Covering University of Colorado sports, mostly basketball, since 2010

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Texas Tech Wrap

If you would've told me prior to last night's game versus Texas Tech that Cory Higgins and Alec Burks would combine for 7-23 shooting, with Cory fouling out down the stretch, I'd have told you that CU didn't have a prayer in hell of escaping Lubbock with a win.  Yet there the Buffs were at the end of the game, sprinting down the court, arms raised in jubilation, literally streaking away with a hard fought win in enemy territory.

They certainly gave me a scare.  The evening had that Baylor-game stench to it when, after leading by 12 at the break, the Buffs allowed the red-hot Raiders back into the game, even going down by 4 points with just over 11 minutes left.  It probably didn't help that the game was played in an essentially empty gym (Official attendance was 8,085; BULLSHIT), and it must've been really hard to create any energy.  Yet the team persevered, and made the plays that mattered down the stretch.
It wasn't easy last night, but Alec and the guys came through in the end.  From: the BDC

Even with all of the early second half struggles, CU once again ended up out shooting the opponent (42%-41%), out rebounding the opponent (40-34), and finished the game with 4 players in double figures.  That's the kind of numbers that spell victory, no matter how hot the opponent comes out in the second half (Tech had 30 percentage points of shooting improvement from the first half to the second) Make no mistake, CU earned this win.

It was a win the team had to have.  The door to .500+ in conference is still open, and the Buffs can still work themselves into a decent seed for the Big XII tournament.    The team is now 6-7 in the Big XII, and can feel really good about themselves going into the tough matchup with UT on Saturday.  Great job, guys.

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