The records of the two teams matched up on Saturday afternoon at the Coors Events Center were miles and miles apart. Stuffed in the back of the standings, CU fought with one of the country’s best – and won.
Behind the trio of Kal Bay, Richard Roby and Dominique Coleman, the Buffs defeated the No. 12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (18-4, 4-3) by the final of 89-77.
The three leading scorers for the Buffs (6-13, 2-7) combined to score 61 of the team’s 89 points en route to CU’s second conference win of the season. Bay set a career-high with 21 points on 6-9 shooting, five of which were 3-pointers.
The win was a pleasant departure for the Buffs considering their struggles throughout the season, and of late. CU was coming off two consecutive losses to Baylor and Kansas, losses combined for 37 points. Buffs head coach Ricardo Patton was pleased with his team’s unselfishness.
“It was a great team effort. Guys were focused and I don’t think anyone cared who scored the basketball. It was just a great team win,” Patton said.
The 89 points marked CU’s second-highest scoring output of the season, and its highest in conference play. In addition to their high-scoring output, the Buffs dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Cowboys by a 45-35 margin. Patton felt his team deserved the positive outcome.
“If you keep plugging at it long enough good things happen. (The players) have worked hard enough to deserve some success,” Patton said.
Leading the Buffs’ defensive and rebounding efforts was lightning-quick point guard Dominique Coleman. Coleman scored 21 points, but more importantly, grabbed 15 rebounds for the Buffs. When asked how a guy of his stature grabs all those boards, the energetic Coleman summed it up with a few words.
“I just have a knack for the ball,” Coleman said.
That knack for the ball proved to be crucial for CU as Oklahoma State made a run at the Buffs late in the second half. After having its biggest lead of 17 points early in the second half, CU was able to keep the Cowboys at an arms-length until Oklahoma State cut the Buffs lead to six with just under 5 minutes remaining.
CU would not let this game slip from its grasp however, using an aggressive offensive mindset to get to the foul line down the stretch. The Buffs went to the line 27 times in the second half alone, making 21 of their attempts. CU’s free-throw shooting coupled with a stifling defense that was at its best all season proved enough to close the books on the upset.
“You don’t get too many opportunities to get a ranked team on your home court so we wanted to take advantage of that,” Roby said.
The Buffs forced Oklahoma State to shoot a paltry 39 percent from the floor and limited the Cowboys’ leading scorer Mario Boggan to 17 points, four under his average.
Patton said his coaching was no different, but his guys just wanted this one a little more.
“I didn’t coach any differently. I yelled and barked and got on guys for mistakes the same I have all season long,” Patton said. “I thought the guys stepped up and played with the intensity you have to play with to win.”
While many people around the country will be surprised at the final, don’t count Roby and his teammates among them.
“No way (we’re surprised.) We’ve been playing good stretches, but we just haven’t put a whole game together,” Roby said. “We knew we just had to put it all together and if we can do that every night, that’s what will make us a good team.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Stirling Wade at stirling.wade@thecampuspress.com.
