Basketball is a game of runs, but Colorado has allowed opponents to run away in recent road games. The Buffaloes must stop that trend if they are going to give the appearance of an NCAA Tournament team.
Colorado (17-6, 7-5 Big 12) will look for a way to stop the bleeding tonight at Nebraska (16-9, 6-6). In recent road games, CU has played well early, only to let the game get away.
A 25-4 run by Kansas State doomed the Buffs on Saturday. The second-half flurry lasted 10 minutes and came after the Buffaloes appeared to take control by building an 11-point lead.
In a 61-58 loss at Texas A&M on Feb. 8, Colorado led by 10 points early in the second half before the Aggies went on an 18-5 spurt. At Iowa State, CU held a 33-31 lead before the host Cyclones seized control with a 14-0 run late in the first half.
“When it isn’t going well, you have to find a way for things to work,” CU sophomore Richard Roby said. “You can’t just expect good things to happen.”
After winning consecutive Big 12 road games at Missouri and Oklahoma State, the Buffs will try to snap a three-game road losing streak tonight in Lincoln.
“It’s been very frustrating,” Roby said. “When we get a lead, we have to learn how to put our foot on a team’s throat and not let them come back.”
Coach Ricardo Patton said a lack of execution on offense was the culprit at Kansas State. During the Wildcats’ 25-4 run, Colorado committed seven turnovers and missed seven 3-pointers. Too often the Buffs settled for an off-balance bomb rather than work for a high-percentage shot.
“It’s more of a mental thing,” Roby said of the recent road struggles. “We kind of get too lackadaisical when we get a lead. We turn the ball over and let teams get back in the game.”
Roby managed only 14 points against Kansas State and didn’t get much help. Marcus Hall finished with 15 points, but needed 19 shots. No other CU player reached double figures. Senior forward Chris Copeland averages 12.2 points but made only one field goal and scored four points.
At practice Monday, Roby challenged Copeland to step up and give him more help. Copeland agrees he has to.
“It’s very important,” he said. “We want to have a balanced team. Teams with just one guy usually don’t win.”
Footnotes
Colorado likely must win tonight in Lincoln to reach a goal of 20 victories for the regular season. CU has three games remaining before the Big 12 Tournament, including home dates against Missouri (11:30 a.m. Saturday) and March 4 against Iowa State, games the Buffs will be favored to win. But CU will be a big underdog at Kansas on March 1. … Roby, recently named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) all-District 12 first team, scored 30 points Jan. 25 against Nebraska. … Colorado held Nebraska’s 6-foot-11 sophomore Aleks Maric (three points) and 6-3 freshman guard Jamel White (four points) in check during the 81-59 CU win in Boulder. But Maric and White enter tonight’s game riding hot streaks. Maric is averaging 18 points and 11.6 rebounds over his past five games. White scored 18 points Saturday in the home loss to Texas Tech and has reached double figures in six of his past nine games. “They’re not the same players we saw the first time,” Roby said. … Without a starter taller than 6-9, CU leads the Big 12 in blocked shots (6.0 per game).
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.
