BOULDER — With Nuggets star and Colorado legend Chauncey Billups sitting courtside amid a packed house Saturday, the Buffaloes came up short in their bid to do something even Billups couldn’t pull off — defeat ranked teams in back-to-back games.
Kansas State pulled away down the stretch and ruined what might have been a raucous Coors Events Center party with an 87-81 victory. The 13th-ranked Wildcats (15-2, 2-1 Big 12) led by just four points on four occasions in the final eight minutes but stayed in control by pounding the ball inside to what seemed like a roster full of athletic, bouncy big men.
At the other end, missed free throws and turnovers by Colorado in crunch time proved costly.
“You have to take care of the ball in games like this,” CU coach Jeff Bzdelik said.
It’s a shame, Colorado players said afterward, that the Buffs (10-7, 1-2) couldn’t treat the crowd of 10,852 (the 17th-largest in the arena’s 31-year history) with a fantastic finish.
“That was the best ‘pro-Colorado’ crowd I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” junior guard Cory Higgins said.
“If we can continue to create an environment like that with our fans, we’re going to have some fun,” Bzdelik added.
Higgins scored a game-best 30 points, his season high, but Colorado lost at home for the first time after nine victories.
“We expect to win,” Bzdelik said. “This is not about being competitive. That’s why it hurts. We showed the last three games (all ranked opponents) that we can be competitive with anybody in the nation. But we need to improve.”
Colorado outshot Kansas State, 53.2 percent to 41.5 percent, but the Buffs were outrebounded 44-27. And getting the ball slapped away continually by quick-handed Kansas State defenders, Colorado committed 17 turnovers. In Tuesday’s victory over No. 22 Baylor, the Buffs had five.
CU entered as the Big 12’s most accurate team from the foul line (.771) but missed 13-of- 40 attempts (.675) Saturday, including eight in the second half.
“There’s no excuse to miss free throws,” Higgins said.
Constant whistles prevented either team from finding an offensive rhythm. Kansas State’s 54 free-throw attempts were just five off the Big 12 record. A total of 68 fouls were called, an arena record.
“Most of them by us,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. “It’s bad defense, bad basketball.”
But a good road win by the Wildcats, who were led by Jacob Pullen’s 18 points.
FG FT Reb
KANSAS ST. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Sutton 17 1-2 6-9 1-2 5 2 8
Kelly 22 3-7 5-8 4-7 0 4 11
Colon 15 0-1 3-4 1-5 1 3 3
Pullen 29 5-14 5-7 1-6 2 4 18
Clemente 37 2-8 11-13 2-3 2 1 15
Hnrqz-Rberts 7 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 0
Irving 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Ojeleye 11 1-2 1-2 1-3 0 1 3
McGruder 25 4-9 0-0 4-5 1 3 10
Merriewether 11 1-2 2-2 2-5 0 4 4
Samuels 15 4-5 3-7 1-1 1 4 11
Judge 10 1-2 2-2 1-3 0 4 4
Totals 200 22-53 38-54 19-44 12 31 87
Percentages: FG .415, FT .704. 3-point goals: 5-13, .385 (Pullen 3-6, McGruder 2-3, Clemente 0-4). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 5 (Kelly 2, Samuels, Henriquez-Roberts, Merriewether). Turnovers: 17 (Pullen 3, Clemente 3, Kelly 3, Henriquez-Roberts 2, Irving, Samuels, McGruder, Merriewether, Sutton). Steals: 7 (Pullen 2, Samuels 2, McGruder, Merriewether, Clemente). Technical fouls: Bench.
FG FT Reb
COLORADO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Harris-Tunks 17 0-0 1-3 0-1 0 4 1
Tomlinson 26 0-1 0-0 0-1 6 4 0
Relphorde 19 5-7 6-9 1-3 2 4 18
Burks 35 4-11 6-7 2-6 3 4 14
CHiggins 38 12-18 6-10 1-6 1 3 30
Thorne II 21 3-4 4-4 0-2 2 5 12
Knutson 12 0-2 1-2 0-1 1 2 1
Dufault 22 1-3 3-5 2-3 0 5 5
Hornbuckle 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Eckloff 10 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 5 0
Totals 200 25-47 27-40 8-27 16 36 81
Percentages: FG .532, FT .675. 3-point goals: 4-12, .333 (Thorne II 2-3, Relphorde 2-3, Knutson 0-1, C.Higgins 0-5). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 5 (C.Higgins 2, Burks, Harris-Tunks, Eckloff). Turnovers: 17 (C.Higgins 5, Relphorde 4, Burks 3, Tomlinson 2, Harris-Tunks, Thorne II, Eckloff). Steals: 7 (Tomlinson 2, Knutson, C.Higgins, Dufault, Thorne II, Relphorde).Kansas State 38 49 — 87
Colorado 34 47 — 81
A — 10,852.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
