BOULDER — If Colorado is to hang with fifth-ranked Texas today, the Buffaloes’ lone Texan had better come up big on the boards.
But that’s what San Antonio native Andre Roberson usually does. Although undersized for a post player at 6-foot-7 and 195 pounds, the freshman already has turned heads with his ability to rebound. Good thing, because Texas leads the Big 12 Conference in that category and rates among the nation’s most athletic teams.
“Absolutely, Andre is going to be important for us against Texas,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said after a practice this week. “We need him on the floor at times when we need rebounds. I told him I want to see his minutes going up. He has to stay out of foul trouble.”
Roberson ranks eighth among Big 12 players in rebounding with 7.3 per game, and he’s the only one among the top 10 who does not start. With three regular-season games remaining, Roberson needs 15 rebounds to match the school’s single-season freshman record of 218 set by Stephane Pelle in 1998-99.
“I’ve just always liked to rebound,” Roberson said.
Playing 21 minutes Wednesday in the 71-68 victory at Texas Tech, Roberson had a game-high nine rebounds. A total of 11 other players in the game drew as many or more minutes. But Roberson came out on top.
Roberson seems to come out of nowhere to come up with rebounds.
“I don’t know how Andre does it,” said CU’s Austin Dufault, a 6-9 forward. “He just attacks the ball when it comes off the rim. He has great length, which really helps him out. But it’s mostly his attitude, how he goes every single time and attacks the ball.
“And he’s really good at reading how the ball is going to come off the rim. He just has a feel for that.”
Roberson always seems to be in the right place at the right time. It’s instinctive, the coach said.
“You can teach boxing out. You can teach guys to go to the boards,” Boyle said. “But you can’t teach them going and getting the ball. Some guys have a knack for it, a sixth sense for the ball. He just has it.”
Roberson said he doesn’t think about where to go for a rebound, he just finds himself there. His rebounding prowess does not surprise older sister Ashlee Roberson, a former starter on the Texas Tech women’s team who is playing professionally in Romania. Another sister, Arielle, is a 6-2 senior forward at Converse (Texas) Wagner High School and is strongly considering Colorado, along with North Carolina State and Southern Cal.
“The one thing that the Roberson family does is rebound, all the way down to our little brother Anthony (age 16),” said Ashlee via an e-mail from overseas.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Notebook
Colorado: Buffs come off a crucial victory at Texas Tech, but they probably need to also win today to remain in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid. . . . The telecast was bumped to Altitude2 due to a conflict with an Avalanche game. Altitude2 is a temporary channel (105 for most Comcast cable subscribers along the Front Range). . . . CU senior guard Cory Higgins has moved into a tie with former Oklahoma State guard Byron Eaton (2005-09) for second place in career free throws made (270) in conference games. . . . Today is a sellout, the fourth of the season. That’s a record for the Coors Events Center (11,064), which opened in 1979.
Texas: The margin of victory in 11 of the UT’s 12 conference wins has been by double figures. Texas has trailed for just 49 minutes and 33 seconds of a possible 520 minutes in league games, including the lone defeat, at Nebraska. . . . Texas has won 24 of its first 28 games for the third time under coach Rick Barnes. The others: 2005-06 and 2007-08. . . . Tristan Thompson, a 6-foot-9 forward, is one of five finalists for the Wayman Tisdale national freshman of the year award.
