2010–11 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team

2010–11 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball
NIT, Semifinals
Conference Big 12 Conference
2010–11 record 24–14 (8–8 Big 12)
Head coach Tad Boyle
Home arena Coors Events Center
Seasons
« 2009–10 2011–12 »
2010–11 Big 12 men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#4 Kansas † 14   2   .875     35   3   .921
#16 Texas 13   3   .813     28   8   .778
Texas A&M 10   6   .625     24   9   .727
#24 Kansas State 10   6   .625     23   11   .676
Missouri 8   8   .500     23   11   .676
Colorado 8   8   .500     24   14   .632
Nebraska 7   9   .438     19   13   .594
Baylor 7   9   .438     18   13   .581
Oklahoma State 6   10   .375     20   14   .588
Oklahoma 5   11   .313     14   18   .438
Texas Tech 5   11   .313     13   19   .406
Iowa State 3   13   .188     16   16   .500
† 2011 Big 12 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll • Through March 27, 2011

The 2010–11 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team represents the University of Colorado in the 2010–11 college basketball season. Head coach Tad Boyle is in his first season at Colorado. The Buffaloes compete in the Big 12 Conference and played their home games at the Coors Events Center. This is the Buffaloes' last season in the Big 12, as they will be moving to the Pac-12 in 2011–12.

Contents

Preseason

The Buffaloes are in their final season in the Big 12, as they will be moving to the Pac-12 in 2011–12.[1] They finished the previous season with a record of 15–16 and 6–10 in Big 12 Conference play. Of those 16 losses, seven were by six points or less. Additionally, all five starters return from that team.[2]

In the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll, the Buffaloes were picked to finish ninth. Cory Higgins was named the Preseason All-Conference First Team, while Alec Burks was an honorable mention.[3] Both were also named to the 50-man preseason Wooden Award watchlist.[4] Additionally, Burks was on the 50-man preseason Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist.[5] Gary Parrish picked them eighth in the Big 12, and said that he "won't be shocked if they ride the Higgins-Burks tandem into the top half of the league and make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003."[6] Jason King of Rivals.com named the Buffaloes the sixth-best team in conference, adding, "Don't be surprised if long-suffering Colorado sneaks into the NCAA tournament."[2]

Roster

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous School
1 Nate Tomlinson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 pounds (86 kg) G Jr. Sydney, New South Wales Australia Lee Academy
2 Shannon Sharpe 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 pounds (91 kg) G Fr. Corona, California U.S. Centennial HS
5 Marcus Relphorde 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 pounds (100 kg) F Sr. Chicago, Illinois U.S. Saint Louis University
10 Alec Burks 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 pounds (84 kg) G So. Grandview, Missouri U.S. Grandview HS
11 Cory Higgins 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 pounds (86 kg) G Sr. Danville, California U.S. The Pendleton School
14 Javon Coney 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 pounds (95 kg) C Sr. Chicago, Illinois U.S. Latin HS
15 Shane Harris-Tunks 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 pounds (102 kg) F/C So. Liverpool, New South Wales Australia Australian Institute of Sport
21 Andre Roberson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 pounds (88 kg) G Fr. San Antonio, Texas U.S. Wagner HS
23 Sabatino Chen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 pounds (82 kg) G Jr. Louisville, Colorado U.S. University of Denver
24 Levi Knutson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 pounds (91 kg) G Sr. Littleton, Colorado U.S. Arapahoe HS
30 Carlon Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 pounds (98 kg) G Sr. Riverside, California U.S. University of Utah
32 Ben Mills 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 215 pounds (98 kg) C Fr. Hartland, Wisconsin U.S. Arrowhead HS
33 Austin Dufault 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 pounds (100 kg) F Jr. Killdeer, North Dakota U.S. Killdeer HS
35 Hassan Safieddine 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 pounds (95 kg) F Fr. Denver, Colorado U.S. Flagler College
55 Trey Eckloff 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 pounds (107 kg) F Jr. Englewood, Colorado U.S. Cherry Creek HS

2010–11 Schedule and results

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
11/12/10* 8:00pm Idaho State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 88–80  6,874 1–0
11/16/10* 5:00pm at Georgia Stegeman Coliseum • Athens, GA FSNRM L 74–83  6,406 1–1
11/20/10* 8:00pm at San Francisco War Memorial Gymnasium • San Francisco, CA L 81–83 OT 2,747 1–2
11/23/10* 7:00pm Alcorn State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 91–51  2,778 2–2
11/28/10* 11:00am at Harvard Lavietes Pavilion • Cambridge, MA L 66–82  954 2–3
11/30/10* 7:00pm Texas-Pan American Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 83–64  2,641 3–3
12/4/10* 8:00pm Oregon State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO
(Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series)		 ESPNU W 83–57  6,406 4–3
12/8/10* 8:00pm Colorado State Coors Events Center • Bouler, CO FSNRM W 90–83 OT 7,219 5–3
12/17/10* 7:30pm The Citadel Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 89–61  4,368 6–3
12/19/10* 2:00pm Longwood Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 104–59  2,556 7–3
12/22/10* 8:00pm vs. New Mexico Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV
(IBN Las Vegas Classic semifinals)		 CBSCS L 89–76  2,867 7–4
12/23/10* 5:30pm vs. Indiana Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV
(IBN Las Vegas Classic 3rd place)		 CBSCS W 78–69  NA 8–4
12/29/10* 7:00pm Maryland Eastern Shore Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 92–65  3,896 9–4
1/2/11* 6:00pm at Cal State Bakersfield Rabobank Arena • Bakersfield, CA W 85–73  1,464 10–4
1/5/11* 7:00pm Western New Mexico Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO W 92–70  2,139 11–4
1/8/11 11:30am #8 Missouri Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO Big 12 Network W 89–76  8,694 12–4 (1–0)
1/12/10 7:00pm at #20 Kansas State Bramlage Coliseum • Manhattan, KS ESPNU W 74–66  12,528 13–4 (2–0)
1/15/11 11:30am Oklahoma State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO Big 12 Network W 75–71  11,096 14–4 (3–0)
1/18/11 5:00pm at Nebraska Bob Devaney Sports Center • Lincoln, NE ESPN2 L 67–79  8,477 14–5 (3–1)
1/22/11 11:30am at Oklahoma Lloyd Noble Center • Norman, OK Big 12 Network L 60–67  9,158 14–6 (3–2)
1/25/11 6:00pm #6 Kansas Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO Big 12 Network L 78–82  11,203 14–7 (3–3)
1/29/11 11:30am at Baylor Ferrell Center • Waco, TX Big 12 Network L 66–70  6,095 14–8 (3–4)
2/1/11 7:00pm Iowa State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO FSNRM W 95–69  6,764 15–8 (4–4)
2/5/11 5:30pm at #15 Missouri Mizzou Arena • Columbia, MO L 73–89  14,288 15–9 (4–5)
2/9/11 7:00pm #22 Texas A&M Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO ESPNU L 70–73 OT  7,517 15–10 (4–6)
2/12/10 7:00pm Kansas State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO ESPNU W 58–56  11,052 16–10 (5–6)
2/19/11 12:00pm at #1 Kansas Allen Fieldhouse • Lawrence, KS ESPN L 63–89  16,300 16–11 (5–7)
2/23/11 5:00pm at Texas Tech United Spirit Arena • Lubbock, TX W 71–68  8,085 17–11 (6–7)
2/26/11 2:00pm #5 Texas Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO Big 12 Network W 91–89  11,034 18–11 (7–7)
3/2/11 5:30pm at Iowa State Hilton Coliseum • Ames, IA L 90–95  12,679 18–12 (7–8)
3/5/11 7:00pm Nebraska Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO W 67–57  11,112 19–12 (8–8)
Phillips 66 2011 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament
3/9/11 1:00pm Iowa State Sprint Center • Kansas City, MO
(First Round)		 Big 12 Network W 77–75  18,910 20–12
3/10/11 1:00pm #23 Kansas State Sprint Center • Kansas City, MO
(Quarterfinals)		 Big 12 Network W 87–75  18,910 21–12
3/11/11 1:00pm #2 Kansas Sprint Center • Kansas City, MO
(Semifinals)		 Big 12 Network L 83–90  18,910 21–13
2011 NIT
3/16/11* 7:30 pm Texas Southern Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO
(First Round)		 W 88–74  6,299 22–13
3/18/11* 7:00 pm California Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO
(Second Round)		 ESPNU W 89–72  7,614 23–13
3/22/11* 7:00 pm Kent State Coors Events Center • Boulder, CO
(Quarterfinals)		 ESPN W 81–74  9,065 24–13
3/29/11* 7:00 pm vs. Alabama Madison Square Garden • New York City, NY
(Semifinals)		 L 61–62  6,082 24–14
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll. All times are in Mountain Time.

Season

Preconference season

The Buffaloes defeated in-state rivals Colorado State 93–80 in overtime, behind Alec Burks' 25 points. Marcus Relphorde contributed 18 points and Cory Higgins added 15. Levi Knutson hit four free throws in the final 57 seconds to seal the victory.[7]

Big 12 season

Snapping a losing streak of 13 consecutive conference openers, Colorado knocked off #8 Missouri 89–76 as Alec Burks exploded for a career-high 36 points. This was the Buffaloes' first win over a top ten team since defeating #3 Texas in 2003. Cory Higgins had 18 points and a career-tying 10 rebounds. The Buffaloes had a 12-point halftime lead and never let Missouri get closer than seven in the second half.[8]

Post-season

The Buffs have been selected as the #1 seed for the 2011 NIT Tournament

Rankings

Main article: 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Final
AP[9] 38 30
Coaches[9] 32

Awards & honors

Alec Burks
Cory Higgins

References

  1. ^ "Terms for Colorado Withdrawal From Big 12 Announced". Big 12 Conference. http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204998596&DB_OEM_ID=10410. Retrieved September 21, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b King, Jason (October 31, 2010). "League preview: Big 12". Rivals.com. Yahoo! Sports. http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1145850. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b c Howell, Brian (October 16, 2010). "CU sets out to exceed expectations". Longmont Times-Call. http://www.timescall.com/sports_story.asp?id=23873. Retrieved January 11, 2011. 
  4. ^ a b c "2010–2011 Men’s Preseason Top 50 List". John R. Wooden Award. http://www.woodenaward.com/?p=861. Retrieved November 12, 2010. 
  5. ^ a b "Duke University Leads a Diverse Pack on the Naismith Preseason Watchlist". MSL Atlanta. http://www.shupirates.com//pdf8/723283.pdf. Retrieved November 16, 2010. 
  6. ^ Parrish, Gary (November 4, 2010). "Big 12 preview: Competition could breed national contender". CBS Sports. CBS Interactive. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14241463/big-12-preview-competition-could-breed-national-contender. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Colorado 90, Colorado St. 83". ESPN. Associated Press (ESPN Internet Ventures). December 8, 2010. http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=303420038. Retrieved January 12, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Colorado star Alec Burks scores 36, helps hand No. 8 Missouri a second loss". ESPN. Associated Press (ESPN Internet Ventures). January 8, 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=310080038. Retrieved January 14, 2011. 
  9. ^ a b "2010–11 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings. Retrieved November 12, 2010. 
North Division
South Division