Boulder – Attention, NCAA Tournament selection committee members.
Colorado deserves to move up on your board.
Buffaloes sophomore Richard Roby scored 28 points and Roby, Marcus Hall and Andy Osborn hit clutch 3-pointers in the final four minutes Wednesday night for an 84-75 victory over No. 19 Oklahoma at the Coors Events Center.
Hundreds of students rushed the floor after Colorado (17-5, 7-4 Big 12) earned its first victory over a ranked team this season. The Buffs couldn’t have picked a better time, with a national television audience – and no doubt tournament selectors – paying attention.
Oklahoma dropped to 16-6 and into a tie for third place in the league standings with Colorado. CU’s 17-5 start is its best after 22 games.
It’s not yet time to make NCAA Tournament reservations, but the Buffaloes took a huge step.
“People who didn’t think we’d make the (NCAA) Tournament now can look to see we beat Oklahoma,” CU center Julius Ashby said.
Ashby could join the students in patting himself on the back. The 6-foot-9 senior finally played a big part in an important victory with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. More important, Ashby helped limit OU’s frontcourt enforcers – 6-9 Taj Gray (11 points) and 6-8, 270-pound Kevin Bookout (four) – to 11 points below their combined scoring average.
Ashby played strong and didn’t back down when Gray and Bookout tried to bump him out of the paint.
“First of all, I’d like to welcome back Julius Ashby to the team,” CU coach Ricardo Patton joked afterward. “He showed flashes of what we saw last year in the Big 12 Tournament.”
Ashby was academically ineligible during the fall semester and had averaged 4.4 points upon his return. He looked like a different player against the Sooners.
“It’s good to have a good game for once,” Ashby said. “I’ve been frustrated, thinking I couldn’t do anything right.”
Roby scored 15 points in the second half as CU overcame a 40-35 halftime deficit. Roby put the Buffs up 74-67 on a 3-pointer with 3:58 remaining, and then Hall (at 3:15) and Osborn (2:25) followed.
“That just shows what kind of team we have; we have guys that can make shots when it counts,” Roby said.
In one of the surprises of the evening, CU outrebounded Oklahoma 41-32. The Sooners entered the game as the nation’s top rebounding team with an average margin of plus-11.7 per game.
“With an up-and-down game, we felt we were able to eliminate their ‘bigs,”‘ Roby said. “And it helped that (Ashby) was down there scoring at will.”
Roby pulled CU to within 44-43 with a rare four-point play. The Buffs guard was fouled by Oklahoma’s David Godbold while burying a 3-pointer from the left corner. Roby converted the free throw to make it a one-point game with 16:10 to go.
With the crowd still buzzing, CU senior Chris Copeland knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Buffs up 48-46 with 15:03 to go – CU’s first lead since early in the game.
CU expected Oklahoma’s strength to come underneath. But in the first half, the Sooners played long ball.
Michael Neal almost accounted for half of Oklahoma’s 40 first-half points, bagging six 3-pointers for 18 points.
Colorado plays its next two games on the road, at Kansas State on Wednesday and at Nebraska on Feb. 22.
“This is Ricardo’s best team,” OU coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It’s a really, really good team.”
OKLAHOMA (16-6, 7-4)
Gray 4-7 3-4 11, Bookout 1-5 2-5 4, Neal 9-16 1-1 26, Everett 7-18 4-4 18, Godbold 0-4 0-0 0, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Carter 4-8 1-1 10, Griffin 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 28-62 11-15 75.
COLORADO (17-5, 7-4)
Copeland 4-9 8-9 18, King-Stockton 3-5 0-0 6, Obazuaye 2-5 0-0 4, Hall 2-7 1-2 6, Roby 9-19 7-7 28, Eddy 0-0 0-0 0, Osborn 2-5 0-0 5, Coleman 0-1 0-0 0, Freeman 2-6 0-0 4, Ashby 5-6 3-4 13. Totals 29-63 19-22 84.
Halftime – Oklahoma 40-35. 3-point goals – Oklahoma 8-25 (Neal 7-14, Carter 1-2, Godbold 0-4, Everett 0-5), Colorado 7-20 (Roby 3-9, Copeland 2-4, Osborn 1-3, Hall 1-3, Coleman 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Oklahoma 32 (Bookout 9), Colorado 41 (Roby 9). Assists – Oklahoma 14 (Everett 7), Colorado 21 (Hall 6). Total fouls – Oklahoma 18, Colorado 17. A – 7,845.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
