Buffs Travel to Mizzou, Saturday
GAME #26: at Missouri Tigers (14-12, 4-7 Big 12)
Saturday, Feb. 23, 6:05 p.m. (MST.)
Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
Television: Mizzou Sports Network (no local Colorado telecast)
Radio: KKZN 760: Mark Johnson, Charles Johnson
FOR STARTERS (individual): Richard Roby is tied for third all-time in school history with 1,876 points. Up next is Cliff Meely in second place just 64 points away, and 119 points from Donnie Boyce, who hails at the top. With at least six games left in the season, Roby needs to average 19.8 ppg. to tie Boyce - Roby has 100 career games (out of 112) in double figures and averages 18.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg., 3 apg. in three games in Columbia including career-best 33 points at Missouri (Jan. 14, 2006) - Three players have started every game so far (Roby, Hall, Higgins) with 25. If all three continue the trend, it will be the first time since 1984-85 that three players started the entire season. Roby is the last freshman to start every game in a season (30, 2004-05) - Roby and Hall (22nd overall w/ 1,050 pts.) are the first CU 1,000-point tandem since 2003-04 when the Buffs had four players over 1k (Stephane Pelle, Michel Morandais, David Harrison, Blair Wilson). All that fire power produced a first round NIT loss at Oregon (remember- Luke Jackson 40 points!) - Roby ranks first all-time with 109 career starts - Dwight Thorne has started the last five games (4.2 ppg.) - Higgins has led CU in assists seven times and rebounding four times - Hall has a career-best 97 rebounds, 44 steals, 42 3-pointers in a single-season - Hall ranks first in conference-only FG percentage (.537) - In his last five games: Higgins 10.4 ppg., 4.0 rpg., 15-of-16 FT (.938) - For the first time in school history five players have at least 20 made 3-pointers in a season: Marcus Hall (42), Richard Roby (37), Cory Higgins (23), Levi Knutson (22) and Xavier Silas (20).
FOR STARTERS (team): CU will be looking for its first road conference win this season (0-5) - The last CU road win in Big 12 play occurred Jan. 21, 2006 at Oklahoma State, 80-78 (ot), 0-18 since (0-8 in 2006-07) - In CU's two Big 12 wins, they have shot .481 percent from the field, .745 from the FT line and outscored opponent 63.5-to-54.5 - In CU's 10 wins they have shot .505 from the field, .716 at the FT line, out-rebounded the opponent 31.8-to-28.7, and are outscoring the opposition 68-9-to-53.2 - The Buffs have surpassed last year's win total of seven with 10 wins this season - CU's 72 points scored in home win over Oklahoma was their most points in Big 12 play this year. CU shot 60.6 percent from the field, their second time over 60 percent in Big 12 play (61.7% at Texas A&M).
CU vs. MISSOURI: Missouri holds a 9-2 advantage in Big 12 play in Columbia. The Tigers have won the last three games in the series, including a 66-62 win in Boulder back on Jan. 26. CU trails 51-13 in Columbia and last won there Jan. 14, 2006 (74-71).
vs. Mizzou last month: Marcus Hall scored 20 of his season-high 28 points in the first half and Richard Roby added 13, however the Tigers grabbed the lead late in the second half and held on for a 66-62 back on Jan. 26. Leo Lyons scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and Missouri overcame a 13-point deficit over the final 10 minutes. The Tigers never led in the first 38 minutes.
LAST GAME REVIEW: Richard Roby scored a game-high 25 points and Cory Higgins added 12, however Texas Tech shot 72 percent in the second half to push the Red Raiders to a 87-69 victory. Alan Voskuil and John Roberson both scored 20 points for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders led 35-32 at halftime and increased it to 21 points with 7:31 remaining. The Buffaloes sliced the lead down to 11 before TTU closed the game out to snap a two-game losing streak in Boulder. Martin Zeno finished with 14 points and Damir Suljagic had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
RISING FROSH: Aside from Hall and Roby dominating the headlines freshman Cory Higgins looks to have a bright future in black and gold. In his 11 Big 12 Conference games, Higgins ranks first from the free throw line (.824) and in steals (16); second in rebounding at 4.5 rpg., third in scoring 9.9 ppg., and third in treys (13).
HALL PASS: Senior Marcus Hall is making the most of his final season leading the team in assists with 91 (3.64 apg.). With 386 assists, Hall is 20 from the top-five in school history passing the great Donnie Boyce (405, 1991-95). Hall also has a career-best 44 steals and 42 3-pointers.
BIG 12 TOP-10: A number of CU players are ranked among the Big 12 elite players in various categories from all games played and conference-only.
All Games
Scoring Roby 4th 16.8 ppg.
Hall 20th 12.8 ppg.
Rebounding Roby 10th 6.4
FG% Roby 6th .493
Assists Hall 7th 3.69
Steals Hall 7th 1.76
Higgins 15th 1.32
FT % Roby 6th .769
3-pt. Made Hall 14th 1.68
Blocks King-Stockton 9th 1.17
Roby 15th 0.96
Def-Reb. Roby 9th 4.52
Asst.-Turn Ratio Hall 8th 1.60
Big 12-Only Games
Scoring Roby 5th 17.0 ppg.
Hall 17th 12.6 ppg.
Rebounding Roby 8th 6.8
FG % Hall 1st .537
Roby 5th .504
Assists Hall t-8th 3.18
FT % Higgins 6th .824
Steals Higgins 10th 1.45
3-Pt. Made Hall t-15th 1.64
Blocks King-Stockton t-5th 1.45
Roby t-9th 1.09
Asst.-Turn Ratio Hall 6th 1.46
Def. Rebounds Roby 7th 5.36
Trends after 25 games
In Wins (10) In Losses (15)
PPG. 68.9 58.0
FG % 50.5% 41.4%
3-pt. FG % 38.3% 33.3%
FG made 24.3 20.5
FT% 71.6% 68.0%
Turnovers 13.4 13.7
Assist/TO Ratio +1.5 +0.9
Off. Rebounds 8.5 8.1
Def. Rebounds 23.3 19.3
Steals 7.8 5.4
Blocks 4.4 3.9
In 10 wins: Roby: 17.0 ppg., 6.7 rpg.,; Hall: 14.4 ppg., 3.1 rpg., 3.4 apg.; Silas 10.7 ppg., 3.9 rpg.
HALL or ROBY: Through 24 games, Richard Roby and Marcus Hall have led the majority of games in scoring. Roby has led 13 times (one shared), Hall nine times (one shared). Cory Higgins has done it in back-to-back games (at Texas A&M, Nebraska). Xavier Silas (24 pts. vs. Florida A&M) has performed it once. In his 13 games, Roby averages 20.4 ppg., while Hall is 15.8 ppg.
t-3rd all-time & CLIMBING: Richard Roby enters tonight's game in a third place tie with Shaun Vandiver (1,876 points in 91 games (20.6 ppg., 1989-91). Up next is Cliff Meely in second place just 64 points away. Roby is 119 points from Donnie Boyce, who hails at the top. With at least six games left in the season, Roby needs to average 19.8 ppg. to tie Boyce.
1. Donnie Boyce 1,995 18.8 1991-95
2. Cliff Meely *1,940 24.3 1969-71
3. Richard Roby 1,876 16.8 20004-pre.
Shaun Vandiver 1,876 20.6 1989-91
* played three years
FT SHOOTING: In recent years, CU was not a very good free throw shooting team. This year, the Buffaloes are shooting almost 70 percent (.695), a feat only accomplished once in the last 12 years (2000-01, .715).
IRON MAN: Marcus Hall has six games this season playing all 40 minutes. Hall ranks second in the Big 12 Conference behind Martin Zeno of Texas Tech, who has eight 40-minute games (5 conference and 3 non-conference). Hall has three straight Big 12 games (KU, at OSU, OU) and three straight non-conference games (at Air Force, Stanford, at Wyoming).
CU AOW: Richard Roby has four honors during the 2007-08 season tying him for fourth all-time in single-year Athlete of the Week honors. Roby has 11 honors his career. Roby's 11 career honors moves him out of a tie with Shaun Vandiver for the most career honors for men's basketball players and into a tie for second place on the all-time list with current track and cross country standout Jenny Barringer. Adam Goucher, a former track and cross country standout holds the record with 14.
BUFF BITS: Hall's consecutive playing streak ended at 163:58 dating back to the Iowa State game on Jan. 29. It's his second consecutive streak of 160 minutes. Hall played 161 consecutive minutes from Nov. 29-Dec. 22 - Richard Roby's streak of 15 consecutive games of double figures came to an end at KU (his longest string of games during his four-year career) - Levi Knutson scored eight points off the bench vs. OU matching his Big 12 high set in home win over Nebraska - Cory Higgins had a season-best five steals, four in the first half at Iowa State. His five steals were a CU high in the 12-year conference history vs. the Cyclones - Roby's season-best 14 rebounds against Mizzou tied his output of 14 boards earlier this season against New Orleans; his 13 defensive vs. Missouri was a career-high - Richard Roby has tallied double-figures 22 of 25 games, Marcus Hall 18 of 25 games - Hall, Higgins and Roby have started every game (25) - Hall, Higgins, Knutson and Thorne II are the only players with more assists than turnovers - For the first time in school history, CU beat both Oklahoma and Nebraska at home in football AND basketball in the same year - Commissioners Honor Roll (3.0 or better): Freshman Levi Knutson (business), Redshirt sophomore Casey Crawford (political science) - Jermyl Jackson-Wilson was named one of 12 Big 12 Conference student-athletes to the 2007-08 Winter Sports Good Works Team in February.
CU During Big 12 Inception: After 25 games, CU not only has won more games this season than last, but their 3-point field goal percentage, free throw shooting and limiting their turnovers per game rank near the top over the last 12 years.
Year PPG FG % 3-Pt.% FT% To W's
2007-08 62.4 .450 .353 .695 13.6 10
2006-07 69.1 .417 .313 .655 17.5 7
2005-06 76.8 .434 .342 .646 14.0 20
2004-05 71.6 .435 .353 .629 14.4 14
2003-04 74.2 .464 .372 .621 14.6 18
2002-03 75.2 .443 .326 .669 14.0 20
2001-02 79.7 .453 .357 .677 17.0 15
2000-01 80.6 .460 .359 .715 16.5 15
1999-00 75.2 .426 .339 .686 14.3 18
1998-99 73.1 .414 .344 .702 14.7 18
1997-98 71.4 .404 .346 .688 14.3 13
1996-97 73.1 .420 .362 .681 13.9 22
FOUR IN A ROW- - Richard Roby will be looking to become only the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring four consecutive seasons. From 2004-05 (16.0 ppg.), 2005-06 (17.0) through last year (17.3), Roby has made it three straight. Here are the others:
Donnie Boyce 1991-95 4-straight
Shawn Vandiver *1988-91 3-straight
Emmett Lewis 1975-79 4-straight
Cliff Meely *1968-71 3-straight
Pat Frink ^1964-65, '66-68
(3 of 4 years)
* - Played only three years
^ - did not play 1965-66 season
3-Point Streak: Dating back to the 2001-02 season, CU has made a 3-pointer in 188 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.
REDSHIRT YEAR: Sophomore forward Jeremy Williams will be redshirted this season and will return next year with three full years of eligibility. He was academically ineligible for the fall semester. Williams averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rpg. last season with 18 starts.
TEAM BITS: CU is 1-4 when wearing their gold uniforms - CU scored only 45 points at Kansas, matching their fewest scored against KU at Allen Fieldhouse since Feb. 15, 1992 (82-45) - Against KU (Feb. 2), the Buffaloes converted a season-high nine 3-pointers. The pervious mark was eight three other occasions - Since 1954-55, the Cyclones tied three others for fewest points scored in the first half against CU (15 points) - CU committed a season-low 10 turnovers at Texas A&M and Nebraska - CU shot a season-best 62 percent from the field at Texas A&M. It's the first time CU has shot over 60 percent since making .627 against Mercer in 2005-06, and .611 percent against a Big 12 foe since 2002-03 against Texas A&M. In the same game, the Buffs shot a school second-best from the field in the second half (.773) - CU's 16 rebounds at A&M were the fewest since grabbing 16 against Arkansas State, Mar. 21, 1991 (w, 81-75) - The Buffs played with only seven players against SMU and Tulsa - The Buffs victory at Moby Arena was CU's first in four years and it snapped Colorado State's 24-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents - CU shot a season-high 33 3-pointers at Wyoming, their most since attempting 34 at Nebraska (Feb. 22, 2006) - For the first time since the 1998-99 season, CU won back-to-back road games (at Denver, at Air Force) - The Buffs win at Air Force ended the Falcons' 38-game home winning streak against non-conference foes - DU's 44 points were the fewest allowed by a CU team since a 71-44 win over Tennessee State on Dec. 19, 2003 - CU won three straight games, twice for the first time since 2005-06 when they won nine and five straight games on two separate occasions.