MBB Defeated by New Orleans, 67-65

BOULDER (AP) - Shaun Reynolds hit a driving layup and free throw with 4.3 seconds left, and Bo McCalebb scored 24 points to lead New Orleans to a 67-65 victory over Colorado Wednesday night.

"We knew they'd be relentless in pursuit, they were 4-0 on the road," CU head coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "They are tough young men and that was evident by them going into NC State and came away with a win. We knew it had to be a wire-to-wire job and we didn't do that—we let up. This team (University of New Orleans) is too tough both physically and mentally to do what we did tonight and expect to win."

McCalebb hit 8-of-11 shots and scored 20 of his points in the second half. T.J. Worley added 11 points and Reynolds finished with six points for New Orleans (6-1).

Richard Roby led Colorado (5-5) with a season-high 27 points and 14 rebounds. The Buffaloes had seven-point leads twice in the second half in losing their third straight.

Roby's put back of his own miss and layup put the Buffaloes ahead 47-40 only to have New Orleans get within 47-46 on McCalebb's jumper with 11:15 remaining. Colorado converted six straight free throws, four by Roby to lead 53-49. But the Privateers answered with a 3-pointer and two free throws by Worley to take a 54-53 edge with 6:11 left.

Baskets by James Parlow and McCalebb put New Orleans ahead 61-57 with 2:35 left. That lead disappeared on a layup by Roby and a 3-pointer by Cory Higgins (10 points) to put Colorado up 62-61.

Higgins' second 3-pointer gave the Buffaloes their last lead, 65-64 with 39 seconds left. New Orleans quickly pushed the ball up the floor to set up Reynolds' layup and free throw.

Colorado turned the ball over before crossing midcourt after calling two timeouts.

Colorado led 32-26 at intermission as both teams combined for 17 turnovers. McCalebb had only four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the first half after getting poked in the right eye 32 seconds into the game.

Marcus Hall (10 points) had a 3-pointer and Roby turned a pass from Hall into a layup as Colorado outscored the Privateers 6-0 in the final 2:15 of the half.

Colorado will hit the road to take on Colorado State on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on The Mountain.