In high school, Levi Knutson rarely missed. But when the Colorado sophomore guard takes a jump shot these days, it must seem like there’s a lid on the basket.
Knutson led the state in scoring (28.6) during his senior season at Arapahoe High School. At CU, Knutson entered Saturday’s game against Texas hitting just 5-of-32 (.156) on 3-pointers. As a freshman, Knutson connected on only 26.8 percent of his treys in Big 12 games.
Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik can’t figure it out. While at Air Force, Bzdelik recruited the 6-foot-4 Knutson but lost him to CU. Then, in a twist of fate, Bzdelik inherited Knutson, who had signed with Ricardo Patton but never played for him. Bzdelik thought he had himself a reliable long-range shooter.
“I don’t know why it has taken so long,” Bzdelik said of Knutson’s inability to find his stroke. “Levi is a great shooter, he really is. It’s just one of those deals where, if he gets one or two to go down, he could rattle off several in a row.”
In the meantime, Knutson has become a do-everything handyman off the bench. He has developed into one of the team’s best defenders.
Knutson said he did not have to reinvent himself.
“Going all out, diving on the floor, taking a charge, boxing my guy out . . . those things have always been there,” he said.
Knutson had offseason hip surgery but does not believe health issues have contributed to his shooting slump. He has been “tweaking” his mechanics in practice. Bzdelik wants him to keep firing.
“I tell shooters, especially a guy like Levi, ‘You have to be cocky and arrogant as a shooter and know that the next one is going in,’ ” Bzdelik said.
Senior moment.
Air Force was counting on its seniors but it hasn’t worked out. A 76-66 home loss to New Mexico on Wednesday marked the first time this season that the senior trio of Matt Holland (20 points), Andrew Henke (19) and Anwar Johnson (11) had reached double figures in the same game.
Footnotes.
In Colorado State’s 94-60 loss Wednesday at Brigham Young, Rams senior guard Marcus Walker (academic issues) returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 20. He responded with 19 points. . . . There’s a freshman for you: CU’s 6-9 Trey Eckloff, a former Cherry Creek standout, entered Saturday’s game against Texas hitting 7-for-18 on 3-pointers for a healthy 38.9 percent, but had made only 5-of-14 free throws (35.7 percent).
