Boulder, Colo. ? Colorado’s D.J. Harrison had never played against Kansas University before. He learned something Monday night.
“You about have to play a perfect game to beat them,” Harrison said following the Jayhawks’ 85-75 come-from-behind victory at the Coors Events Center, “or they have to be terrible, and they weren’t.”
| Kansas | 40 | 45 | 85 |
| Colorado | 43 | 32 | 75 |
Attendance: 11,363
Three-point goals: 6-16 (Boschee 5-10, Hinrich 1-2, Gregory 0-2, Axtell 0-2). Assists: 21 (Hinrich 11, Boschee 6, Gooden, Gregory, Collison, Axtell). Turnovers: 12 (Gregory 3, Hirnich 3, Collison 3, Gooden 2, Axtell). Blocked shots: 6 (Gooden 3, Chenowith, Collison, Axtell). Steals: 7 (Collison 2, Gooden, Chenowith, Hinrich, Boschee, Carey). |
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Three-point goals: 7-21 (Harrison 4-8, Mohr 2-6, Harbert 1-6, Winston 0-1). Assists: 18 (Winston 6, Fox 4, Mosley 2, Harrison 2, Harbert 2, Mohr, Renfroe). Turnovers: 15 (Mosley 4, Winston 4, Fox 3, Pelle, Harrison, Mohr, Harbert). Blocked shots: 3 (Pelle, Harrison, Fox). Steals: 9 (Harbert 3, Pelle 2, Harrison, Winston, Mohr, Morandais). |
Harrison, a 6-foot-7 junior college transfer, appeared well on his way to leading the Buffs to a rare victory over Kansas. He scored 17 points in the first half and had 24 midway through the second half. Then he hit a brick wall.
“In the last six minutes we made some mistakes and paid for them,” said Harrison, who finished with a game-high 26 points. “We were in it until the last 10 minutes and it got away.”
Colorado coach Ricardo Patton sliced four minutes off that time frame.
“They pounded it in the last six minutes and made baskets,” Patton said. “We pounded it in the last six minutes and didn’t make baskets.”
An 0-for-10 shooting stretch in those minutes proved fatal.
“We can’t have dry spells and turn it around to win,” Patton said. “In my mind, we’re a couple of pieces away.”
Echoed Harrison: “We’re one or two pieces away from being like Kansas.”
Colorado entered leading the Big 12 in scoring average (82.6) and was third in field goal percentage (.504). Kansas held the Buffs 51/2 points under their scoring average and way below 50 percent shooting (35.2).
Harrison, Stephane Pelle and Nick Mohr accounted for 53 of the Buffs’ 75 points, but the three Colorado players missed 30 of their combined 49 shots.
“We played our hearts out tonight,” said Patton, who has never won a game against Kansas (0-12). “We just came up short. It is easy to find the negatives and the fault in every situation, but I prefer to look at the positives. Every game, we are getting closer and closer.”
A win Monday night would have been a huge step, coming on national cable television and in front of the largest home basketball crowd in school history.
“We played great,” Harrison said. “We played together. It would have been so much better if we had won.”
Maybe next year.
“We will continue to recruit,” Patton said. “Get more weapons and things will change for next season.”
