Buffs Fall to No. 11 Texas A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) - Colorado shot a season-best 62 percent from the field and Cory Higgins matched a personal-best 15 points, however the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies scored an 86-69 victory over Colorado on Saturday in the Big 12 Conference season opener.
Dominique Kirk scored 15 points and freshman DeAndre Jordan added 14 points and nine rebounds to lead the 11th-ranked Aggies to a win, their eighth straight win by at least 15 points.
The Buffaloes lost their 11th straight Big 12 opener and fell to 8-7 and 0-1 in the conference. They have won just once in a league opener since the inception of the Big 12.
CU shot a season-best 61.7 percent from the field along with a season-low 10 turnovers. The Buffaloes also shot a conference school record 77.3 percent in the second half (17-of-22). The percentage fell just short of the school record of 78.9 set at Texas Tech back on Dec. 28, 1985 (15-of-19).
Higgins led three other CU players in double-figures, in additon to his five rebounds. Richard Roby and Xavier Silas each chipped-in 14 points and Marcus Hall added 12 second half points. Hall also had six assists.
The only time the Aggies (15-1, 1-0) trailed in this one was when a 3-pointer by Higgins made it 3-0 in the opening minute. They led by 15 points at halftime and had built their lead to 61-42 after a layup by Bryan Davis about eight minutes into the second half.
A dunk by Marcus King-Stockton capped a 12-6 run for Colorado and cut A&M's lead to 67-54. Kirk answered the run with a jump shot and a 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.
The Aggies finished with a 24-16 rebound advantage.
CU had trouble defending A&M's balanced scoring attack, which featured six players who scored in double figures. Along with Jordan and Kirk, Davis, Josh Carter, Joseph Jones and Donald Sloan all scored at least 10 points.
The Aggies went on an 10-2 run in the first half to take a 13-5 lead. The Buffaloes cut that lead to 16-13 before the Aggies outscored them 20-8 over the next 7 minutes.
Texas A&M led 42-27 at halftime on 55.6 shooting from the field with the help of eight 3-pointers.
The Aggies got a boost from freshman Nathan Walkup in the first half when he made two 3-pointers in 5 minutes.
Colorado returns home to host Nebraska (11-3, 0-1) on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain.