FORT COLLINS — If any of the newcomers on Colorado’s men’s basketball team wondered about the importance of the rivalry with Colorado State, they know now.
Delirious CSU fans stormed the Moby Arena court Thursday night following a 77-62 victory over the visiting Buffaloes, but not before chanting “Just like football! Just like football!” in reference to the Rams’ September victory on the gridiron.
Colorado (6-4) hit five of its first eight shots to take a 12-7 lead, but then connected on just one of its next 12 and never regained the momentum. Getting 22 points from 6-foot-7 junior forward Travis Franklin, Colorado State (6-3) outhustled and outplayed CU and treated the 5,293 fans to the Rams’ first victory in the series since a 2006 win in Boulder.
“We didn’t keep the intensity we started out with,” said CU freshman guard Alec Burks, who matched Franklin with 22 points. “We felt like they weren’t better than us, and we let them win, I guess. When their fans stormed the court . . . I didn’t know it meant that much to them. I guess it does.”
Colorado has as much trouble winning on the road as its football team. Colorado lost its 20th straight road game against Division I competition, dating to a 73-70 victory over CSU here in 2007.
After trailing 36-26 at halftime, the Buffs made a late charge but didn’t resemble the team that played tough in close losses to Gonzaga and Arizona at the Maui Invitational. CU shot 37.3 percent from the field, and its best player, junior guard Cory Higgins, went 1-for-10.
Give Colorado State much of the credit. Its zone defense, with 6-9, 245-pound Andy Ogide patrolling the paint, pushed the Buffs out of their offensive patterns.
“(CSU’s zone) collapsed, so we needed to drive and kick out,” Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “We didn’t do that. We played selfish and lacked poise.”
Feeding off its enthusiastic fans, Colorado State never trailed after Franklin slithered inside for an easy basket to make it 18-17. CSU extended its halftime lead by taking advantage of fast-break opportunities and draining open jumpers when a CU defender arrived too late. A 3-pointer by freshman point guard Dorian Green from the top of the key made it 51-34 with 12:52 to go.
“This is a big game,” Franklin said afterward, “and our fans did a great job. We wanted it more than (Colorado).”
FG FT Reb
COLORADO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Relphorde 25 2-9 4-5 0-5 1 5 8
Dufault 25 2-4 0-0 1-2 1 5 4
Burks 31 9-14 3-4 1-3 3 3 22
CHiggins 33 1-10 10-11 0-3 3 4 12
Thorne II 24 2-6 1-2 1-3 2 4 5
Tomlinson 19 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 3
Harris-Tunks 12 1-1 0-0 0-3 0 2 2
Knutson 11 0-1 2-4 0-1 0 0 2
Crawford 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 3 0
Hornbuckle 16 1-4 1-2 1-2 0 1 4
Totals 200 19-51 21-28 6-27 10 28 62
Percentages: FG .373, FT .750. 3-Point Goals: 3-17, .176 (Burks 1-1, Tomlinson 1-2, Hornbuckle 1-2, Thorne II 0-1, Dufault 0-2, C.Higgins 0-4, Relphorde 0-5). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 2 (Harris-Tunks, Dufault). Turnovers: 16 (C.Higgins 4, Tomlinson 3, Relphorde 2, Burks 2, Thorne II 2, Crawford, Harris-Tunks). Steals: 8 (C.Higgins 2, Knutson 2, Hornbuckle, Tomlinson, Burks, Thorne II). Technical fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
CSU Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Franklin 34 7-9 8-10 2-10 0 3 22
Ogide 34 5-9 3-4 1-8 2 4 13
Nigon 22 2-8 4-4 1-4 3 2 9
Green 37 5-13 9-11 1-5 1 2 21
Dunn 10 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Bocar Ba 5 0-0 1-2 2-2 0 1 1
Hornung 9 0-1 0-0 2-3 2 5 0
Busch 28 0-3 5-8 0-1 0 0 5
Smith 21 3-7 0-0 0-3 1 2 6
Totals 200 22-52 30-39 12-41 9 21 77
Percentages: FG .423, FT .769. 3-point goals: 3-12, .250 (Green 2-6, Nigon 1-5, Dunn 0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 6 (Ogide 3, Franklin, Green, Nigon). Turnovers: 13 (Smith 4, Green 3, Ogide 2, Nigon 2, Busch, Franklin). Steals: 11 (Nigon 4, Franklin 2, Smith 2, Hornung 2, Ogide). Technical fouls: Ogide, bench.
Colorado 26 36 — 62
Colorado State 36 41 — 77
A — 5,293. Officials —Scott Thornley, Kelly Self, Mark Whitehead.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
