BOULDER — Hoping to enter Big 12 Conference play on a roll, the University of Colorado men’s basketball team instead got rocked by a hurricane — the Golden Hurricane.
Tulsa (8-4), from Conference USA, shot 63.2 percent in the second half Monday night and stormed out of town with an 81-68 victory at the Coors Events Center that snapped CU’s three-game winning streak.
The Buffs open Big 12 play Saturday at No. 11 Texas A&M.
CU (8-6), utilizing just seven players for the second straight game, shot 51.7 percent in the first half and led 42-38 at halftime behind Richard Roby’s 18 points.
“Right now we’re not a very deep team and they just wore us down,” Roby said. “They were relentless on their break, and we had to get back and guys just ran out of gas.”
Roby finished with a game-high 27 points. The senior moved into fifth place on CU’s all-time scoring list with 1,689 points, 38 shy of No. 4 Stevie Wise.
“They shot the ball extremely well, and in the second half we were really a step behind in everything we did,” CU coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “But we’re not about explanations, not about excuses. Give Tulsa credit. They came in here and whooped our butt.”
Freshman Glen Andrews was the hero for Tulsa, which extended its winning streak to six games with its first road victory of the season, scoring all 14 points in a four-minute, 14-2 run. Andrews made four 3-pointers and a short jumper to turn a 52-49 deficit into a 63-54 lead.
“We got sucked in on some drives. They were driving and kicking, and we weren’t closing out hard enough on him. We were closing out soft,” Bzdelik said.
CU lost despite Marcus Hall’s near triple-double. He had career-highs in rebounds (10) and steals (eight). He also had nine assists, one short of his career best.
TULSA (8-4)
Walls 1-4 4-6 6, Jordan 4-6 0-2 8, Uzoh 4-8 5-6 15, McDade 3-6 5-5 12, Earls 4-6 0-0 9, Wheatley 3-4 3-4 9, Andrews 6-8 1-2 17, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Reese 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 27-45 18-25 81.
COLORADO (8-6)
Jackson-Wilson 2-6 0-0 4, Hall 2-14 0-0 4, Higgins 1-6 0-1 2, Silas 5-6 1-4 13, Roby 8-16 8-9 27, Knutson 2-5 4-4 10, King-Stockton 3-6 2-3 8. Totals 23-59 15-21 68.
Halftime — CU 42-38. 3-point goals —Tulsa 9-16 (Andrews 4-6, Uzoh 2-4, McDade 1-1, Earls 1-2, Reese 1-2, Wheatley 0-1), Colorado 7-17 (Roby 3-5, Silas 2-2, Knutson 2-4, Higgins 0-3, Hall 0-3). Fouled out —None. Rebounds — Tulsa 33 (Walls 8), Colorado 28 (Hall 10). Assists — Tulsa 13 (McDade 5), Colorado 17 (Hall 9). Total fouls —Tulsa 21, Colorado 18. A — 2,031.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
