KANSAS CITY, MO—Never before in Big XII history has the 12th seed advanced past the first round of the tournament.
For the past two weeks, the Colorado Buffaloes trained and promised to break that 10-year streak. Their job wouldn't be easy, though.
The 12th-seeded Buffaloes faced an up-and-coming fifth seeded Baylor this afternoon in the opening round of the Big XII Tournament. Colorado set the pace of the game early and played solidly behind the three-point arc and inside the paint, taking a 14-point lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the two teams went back-and-forth. In the latter portion of the half, however, the Bears picked up the energy they lacked all day and led a comeback to tie the game and force overtime.
The first overtime also went back-and-forth, and with no team taking advantage of each other's mistakes, the game was forced into a second overtime.
Colorado dominated this portion of the game. The Bears, trailing by as much as seven, again rallied back, but it wasn't enough. They fell to Colorado, 91-84.
Baylor's Curtis Jerrells and LaceDarius Dunn scored 20 points apiece for the Bears while Henry Dugat added 19. Colorado's Richard Roby scored 32 points and Marcus Hall had 25 of his own.
The big difference came on the boards, where Baylor dominated in their regular season meeting but where Colorado dominated today.
The win for Colorado marks the second upset in this year's tournament in as many games. In the first game of the day, the 9th seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys upset Pat Knight's 8th seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders and will face the top-seeded Texas Longhorns in the quarterfinals.
Colorado (12-19) moves on to face fourth seeded Oklahoma, needing to win the Big XII Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
Baylor (21-10) has flirted with their first bid to the NCAA Tournament in 20 years all season. Most seem to believe that Baylor is a lock, but a win or two in the Big XII Tournament would have helped its case.
Now, Coach Drew and this team will have to wait for Sunday to hear their fate.
Whatever happens Sunday, the Bears will need to play better basketball in their next game if they want to make any noise in the postseason.
The team was embarrassed this afternoon by the worst team in the conference. To Colorado's credit, they played well and showed their determination.
But Baylor should never have lost this game.
comments (2) write a comment »
write a new comment
6 months ago
Even CU is ranked last in big 12 they are a much better than its record shows. They played within 1 procession at Texas and Okla. State and they beat OU at home.
6 months ago
That's very true. The thing about the Big XII Conference is that all the teams are very good. It's one of the hardest conferences in the NCAA (right up there with the ACC and the Big East) and on any given day, anyone can beat anyone else. The Colorado/Oklahoma game today should be interesting.
write a new comment