Junior forward Marcus Relphorde (5) goes for a layup in the CU versus KU basketball game in the Coors Events Center on Wednesday. CU lost in Overtime 66-72. (CU Independent/Bianca West)
For a program, a fan base, a university and a team sick of “almost” winning, it doesn’t get much worse than what the Colorado Buffaloes nation is feeling.
Kansas outscored CU 12-6 in overtime, and the No. 1 team in the nation escaped from Boulder with a 72-66 victory on Wednesday night.
The Jayhawks nearly let the game slip away at the end of regulation, as Colorado (11-11 overall, 2-6 in Big 12) had the ball with 10.6 seconds left and a chance to send Kansas and the “Rock Chalk” faithful back to Lawrence empty-handed.
But Cory Higgins’ three-point attempt with two seconds remaining was off the mark, and a last-ditch lob play by Kansas as time expired went through the hands of center Cole Aldrich to force extra time.
Higgins, who scored 14 points on the night despite a poor shooting effort (4-of-15 from the field and 0-for-3 from behind the arc), said after the game the most important shot he took wasn’t what he wanted.
“I think I waited too long, the clock got too close to zero and I ended up with that shot,” Higgins said.
Once overtime started, it was the Jayhawks who played like the upset-hungry underdog, beginning the period with a 7-0 run capped off by a Marcus Morris layup after he grabbed three offensive rebounds of three of his own missed shots.
Marcus Relphorde’s layup and a pair of Higgins’ free throws trimmed the lead back down to three at 67-64, but that’s as close as CU would get as Kansas did just enough to hold on.
Relphorde, who led the Buffs with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, was just as much at a loss for words as the rest of his teammates when he explained his frustration.
“We came into the game expecting to win and we took it down to the wire, but it just sucks to play so hard and to come away with a loss,” Relphorde said while shaking his head.
The loss was Colorado’s seventh by single digits on the season, and the 27th in head coach Jeff Bzdelik’s tenure in Boulder.
“We are not into moral victories,” Bzdelik said. “We have to learn how to close out games. All these little things come into play, but it’s all about winning.”
Junior guard Levi Knutson, who gave the Buffaloes a big lift with 13 points and three treys off the bench, emphasized how thin the line is between winning and losing.
“It’s just a few possessions, there is no magic formula,” Knutson said. “It’s doing what we did all game, and just doing it a couple more times…we know how to do it, it’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.”
Kansas (21-1 overall, 7-0 in Big 12) got off to a quick start, retaking the lead at 7-6 on a Brady Morningstar three and then going on a 17-2 run for the next seven minutes to extend their lead to a game high 16 points with just over nine minutes to go till halftime.
But the Buffs countered with a run of their own and cut the Kansas lead to six, 34-28, heading into the locker room.
Coming out of the break, Colorado continued their strong play and a pair of back-to-back treys by Knutson tied the game at 34.
While Aldrich, who posted a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds to go along with five blocked shots, continued to be a force down low, the Buffs were able to contain the Jayhawks’ floor general Sherron Collins and make him shoot an abysmal 6-of-17 from the field.
CU’s solid defense, coupled with a solid rebounding effort and Kansas’ struggles from the free throw line (where they went 18-for-38) kept them in the game.
The score remained close for the rest of the game, as Kansas couldn’t quite pull away. After a big defensive stop point guard Nate Tomlinson, who led the Buffs with five assists, found Relphorde streaking down-court on the fast break for a layup that cut the KU lead to one, 59-58, with 2:40 to play in regulation.
After both teams turned the ball over, Collins missed a runner in the lane and freshman center Shane Harris-Tunks ended up with the loose ball. The Aussie hit Relphorde with an outlet and even though he missed the layup, the junior college transfer hit the biggest two free throws of his basketball life to give CU their first lead of the game since the 17:10 mark of the first half, 60-59.
On Kansas’ next possession, Harris-Tunks blocked Collins’ runner, but Higgins got called for a foul and the senior All-American hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 60 and set up the Higgins’ miss.
And as overtime proved, failing to put a team as good as Kansas away is setting oneself up for heartbreak.
“With a team like that you have to take the chances you have and take advantage of them, and we missed a big one at the end of regulation,” Higgins said, head hung low in disappointment.
A sellout crowd of 11,027 came out on a chilly February night to watch the exhilarating game, one that hung in the balance for what seemed like an eternity.
For once, the packed house that usually shows up when Kansas is in town was actually predominantly black and gold and not “Allen Fieldhouse West.”
“I want so bad for this to happen here,” Bzdelik said, stressing his gratitude for the atmosphere created for his squad. “I want to win so bad, for me, for the fans, our student body, the school, season ticket holders…they’ve been awesome for us. It’s coming, I believe its coming.”
When Bzdelik called CU’s final timeout in regulation with 10.6 seconds left, you didn’t have to be a basketball analyst to feel the confidence and excitement in the air.
“Everybody believed on the team, everybody knew we were going to win the game it just didn’t go our way,” Higgins said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer David Starcer at David.starcer@colorado.edu.
