Colorado men’s basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik must have both fingers crossed that the sore left knee of junior swingman Marcus Relphorde will feel good enough to allow him to play Wednesday in a home game against Oklahoma.
The Buffaloes struggle mightily to find a third scoring option without him.
Relphorde’s availability is “day to day,” Bzdelik said Monday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. The junior-college transfer suffers from tendinitis in the knee, and the condition was aggravated, Bzdelik said, when he bumped into sophomore forward Austin Dufault during practice on Thursday.
A 6-foot-7 perimeter player who usually draws an opponent’s forrward at the defensive end, Relphorde sat out Saturday’s 68-51 loss at then-No. 9 Kansas State.
“The fact that he was able to rest that knee (will help),” Bzdelik said. “It just needs to calm down.”
Colorado (11-13, 2-8 Big 12) has two of the Big 12’s top scorers in junior guard Cory Higgins (18.1 points per game) and freshman guard Alec Burks (16.8). Relphorde (10.4) is the only other CU scorer averaging double figures.
Colorado trailed Kansas State by just 28-26 at halftime. But the Buffs shot 33 percent from the field in the second half. Higgins (21 points) and Burks (17) did their part, but three other starters — forward Austin Dufault, center Trey Eckloff and point guard Nate Tomlinson — combined for a total of three points. Eckoff, making his first career start, and Tomlinson both failed to score.
Other than Higgins and Burks, no CU player scored more than four points against the Wildcats.
“The offense is fine,” Bzdelik said on the teleconference when asked about finding more scoring options to help Higgins and Burks. “(But) guys have to make shots … we’re leaving some points out there from guys having open looks.”
Bzdelik added that the absence of Relphorde on Saturday also robbed the Buffs of one of their primary ballhandlers. Colorado, which lost its 34th consecutive Big 12 road game, may not have committed 22 turnovers if Relphorde had been in the lineup, the coach said.
Sooners struggling
After reaching the NCAA Tournament’s “Sweet 16” last March with national player of the year and overall No. 1 NBA pick Blake Griffin, Oklahoma (13-11, 4-6 Big 12) likely will have to settle this year for the National Invitation Tournament – at best.
The Sooners were blitzed 97-76 at Oklahoma State on Saturday. Oklahoma was short-handed, playing without star guard Willie Warren (sick) and starting center Tiny Gallon (suspended). OU coach Jeff Capel said Monday on the teleconference that he did not have an update on the status of either player.
Oklahoma has lost five of its past seven games.
“It’s an experience for us all,” Capel said of the season. “There’s a quote from (NBA coach) Pat Riley that says, ‘Adversity introduces a man to himself.” That’s something I have had to share with our guys constantly this season.
“Some of the things we have gone through have been self-inflicted, because of stupid decisions our guys have made. Others are things you can’t control. But that’s life. We certainly are learning a lot of life lessons. It’s painful when you go through it. But somewhere down the road this will make all of us better.”
Capel on Colorado
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for coach Bzdelik and the way they play,” Capel said on the teleconference. … “They kicked our butt two years ago up at their place (72-58) and it was a close game (77-72 Sooners win in Norman) last year.
“I’ve seen them really grow as a basketball team. Their guys are more familiar with their system. Burks is as good as any freshman in our league. Certainly, Higgins is as good as any guard in our league. And, most importantly, their guys are very, very well-coached.”
Quote of the day
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler on his team in the context of the powerful Big 12:
“People aren’t going to believe me when I say this, but I like my team. I don’t know that there are many coaches out there that are 1-9 (in conference play) that would tell you they like their basketball team.
“I don’t know who that makes crazy, me or the people that don’t believe it.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
