Colorado’s Jeff Bzdelik said today he is not sure whether junior forward Marcus Relphorde (bruised hip) or freshman forward Keegan Hornbuckle (shoulder) will be available for Wednesday night’s home game against Nebraska.
“Those are day-to-day,” Bzdelik said on the Big 12 men’s coaches teleconference.
Relphorde, a starter, left with the injury during the second half of Saturday’s 67-63 loss at Texas A&M and did not return.
Hornbuckle, a reserve, did not suit up for the game.
Bzdelik said that he had not decided who would replace Relphorde if the junior-college transfer can’t go. The 6-foot-7 Relphorde ranks third on the team in scoring with 10.5 points per game.
“We’ll take a look at practice today,” Bzdelik said about potential replacements for Relphorde.
Colorado (10-9, 1-4 Big 12) needs a victory over Nebraska (12-7, 0-4) to stay out of the conference cellar.
The loss at Texas A&M was the 25th by a single-digit margin during Bzdelik’s three seasons at Colorado.
“We’ve done a lot of good things in basketball games to put ourselves in a position to win,” Bzdelik said. “But we have to learn to close out.
“How do you close out? Well, you make timely shots. You make timely stops. In the course of a game, you can’t give teams easy points with put-backs. We also have to take more charges. It’s the little things that are keeping us from getting wins.”
Big 12 proving wide open
Texas and Kansas State have proved to be vulnerable, and even Kansas has had a hiccup.
The Big 12 race is shaping up to be wide open, if the first couple weeks of conference play are any indication.
Texas lost two in a row after being rated No. 1 in the nation for the first time.
Kansas State, which knocked off Texas a week ago, was chopped down at home by Oklahoma State.
Kansas’ only loss was a whopper, coming against a depleted Tennessee team.
Texas Tech coach Pat Knight says every team — with the possible exception of Kansas — is bound to have a bad week in the Big 12.
Knight says teams can’t let those weeks get them down.
— The Associated Press
