CU beat a top-10 ranked school was Feb. 4 against No. 3 Texas, 93-80 on Feb. 4, 2003 in Boulder; last time defeated a top-10 opponent on the road -- never.
SCOUTING THE jayhawks: Kansas is rolling along having lost only three times (Oral Roberts, at DePaul, at Texas Tech). The Jayhawks have won 11 of 12 since Dec. 4 and are 11-1 at home this season. Head Coach Bill Self is his fourth season at KU and brings a 53-5 home record (.914) in today's game. He's also 4-0 against Colorado.
HOOK SHOTS: Xavier Silas is the first CU player since the 2002-03 season to lead the team in scoring outright (no sharing and not including Richard Roby). Michel Morandais performed the feat twice that season. Marcus Hall led CU in scoring three straight (one shared) in 2004-05 ... Freshman Jeremy Williams scored a career-best 15 points in only 17 minutes against Mizzou on 6-of-8 shooting ... In his last three games, Silas is averaging 16.0 ppg., 6.0 rebounds and is shooting .515 from the field (17-of-33). From the 3-point arc, he's .467 (7-of-15) and .500 at the charity stripe (7-of-14) ... Richard Roby is struggling from the field in his last four games (15-of-50, .280), ranking third in scoring (9.5 ppg.) with 4.3 rpg. ... Dominique Coleman is averaging 11.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and four assists in his last four games. TEAM: CU has never been 1-6 in Big 12 play. In 1998-99 they started 2-8 after their first 10 games ... CU is now 2-57 under Patton when trailing by 10+ at half (1-10 this year) ... Has used nine different starting combos through 16 games ... Scored under 60 points: five times; under 55: four times; under-50: twice, both Big 12 road games ... The last time CU scored 50 points in three straight Big 12 games was 2004-05 (OU, Baylor, ISU) ... In two Big 12 road games, CU is being outscored 74.5-to-52.0 and being outshot .471 to .398.
LAST TIME OUT (complete box on page 20): Matt Lawrence and Stefhon Hannah each scored 14 points as the Missouri Tigers snapped a four-game Big 12 Conference losing streak in a 79-65 win over Colorado on Wednesday night. Freshman J.T. Tiller came off the bench to tie a career high with 12 points and Keon Lawrence added 10. The Tigers broke a year-long, 12-game road losing streak. They hadn't won away from Mizzou Arena since Jan. 10, 2006, at Oklahoma. CU was led in scoring for the third straight game by Xavier Silas, who finished with 16 points. Jeremy Williams had a career-high 15 points and Richard Roby contributed 11 points, moving him into 14th place on Colorado's all-time scoring list.
"X" Marks The Spot: Xavier Silas has become the first CU player since the 2002-03 season to lead the team in scoring out-right (no sharing). Marcus Hall led CU in scoring three straight (one shared) in 2004-05 and in 2002-03, Michel Morandais performed the feat twice in the same season.
Silas over 3 games: Xavier Silas is the lone CU player scoring over double-digits. With 16.0 ppg., Silas has three games with 10 or more points, averaging 6.0 rebounds and is shooting .515 from the field (17-of-33). From the 3-point arc, he's .467 (7-of-15) and .500 at the charity stripe (7-of-14). For the season, the 6'6 freshman guard is averaging 29.9 minutes a game (leads all freshmen). Season bests are 19 points (Iowa State, Jan. 17 and Pepperdine, Dec. 4); seven rebounds (at Nebraska, Jan. 20 and Central Florida, Jan. 3). He also scored 17 points against Texas (Jan. 6) and a team-high 14 at New Mexico (Nov. 14).
COLEMAN holding steady: Dominique Coleman is also holding his own over the last three games. He's second in scoring with 11.5 a game and the team's leader on the glass (8.3 rpg.) with 4.0 assists and two steals per game. On the season, Coleman is third in scoring (10.8 ppg.), second in rebounding (6.1) and first in assists (3.6).
ON THE ROAD IN THE BIG 12: Since the Big 12 formed (1996-97), CU has played 82 regular season games on the road. Heading into 2006-07, the Buffaloes under Coach Patton are 21-61 (.256). That means an average of 2.1 wins a season and 5.9 losses in eight road games. The highest win total was 4-4 in 1996-97; their lowest was one win in each of the 2002-03 (Baylor), 2001-02 (Texas A&M) and 1999-2000 Kansas State) seasons.
ON THE ROAD vs. RANKED TEAMS: With CU heading to Lawrence to take on No. 8/8 Kansas, the Buffaloes are 0-22 when playing a ranked opponent on the road. Their last win came on Jan. 11, 1997 at Texas Tech, 80-78 (ot).
MORE FROM THE ROAD...Part II: Dating back to last season, CU has lost seven straight Big 12 road games ... In those seven games, CU is averaging 61.7 ppg. compared to 78.1 by their opponents. CU hasn't won in Lawrence since Feb. 10, 1983, that's 23-straight.
end is near: On Oct. 25, Coach Patton announced 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 182 victories, four NIT appearances, two NCAA Tournaments, and three 20-win seasons.
3-pointers hard to come by: After setting the 3-point school record last season with 240, CU is shooting a conference low .278 percent (87-for-313) from the 3-point arc in 16 games. At this pace CU is averaging 5.4 treys a game good enough for 142 3-pointers, their lowest since the 1993-94 season when they made 88. CU has made a 3-pointer in 152 straight games (Jan. 16, 2002 vs. Iowa State). CU made just one against Missouri when Xavier Silas made a trey with 32 seconds remaining.
3-Point Totals this season:
vs. Denver 5-of-21 (.238)
at New Mexico 6-of-31 (.194)
vs. Air Force 2-of-17 (.118)
at Utah 8-of-18 (.444)
vs. Wyoming 4-of-19 (.211)
at UNCW 4-of-19 (.211)
NORTHERN COL. 5-of-17 (.294)
PEPPERDINE 7-of-23 (.304)
COLORADO ST. 9-of-21 (.429)
C. FLORIDA 6-of-15 (.400)
TEXAS 10-of-26 (.385)
at OU 4-of-18 (.222)
TEXAS &AM 2-of-12 (.167)
IOWA STATE 8-of-19 (.421)
at Nebraska 6-of-22 (.273)
MISSOURI 1-of-15 (6.7)
BUFF BITS: CU has outrebounded the opponent on the offensive glass five of six games (not Texas) and have outrebounded the opponent in its last four ... After Mizzou game notes: CU has trailed at half of all six conference games (defeated Iowa State) ... CU was led in scoring by a freshman for the third straight game and fifth time this year ... CU 17 offensive rebounds most in Big 12 play by Buffs this year; Marcus King-Stockton had a season-high nine rebounds ... Allowed 50% FG by a conference opponent for the second straight game (didn't happen last year) ... Missouri's biggest series win since 1/19/02 (92-77 at Missouri) ... Mizzou's first win in Boulder since Feb. 23, 2002 (96-83) ... Mizzou's Mike Anderson won his first Big 12 game, just like Doc Sadler (Nebraska) and OU's Jeff Capel ? all against Colorado ... CU's opponent is 50% FG back-to-back for first time since 1/30/05 and 2/2/05 (OSU - .600 and TTU .566); last time 3 games was 2001-02 season at Texas, at Iowa State, vs. Texas Tech ... Last time Colorado started the Big 12 Conference season was 1-5 in 1998-99 ... CU has five double-doubles this season: Jermyl Jackson-Wilson (2), Dominique Coleman (2), Richard Roby (1) ... Roby has led the team in scoring eight times, including one shared and has scored double figures in 13 of 16 games ... Coleman recorded his second career double-double scoring a team-high 17 points and career-best 13 rebounds against Texas A&M (Jan. 13). The 13 boards are the most in a game since Roby grabbed 15 against Texas Tech last season ... Despite playing the point, Coleman has led CU in rebounding five times ... Kal Bay notched career-bests in vs. Central Florida: 21 pts., five three-pointers, three steals ... Coleman recorded his first of two double-doubles (Pepperdine 12 points, 10 rebounds) ... Dwight Thorne handed-out a season-best five assists vs. Pepperdine ... Thorne has made a 3-pointer in four of five conference games ... Roby's 32 points against the Waves were the most since he scored 33 vs. Nebraska (back on Jan. 14).
LOSSES AT HOME: With seven home losses this season, CU has matched the 2000-01 campaign for setbacks in a season. With four more homes left (OSU, KU, Kansas State, Nebraska), it looks like the Buffaloes will be a setting a school record for losses in a home season. The previous high is eight (1995-96, 1985-86, 1975-76).
CU vs. Ranked Teams: The Buffaloes don't fare well against the nation's elite teams. After dropping an 18-point defeat to No. 8/9 Texas A&M, CU is now 11-49 (.183) in the Coach Patton era. In the last four years, CU has beaten at least one ranked school at home. However, on the road it's a much different story having lost their last 22-straight (last at No. 20 Texas Tech, Jan. 11, 80-78).