Even more difficult than replacing Devon Beitzel’s 14.3 points per game is missing his clutch play during crunch time, Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle said of the junior guard.
“Devon made some big-time plays for us at the end of games,” Boyle said. “The last four minutes of the game in close ones, that’s where we’re going to miss him most. He’s a guy you can rely on.”
A former Centaurus High School standout, Beitzel suffered a broken foot in a Feb. 13 loss at Weber State. The Bears (23-6, 11-4 Big Sky) have won all three games without Beitzel and are favored today in the regular-season finale at Sacramento State. But the March 9-10 Big Sky Conference Tournament in Ogden, Utah, can be a different animal.
Taking Beitzel’s place in the starting lineup is Chris Kaba, a 6-foot-8 junior from Gary, Ind., who can shoot from outside. So far, Kaba has more than stepped up. He earned Big Sky player of the week honors after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in two conference victories last week.
Boyle said the team did not have to change much after Beitzel’s injury because Kaba had averaged about 17 minutes a game as a reserve.
“For Chris, the problem has been consistency,” Boyle said. “If he can be consistent, he’s fully capable of stepping in for Devon. But it’s never easy when you lose a key player, especially late in the season.”
UNC needs a win in Sacramento to clinch the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament (behind host Weber State) and get an opening-round bye. A victory also would match the 24-6 record of UNC’s 1988-89 team as the best in school history.
Rohnert to take a bow.
Playing three years under Denver coach Joe Scott sure has worked out well for Pioneers swingman Nate Rohnert, a 6-5 senior who will play in his final home game today in the 5 p.m. matchup with Louisiana-Lafayette.
The former Chaparral all-stater came off the bench as a freshman under Terry Carroll but became an instant starter for Scott. Rohnert needs seven points to join the Pioneers’ top-10 career scorers. He ranks sixth in assists (342).
“(Scott) came in and sat us all down, looked us in the eye and said, ‘You’re going to have to trust me,’ ” Rohnert recalled of his first meeting with Scott in the spring of 2007.
Milestone in sight.
Colorado senior guard Bianca Smith needs two 3-pointers to pass Shelley Sheetz as the program’s career leader from long range. Sheetz, a Kodak All-American at CU and now an assistant at the University of Denver, bagged 252 treys from 1991-95.
The Buffs (13-13, 3-10 Big 12) host No. 12 Texas A&M (19-7, 7-6) today at 2 p.m., following the CU vs. Iowa State men’s game. “When I came here I never thought about records,” Smith said. “I’m just humbled.”
Footnotes.
Considering the Colorado men’s team lost by one point at Iowa State with Buffs freshman phenom Alec Burks sitting on the bench with a knee injury, today’s 11:30 a.m. rematch in Boulder looks promising for CU (12-15, 3-10 Big 12). Burks averages almost 17 points, “(but) I don’t think we have the right to be overconfident about anybody,” Buffs junior guard Cory Higgins said. . . . CU coach Jeff Bzdelik, on his team facing Kansas State, Kansas and Missouri in its past three road games: “I’d like to see anybody against that (stretch), Duke, anybody.”
