Boulder – Suggesting that the days of playing four freshmen at the same time may be over, Colorado men’s basketball coach Ricardo Patton told his team before Wednesday night’s 74-65 victory over Iowa State that CU’s veterans had to lead the way.
Otherwise, Patton said, “our young guys don’t know how to get there.”
Colorado notched its first Big 12 Conference victory by getting solid efforts from several returnees and a spectacular performance from 6-foot-5 guard Xavier Silas, one of two freshmen still in the starting lineup, along with forward Jeremy Williams.
Silas, set up for open looks on nice feeds from senior Dominique Coleman and junior Richard Roby, scored all of his 19 points in the second half. Silas owned the right corner, bagging three of his four 3-pointers from that spot to help Colorado (5-9, 1-3) win at the Coors Events Center.
“It feels good,” Silas said. “We didn’t know when (the first Big 12 victory) would come.”
Silas engaged in a long chat with his father on Tuesday night. James Silas had his jersey number retired by the San Antonio Spurs following a 10-year NBA career.
“I told him that it was time to move past being a freshman,” James said. “I told him to just settle down and play his game.”
Silas buried 6-of-9 shots from the field and matched the career-high 19 points he scored against Pepperdine.
“When Xavier started feeling it, it was up to us to keep getting him open and get good looks for him,” said Roby, who contributed 15 points but hit just 6-of-18 shots.
Saddled with two early personal fouls, Silas played just three minutes in the first half. He came out firing after the break, drilling three 3-pointers in the first five minutes to give the Buffs a 47-41 lead.
“I had a lot of rest (on the bench), so I came out with a lot of energy,” Silas said.
Iowa State (11-7, 2-2), which took Kansas to overtime on Saturday, was outscored 43-32 after halftime. The Cyclones shot just 40.3 percent from the field for the game and committed 20 turnovers.
Iowa State’s best scoring threats, 6-2 junior guard Mike Taylor and 6-7 freshman Wesley Johnson, had to sit down for several minutes of the second half after being whistled for their fourth fouls. Taylor fouled out 1:36 before the end after scoring 13 points, far below the 21.5 he averaged in two games last week to earn Big 12 newcomer of the week honors.
The Cyclones never looked in sync, but CU’s defense and second-half composure deserved some credit.
“We had some breakdowns, but our guys played hard and we contested (Iowa State’s) shots,” Patton said.
Colorado won rather decisively despite converting just 14- of-26 free throws, a modest success rate of 53.8 percent that’s usually good enough to get a team beat.
Not this time.
“(Colorado) played with energy; we were lacking so much energy,” Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said.
IOWA STATE (11-7, 2-2 BIG 12)
W. Johnson 6-13 1-2 15, Clark 3-6 0-0 7, Hubalek 7-13 0-0 15, McIntosh 1-3 0-0 3, Taylor 4-14 4-6 13, Dunson 0-6 0-0 0, Jacobson 0-3 0-0 0, Currie 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 0-0 2-2 2, C. Johnson 4-4 2-2 10, Marsden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 9-12 65.
COLORADO (5-9, 1-3)
Williams 2-6 1-1 5, Silas 6-9 3-9 19, King-Stockton 2-5 1-1 5, Coleman 2-6 5-8 9, Roby 6-18 2-3 15, Inge 0-1 0-0 0, Thorne 3-4 0-0 7, Jackson-Wilson 3-6 2-4 8, Kowal 0-0 0-0 0, Bay 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 26-61 14-26 74.
Halftime – Iowa State 33-31. 3-point goals – Iowa State 6-27 (W. Johnson 2-6, Hubalek 1-2, McIntosh 1-2, Clark 1-3, Taylor 1-8, Jacobson 0-3, Dunson 0-3); Colorado 8-19 (Silas 4-5, Bay 2-4, Thorne 1-2, Roby 1-6, Williams 0-2). Fouled out – Taylor. Rebounds – Iowa State 40 (W. Johnson 14), Colorado 41 (King-Stockton 8). Assists – Iowa State 11 (Taylor 6), Colorado 13 (Coleman 4). Total fouls – Iowa St. 22, Colorado 18. A – 3,213.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
