Boulder – On a prideful Saturday afternoon when a giant mural of Chauncey Billups was unveiled and three other Colorado basketball greats had their jersey numbers raised, the current Buffaloes almost failed to uphold their end of the bargain.
CU escaped with a 66-64 victory over Texas Tech after 8,601 fans at the Coors Events Center held their breath as Red Raiders junior guard Jarrius Jackson bounced a 35-foot jumper off the rim at the buzzer.
Jackson’s desperation shot would have given the Red Raiders a comeback victory. Instead, Colorado (16-5, 6-4) snapped a two-game losing streak and exhaled with a sigh of relief.
“Nobody said it would be easy,” CU coach Ricardo Patton said.
The Buffs remained in the upper tier of the Big 12 standings and stayed alive in their quest for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Although CU shot well from the foul line, junior guard Marcus Hall picked a bad time to miss a pair. His two errant attempts with 5.8 seconds remaining gave Texas Tech an opportunity to win the game, or at least tie it, if the Red Raiders could get the ball down the court quickly and score.
Fortunately for CU, the Red Raiders (12-12, 4-6) used up three seconds while grabbing the rebound from Hall’s second miss and tossing an outlet pass. By the time Jackson got the ball, he couldn’t get close enough for a high-percentage shot.
Jackson scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half.
“With a guy like that putting up 22 shots, he is not going to miss all of them,” Hall said.
Up next is a Wednesday night showdown here against Oklahoma, and Colorado must play better to hang with the 20th-ranked Sooners.
Taken out of their rhythm by Texas Tech’s annoying man-to-man defense, CU players forced too many off-balance shots. The Buffs shot just 32.8 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers – 10 during the final 10:24 of the first half after CU had grabbed a 22-8 lead. Texas Tech pulled to within five by halftime and twice took a one-point lead in the second half, the last time 48-47 with 7:53 left on a Martin Zeno layup.
From there, “either team could have made a play here or a play there,” Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said.
Colorado made more of them, primarily on the boards and at the free-throw line. CU outrebounded the Red Raiders 51-39, with 6-foot-6 guard Richard Roby slithering underneath for 15, a career high.
CU’s 81 percent free-throw shooting (21-for-26) was its best in 10 conference games.
Robert Jeangerard (1953-55), Jim Davis (1961-64) and former NBA all-star Scott Wedman (1971-74) were honored at halftime.
Current CU players didn’t produce any all-star performances Saturday. But as Roby (team-high 17 points) said, “We came out with a win. That is the important thing.”
TEXAS TECH (12-12, 4-6 BIG 12)
Prince 3-6 0-0 6, Plefka 2-10 1-3 6, Dora 5-11 2-2 13, Zeno 6-12 3-6 17, Jackson 8-22 1-3 18, Buttell 0-0 0-1 0, Voskuil 2-6 0-0 4, Lowhorn 0-2 0-0 0, Ogden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-69 7-15 64.
COLORADO (16-5, 6-4)
Osborn 3-7 2-2 11, King-Stockton 0-1 0-0 0, Obazuaye 1-6 0-0 2, Hall 5-12 2-4 13, Roby 3-11 10-11 17, Eddy 1-3 1-1 3, Freeman 5-9 2-2 13, Copeland 1-7 3-4 6, Ashby 0-2 1-2 1, McGee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 21-26 66.
Halftime – Colorado 30-25. 3-point goals – Texas Tech 5-18 (Zeno 2-3, Plefka 1-2, Dora 1-3, Jackson 1-7, Voskuil 0-3), Colorado 7-23 (Osborn 3-5, Freeman 1-3, Hall 1-4, Copeland 1-5, Roby 1-6). Fouled out – Prince. Rebounds – Texas Tech 39 (Zeno 8), Colorado 51 (Roby 15). Assists – Texas Tech 17 (Jackson 7), Colorado 13 (Hall, Roby 3). Total fouls – Texas Tech 21, Colorado 20. A – 8,601.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
