Buffs Defeated at Iowa State
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AMES, Iowa - Junior guard Dwight Thorne II scored a team-high 14 points and all of CU's nine first half points as Iowa State defeated the University of Colorado men's basketball team, 70-42, Wednesday night.
The Buffs fall to 9-14 overall and 1-8 in the Big 12. Iowa State improves to 13-11, 2-7.
"It was a very disappointing beginning for us," said CU head coach Jeff Bzdelik on the AM 760 post-game radio show. "I was concerned about the approach our team had mentally. I thought at Kansas and Oklahoma we knew we had to play so hard to compete and we did and we found ourselves in the ball game. Against Iowa State, I sensed we were comfortable knowing we beat them once. That's not good enough."
ISU got off to a fast start by establishing Craig Brackins on the offensive end. Brackins recorded 12 of ISU's first 16 points to give ISU a 16-6 advantage with 11:43 left in the first half.
The lead expanded to 28 points (34-6) with just under four minutes remaining in the first half, as the Cyclones went on a 21-0 run while the Buffs were stuck in an 8:40-minute scoring drought.
Thorne ended the CU cold spell with a basket at the 3:20 mark, but ISU's Lucca Staiger answered on the other end with a three-pointer to give the Cyclones a 37-8 lead with under three minutes remaining before intermission.
ISU went into the break with a 37-9 lead, breaking the Big 12 mark in the modern era (since 1950) for lowest points allowed in a half. Colorado shot a season-low 17.4 percent (4-of-23) in the first half.
Both Colorado and Iowa State scored 33 points in the second half.
Sophomore Cory Higgins scored 11 points for the Buffs. Freshman Austin Dufault added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Toby Veal and Thorne each recorded five rebounds.
CU shot a season-low 31 percent (13-of-42) while the Cyclones hit 27-of-58 (46.6 percent).
Colorado's nine first half points are the lowest since Jan. 23, 1980, when CU trailed 29-4 at Missouri, setting the mark for the fewest points scored in either half since the shot clock came into use. In that game, Jo Jo Hunter scored all four of CU's points, setting the record for the highest percentage of the team's points scored (100 percent) in a half; Thorne matched the percentage but eclipsed the point total by scoring all nine of CU's first half points.
The Buffs return home to host Texas (16-7, 5-4) on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 12 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.