BOULDER — If Colorado coach Tad Boyle had known when the day began that star guard Alec Burks would spend much of Saturday night’s game against Kansas State on the bench in foul trouble, Boyle might have decided there was no sense rolling out of bed.
And to prolong a grind-it-out game, both teams had to wait on a video replay to see if a would-be 3-pointer by Kansas State’s Rodney McGruder had left his hands before the final buzzer. Kansas State had inbounded the ball with 1.1 seconds left and, after a cross-court pass, the 6-foot-4 McGruder let it fly with an off-balance, fallaway prayer of a trey.
Unlike three days earlier in an overtime loss to Texas A&M, fate was on Colorado’s side this time. The replay showed McGruder, who had Burks draped all over him on the right wing, had released the ball too late.
“Obviously, the basketball gods were on our side this time,” Boyle said.
Three points were removed from the Kansas State side of the scoreboard, and the final showed a 58-56 Colorado victory, accompanied by the loudest roar of the evening by the 11,052 in the Coors Events Center.
“I was real confident (the basket would be overruled),” Burks said. “I saw the red light go off when my hand was in his face. I don’t know how he even saw the basket. I’m 6-6. I’m taller than him. He turned around with one second left and made it. It’s crazy.”
Burks finished with just eight points, a dozen below his average and only the third time in his two- year college career that he failed to reach double figures. But Colorado (16-10, 5-6 Big 12) got 17 points from Cory Higgins, 16 from Levi Knutson and managed to hold on.
But not before some anxious moments. CU didn’t foul Texas A&M on Wednesday night, and guard B.J. Holmes sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. This time Knutson, who calmly swished two free throws with 11.9 seconds left to make it 58-55, wrapped his arms around preseason Big 12 player of the year Jacob Pullen with 3.9 seconds left and before the Wildcats senior guard could shoot.
Pullen made the first free throw and smartly missed the second on purpose. The ball bounced high off the back of the rim and then went out of bounds off Higgins’ fingertips with 1.1 seconds left, giving Kansas State (16-9, 4-6) one last crack at it.
Colorado swept two regular-season games with Kansas State for the first time since 2004. But CU should have felt fortunate to be down just 23-21 at halftime. The Buffs hit just 28.6 percent of their shots from the field in the half, but Kansas State was even worse — 24.1 percent.
“I told the team that’s a sign of this team making progress,” Boyle said. “We were still in the game because we defended and rebounded.”
Several makeshift lineups were able to hang with the Wildcats. Seven-foot center Sam Mills saw his first Big 12 action and had two blocks. Seldom-used Trey Eckloff and walk-on Javon Coney got a few minutes. With point guard Nate Tomlinson out with a sore ankle, Shannon Sharpe had eight points.
“Those (reserves) won the game for us,” Boyle said.
That’s another good sign that will help any coach sleep better.
FG FT Reb
KSU (16-9, 4-6) Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Kelly 23 2-6 1-3 3-6 0 4 5
Samuels 21 4-7 5-7 5-7 1 4 13
Pullen 31 4-12 2-5 0-1 4 3 12
Southwell 20 1-5 1-2 1-2 0 0 3
McGruder 34 3-9 2-2 0-3 0 2 11
Irving 12 0-2 2-2 1-2 0 1 2
Ojeleye 5 0-0 1-2 1-2 0 0 1
Russell 7 0-1 0-2 0-1 1 1 0
Hnrqz-Rbrts 18 1-4 3-4 2-6 1 4 5
Spradling 29 1-6 1-2 1-2 1 1 4
Totals 200 16-52 18-31 18-37 8 20 56
Percentages: FG .308, FT .581. 3-point goals: 6-20, .300 (McGruder 3-6, Pullen 2-5, Spradling 1-6, Irving 0-1, Southwell 0-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 6 (Southwell 3, Henriquez-Roberts 2, Kelly). Turnovers: 10 (Pullen 3, Southwell 3, Kelly 2, Russell). Steals: 5 (Southwell 2, Irving, Pullen, Samuels). Technical fouls: Kelly.
FG FT Reb
CU (16-10, 5-6) Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Dufault 28 2-5 0-0 2-3 0 4 4
Relphorde 11 2-4 0-0 1-2 2 5 4
Burks 26 3-13 2-2 2-10 1 4 8
Higgins 37 4-9 9-10 0-3 1 2 17
Knutson 36 5-8 4-4 0-5 1 2 16
Sharpe 21 3-4 2-4 0-2 0 1 8
Coney 4 0-0 1-2 0-1 0 1 1
Roberson 23 0-0 0-0 1-6 1 5 0
Mills 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Eckloff 5 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
Totals 200 19-43 18-22 8-35 6 27 58
Percentages: FG .442, FT .818. 3-point goals: 2-10, .200 (Knutson 2-3, Sharpe 0-1, Dufault 0-1, Relphorde 0-1, Higgins 0-1, Burks 0-3). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 5 (Mills 2, Roberson, Higgins, Dufault). Turnovers: 16 (Burks 5, Higgins 3, Sharpe 2, Relphorde 2, Knutson 2, Roberson, Dufault). Steals: 2 (Burks, Relphorde). Technical fouls: Burks.
Kansas State 23 33 — 56
Colorado 21 37 — 58
A — 11,052. Officials —Tom O’Neill, Jeb Hartness, Greg Rennegarbe.
