Boulder – As luck would have it, the most important game on Colorado’s schedule poses perhaps the team’s toughest matchup of the season.
No. 19 Oklahoma (16-5, 7-3) brings its twin enforcers, 6-foot-9, 238-pound Taj Gray and 6-8, 259-pound Kevin Bookout, to the Coors Events Center tonight for a 7:30 Big 12 Conference battle to be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Colorado (16-5, 6-4) is looking to get its first victory over a ranked team to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Shoulder pads may be required.
Oklahoma’s Gray (7.8) and Bookout (7.2) rank fourth and sixth among Big 12 rebounders in league play. Both are hardened seniors who expect to register double figures in points and bruises.
“Until you play against (them), you have no clue how big and physical they are, and how hard they play, and how well they move for that size,” CU assistant coach Paul Graham said.
“Those two present a physical presence that I don’t know if anybody else does,” Kansas coach Bill Self said during a Big 12 teleconference. “You need a mind- set to match.”
CU’s best rebounder in conference play has been guard Richard Roby (6.1). The Buffaloes’ most physical frontcourt player, 6-9, 235-pound Julius Ashby, has spent much of recent games in foul trouble and has shown only glimpses of regaining his form of last season. He is averaging just 17.5 minutes a game.
CU coach Ricardo Patton said his strategy against Gray and Bookout is simple: pray.
“If I were to ask one thing from my guys, it’s that they compete,” he said. “It’s going to be a physically played basketball game.”
Roby added, “It’s going to take a team effort on the boards.”
The team’s standout predicts tonight’s game will have a “playoff” atmosphere with perhaps the largest crowd of the season expected to attend, combined with the national TV exposure.
“This is a huge game for us,” Roby said. “I think it’s a game the NCAA (committee) will look at. And it will give us confidence if we can pull it out.”
OU coach Kelvin Sampson wants the game to be decided in the paint. His team’s two nonconference losses came against Villanova and West Virginia, both perimeter-oriented teams.
“Taj and Kevin are ‘land- locked.’ They don’t do well off land,” Sampson said. “When (post) guys are out there beyond the 3-point line, that’s kind of like the sea to them.”
Footnotes
Patton said 6-9 sophomore Marcus King-Stockton will start at center to take some pressure off Ashby. … Forward Andy Osborn (swollen ankles) did not practice and is listed as probable for tonight’s game. … CU’s Graham, who worked under Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton from 1992-99 before becoming head coach at Washington State, was saddened to hear the Cowboys coach has taken a medical leave of absence. “Everybody who worked for Coach feels like we’re a big family,” Graham said. “He’s just a wonderful person. He cares about his players, cares about his coaches.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
