KANSAS CITY, MO. — Sitting in the loser’s locker room, Colorado senior guard Richard Roby knew this wasn’t the time to rejoice in his becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer about an hour earlier. He didn’t feel much like celebrating, anyway.
The Buffaloes’ season had come to an end Friday afternoon in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals with a 54-49 loss to fourth-seeded Oklahoma at the Sprint Center. Roby was still trying to grasp the reality that he would never again put on a Colorado uniform.
“The four years went by fast,” said Roby, who said he was already having flashbacks to his freshman season. “But they’re making jokes about it on ESPN. They called me ‘a ninth-year senior.’ I guess nobody expected me to stay here and see this season.
“But I’m glad I stuck around for it. I learned a lot, playing this season for Coach (Jeff Bzdelik). I’m just excited for what my future has in store for me.”
Roby needed 12 points on Friday to reach 1,995 and catch Donnie Boyce (1991-95). Roby secured the top spot to himself with 15:58 remaining when took a feed from freshman Levi Knutson at full speed and drove down the lane for a finger-roll layup. That gave Roby 13 points for the game and 1,996 for his career.
Roby became the fourth player in Big 12 history to score 2,000 points when he scored on a layup with 3:45 remaining, to reach 2,001. Roby was fouled on the play but missed the free throw, leaving the Buffs down 46-44.
Roby didn’t score again and finished the afternoon with 18 points. Senior guard Marcus Hall scored 12 and freshman guard Cory Higgins added 11.
Down 26-21 entering the second half, Colorado (12-20, 3-13) had numerous chances to pull even with good looks but couldn’t get the potential momentum-changer to fall.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Roby said. “Every time we would get within one or two (points), we would miss a shot or turn the ball over and it would lead to a basket for them. We were always playing uphill, climbing uphill.”
Oklahoma (22-10) avenged a 72-58 loss at Boulder on Feb. 9. This time, Tony Crocker led a balanced Sooner attack with 12 points.
“This is certainly a better feeling than what we had in Boulder,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. “I don’t think we played well. But at this time of year, it’s about surviving and advancing.”
Capel said after the loss in Boulder that he had never been more “embarrassed.” On Friday, he was quick to give the Buffs their due.
“I think you have to give Colorado a lot of credit,” Capel said. “They’re a hard team to prepare for because of the style in which they play. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, holding them to 34 percent shooting. Some of it may have been fatigue (with CU coming off a double-overtime win over Baylor, making history as the first No. 12 seed to win a game). But regardless, we found a way to win.”
Colorado needed hot outside shooting to counter Oklahoma’s power advantage inside. But the Buffs went 1-for-11 on 3s in the first half and finished six-for-25 (.240).
Meanwhile, offensive rebounding gave Oklahoma second chances, enabling the Sooners to claim the victory despite hitting just 32.8 percent from the field. OU outrebounded the smaller Buffs 46-37, including a commanding 15-6 advantage on offensive boards.
“We knew we had to come in today and rebound,” CU’s Hall said.
To make matters worse, CU lost 6-9 senior Marcus King-Stockton to fouls with 6:43 remaining and the Buffs trailing 41-37. Then CU’s other inside presence, 6-6 junior Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, fouled out with 5:52 to go.
Bzdelik replaced King-Stockton with the 6-4 Knutson and Jackson-Wilson with 6-3 Dwight Thorne. That left the Buffs with five guards on the floor, and Oklahoma’s 6-7, 230-pound Taylor Griffin took advantage of the mismatch immediately.
Griffin powered inside and was fouled by Knutson. The free throw put the Sooners up 46-39 with 5:01 to go.
Colorado came out misfiring, getting down 10-0 before a 3-pointer by Thorne ended the drought with 5 minutes and eight seconds having elapsed. During that dry spell, CU missed five field-goal attempts and committed three turnovers.
“We even shot a little this morning, to get ready to play and get off to a great start,” Bzdelik said. “We didn’t, but we fought back and had our opportunities.”
Oklahoma advanced to face sixth-ranked Texas (27-5) in a noon semifinal on Saturday. The top-seeded Longhorns defeated Oklahoma State 66-59 Friday in an earlier quarterfinal game
Despite watching the program post back-to-back 20-loss seasons for the first time since 1987-88 and 1988-89, Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn said Bzdelik’s first season surpassed Bohn’s expectations.
“No, it unfolded way higher, in just the sense of the accomplishments that really Jeff and the basketball program was able to do,” Bohn said. “Some people may say, ‘Well, it didn’t show up on the scoreboard.’ That’s right. But there are so many things that are significant. The opportunities for success are there.”
Including transfers and redshirts, Bzdelik will have at least eight new players next season and as many as 10. He said the “culture” of the program already is changing, “beginning with the style we want to play, to establish a work ethic, to establish respect for each other as teammates, to get the facilities going in the right direction, recruiting the kinds of players that will fit the system — all these things take time.
“(In the Big 12), you’d better have depth and you’d better have talent. I was very proud of the fact that our guys competed and were in a lot of ballgames. We’ll just keep plugging away.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
