In the last Big 12 meeting in Boulder for the Jayhawks and Buffaloes, Kansas heads home after winning 82-78. This was just an amazing game to watch as a fan all the way down to the end. Great plays for the good guys and a couple of outstanding performances from Alec Burks and Cory Higgins for Colorado. This was like watching a baseball game at pre-humidor Coors field. We knew Colorado could score at home and they did just that, scoring 1.24 points per possession on the night. Luckily Kansas was even better with five guys scoring 9 or more points. The balance that had been missing in the early part of the conference schedule showed up with Brady Morningstar and Josh Selby having very good offensive nights. Selby led the team with 17 points followed by Marcus Morris with 15 points.
The first half of this game was highly entertaining for fans. Bill Self and his love of defense may disagree but as a fan, I enjoyed it and imagine it's the type of feeling you get watching the NBA Summer League games. According to SCACC Hoops, Kansas scored 1.5 points per possession and the Buffaloes scored 1.28 points per possession. Josh Selby led the way 15 points and Brady Morningstar (!) was right behind him with 11 points. However, due to Colorado's shots also falling the lead was only at 4 points.
After the half, both teams cooled just a bit. Kansas came out and went right to Marcus Morris,leading to a ten point lead with about 10 minutes left. However as we've often seen this year, the Jayhawks built a little cushion followed by the opponent cutting the lead back down to a couple possessions. Led by Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, the Buffaloes made it a game down to the wire.
The last minute took about 10 minutes in real time, if not more. Thankfully both Tyrel Reed and Marcus Morris were able to drain their free throws to ice the game. Winning on the road in conference play is never easy and tonight it showed again. Time to regroup and get ready for the Wildcats on Saturday.
Winners: Brady Morningstar and Josh Selby. The Jayhawks needed a little more balance on offense and they stepped up. Morningstar had his best game of the season and showed how valuable he can be when he's hitting his shots.
Losers: The Kansas defense. Give Colorado some credit here but the Jayhawks should be able to make it a little more difficult for the opponent.