Junior forward Casey Crawford shoots a lay up over Nebraska defense during their game on Jan. 27 in the Coors Events Center. The Buffs defeated rival Nebraska 72-60. (CU Independent file/Molly Maher)
Will the real Casey Crawford please stand-up?
After his last two performances, it appears we may finally be seeing what Buff basketball fans have been waiting for out of the junior from Overland Park, Kan.
Following up his solid play against Iowa State, Crawford poured in a career-high 20 points and six 3-pointers in 30 minutes off the bench, as the Colorado men’s basketball team ended both their conference (36 games) and overall (28) losing streaks with an 81-68 win over rival Nebraska on Tuesday night in Lincoln.
Junior Cory Higgins and freshman Alec Burks each added 19 points for Colorado (14-15, 5-10 Big 12) who made a season-high 12 3-pointers as a team and shot season-best percentages from the field (61.9 percent) and beyond the arc (70.6 percent).
The Buffs swept the season-series from Nebraska (14-16, 2-13 Big 12), who was led in scoring by their own backup big man, freshman Brian Diaz, who scored 15. Junior Lance Jeter added 14 points for the Cornhuskers, who slipped into an early 11-2 hole and trailed the rest of the game.
Colorado built their lead up to 16 (32-16) in the first half and 20 (72-52) in the second half, only to see Nebraska slowly work their way back.
But thanks to the lights-out shooting of Crawford and efficient play of his teammates, it was as much daylight as the Huskers would see.
Junior Marcus Relphorde and sophomore Nate Tomlinson each added a pair of threes for the Buffaloes, and a tomahawk slam by Crawford off a nice feed from Relphorde put CU up 76-62 with 2:10 to play.
The game was not lacking in accolades for CU, as Burks passed Chauncey Billups for second all-time on the freshman scoring list (trailing only Richard Roby), and Colorado won in Lincoln for the first time since January 14, 2004, breaking a five-game losing streak at the Devaney Center.
The Buffs will return to Boulder for their regular season finale against Texas Tech at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Coors Events Center.
Contact CU-Independent Staff Writer David Starcer at David.starcer@colorado.edu.
