KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Big 12 Tournament “rematch jinx” continued Wednesday and Colorado’s season did not.
Hardly resembling the team that reached the century mark against Texas Tech on Saturday, No. 8 seed Colorado couldn’t find an offensive rhythm this time and fell 82-67 to the ninth-seeded Red Raiders in a first-round game at the Sprint Arena.
Colorado jumped to an 18-8 lead but Texas Tech followed with a 24-6 run and stayed in command.
“(Texas Tech) just seemed to be a step quicker today,” CU coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “They stayed in the possessions longer, in a more disciplined way than we did.”
This marked the fifth time in Big 12 Tournament history that two teams met in the opening round after having played in the regular-season finale. In rematches, it’s now 5-0 in favor of teams that lost in the earlier meeting.
Colorado (15-16) needed a victory to be assured of finishing with at least a .500 record and become eligible for a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. CU is not expected to seek a spot in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), which requires a $60,000 guarantee from its participants.
Texas Tech (17-14) will face top-ranked and top-seeded Kansas today in a quarterfinal game.
“We didn’t really change anything (from Saturday); the players just followed our game plan,” Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said. “That’s all it was. We almost always win if we give up 70 (points) or less.”
Colorado got a strong game from 6-foot-6 freshman and Kansas City native Alec Burks (24 points), and junior Cory Higgins added 18. But Texas Tech showed better balance and more scoring options, with four players reaching double figures. Junior guard John Roberson topped the Red Raiders with 19 points.
Unlike in the 101-90 Colorado victory on Saturday in Boulder, the Buffaloes could not extend an early lead. Beating Texas Tech to the hoop and getting five layups in the first 8 1/2 minutes, the Buffs raced to the 18-8 lead and caused Red Raiders junior forward Mike Singletary to chew out his teammates in frustration.
Perhaps Singletary lit a fire because the Red Raiders came out of a timeout with greater intensity. The result: the decisive 24-6 Texas Tech run that ultimately led to a 35-31 halftime lead.
Colorado needed to make a statement with a quick start to the second half. That didn’t happen. Almost 4 1/2 minutes elapsed before a 3-pointer by sophomore point guard Nate Tomlinson finally put CU on the board.
The Buffs appeared to be a half-step slow and out of synch – on both ends of the court. Texas Tech guard Nick Okorie stole the ball from the grasp of unsuspecting CU junior Levi Knutson and converted the takeaway into an easy basket to put the Red Raiders up by double figures at 41-31 with 16:26 remaining. From then on, Texas Tech’s lead was never threatened.
“(After taking the 10-point lead) we got complacent,” CU’s Burks said. “Everybody started standing in place and the ball started sticking. We weren’t passing and giving our teammates better looks. We were trying to do it ourselves and be the hero. I feel like that was our downfall.”
Texas Tech shot just 42.9 percent from the field in the first half but nailed five-of-eight 3-pointers. That was good enough to overtake the Buffs, who lost momentum when Higgins went to the bench for a breather. Without Higgins as the primary scoring option, Colorado players settled for 3-pointers that didn’t fall. CU hit just three-for-10 on 3s in the first half and never got the hot hand that it needed.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
