Kansas Basketball Picks Up Big 12 Road Win At Colorado
Jan. 17, 2009
BOULDER, Colo. –
Five players scored in double figures, led by Sherron Collins’ team-high 18 points, as Kansas men’s basketball defeated Colorado, 73-56, at the Coors Event Conference Center Saturday afternoon.
With the win, KU’s first true road win of the 2008-09 season, the Jayhawks improved to 13-4 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play for third straight season. Colorado evened its record to 8-8 with the loss, including a 0-2 Big 12 mark.
Sophomore center Cole Aldrich joined Collins in double figures adding 15 points along with 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double this year and fourth in the last five games.
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor contributed 14 points in the win, while sophomore Tyrel Reed and freshman Marcus Morris added 11 and 10, respectively.
Ahead 15-12 with just under 12 minutes left in the first half, Kansas hit just one of its next five shots while Colorado closed the gap eventually tying the game 17-17 at 9:13 and then taking over the lead a minute and a half later.
Collins sank a pair of free throws with 5:31 remaining to knot the score at 23. On Colorado’s next possession, Marcus Morris got a hand in the passing lane and broke free down the court for a breakaway layup. CU then committed an offensive foul on its next trip down sending Aldrich to the charity stripe where the sophomore sank both attempts to give KU a four-point edge at 27-23.
Collins would add two three-pointers and a free throw for the Jayhawks in the final four minutes of the half as KU took a 34-27 lead heading into the break.
Kansas turned 12 CU miscues into 17 points during the opening half and finished with 25 points from 18 Buffalo turnovers during the game.
The Buffs were able to stay within three possessions of the Jayhawks for much of the first part of the second half until KU began to pull away around the 10 minute mark scoring six quick points in less than a minute from two Reed three-pointers and a Marcus Morris basket in the paint.
Reed scored all 11 of his points in the final 11 minutes of the contest and hit 3-of-5 from the three-point line.
KU sank 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from behind the three-point arc in the last 20 minutes and hit 69.6 percent from the field to help hold on to its lead over CU. The Jayhawks finished the game shooting a season-best 61.4 percent (27-of-44) from the field and 52.9 percent from the three-point line.
Kansas will play its first of four ESPN Big Monday appearances when it hosts Texas A&M on Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. (Central).
