Bzdelik said effort a main problem
The Colorado Buffaloes, who are looking to get a couple wins down the stretch, will have to try again Saturday against Missouri.
The Buffs dropped to 2-9 in the Big 12 Wednesday, losing 87-69 at home to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders led the Buffs 35-32 at halftime.
Buffs head coach Jeff Bzdelik said he could not explain why his team played such poor defense in the second half.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a team play that poorly defensively,” Bzdelik said.
Bzdelik said Texas Tech deserves credit for the way they played.
“They respected the game,” Bzdelik said. “They played the game the way it is supposed to be played. They cut hard- I mean really hard- on every possession. They moved without the ball, extremely hard, well and timely. They looked for one another. They outran us 94 feet. Defensively they stayed disciplined to the game plan.”
The disappointed coach said he was embarrassed and he hoped his players learned a lesson from the Red Raiders about how to play the game.
“I can’t coach effort,” Bzdelik said. “That’s what frustrates the heck out of me. I can’t coach it- it has got to be inside a person.”
Senior guard Richard Roby scored 25 points and nine rebounds in the Buffs’ loss.
After the game, Roby said all the Buffs’ issues in the game resulted from poor defense.
“We couldn’t defend them. They were just getting easy basket after easy basket after easy basket,” Roby said. “In transition, we weren’t communicating defensively. It all started on the defensive end.”
Senior guard Marcus Hall said the Buffs were unable to find the energy they needed to win at any point in the game.
“Today we didn’t have the energy as a team from start to finish,” Hall said. “Luckily, at halftime we were still in the game, so we still had a chance to correct what I felt what we didn’t even have in the first half, and we didn’t.”
With his scoring performance against the Red Raiders, Roby tied Shaun Vandiver for third place on the Buffs’ all-time scoring list with 1,876 career points.
“It is a great accomplishment, but I am into wins more than anything else,” Roby said. “So I am just looking forward to coming back and playing on Saturday.”
Bzdelik said the loss falls on him because he is the leader, but he will be looking for more effort from his team in their next game.
“I have to find somebody between now and the next game that wants to just be competitive and have a competitive spirit,” Bzdelik said. “Somebody, please.”
The Buffs will travel to Columbia, Mo., Saturday to take on the Missouri Tigers. The Tigers defeated the Buffs 66-62 earlier in the season.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Brad Cochi at Bradley.Cochi@thecampuspress.com
