CU, Bzdelik lose opener

New Mexico holds Buffaloes guard Roby to one point

B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 10, 2007 at midnight

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BOULDER - "Bz-ball" debuted Friday night at the University of Colorado, and its newness underscored what new coach Jeff Bzdelik has been preaching for the past eight months.

Patience is required.

A few shooters would be nice, too.

Bzdelik's Buffaloes, still trying to find themselves offensively, battled gallantly in the final 3 minutes, trimming an 11-point New Mexico lead to three with 1:04 remaining before falling 54- 47 before an announced crowd of 8,372 at the Coors Events Center.

"I want to thank the students and a great crowd . . . it was awesome," Bzdelik said. "They were here for us, and there was awesome energy in the building. They were wanting us to do something and, unfortunately, we didn't give them enough."

The Lobos, also playing their first game for new coach Steve Alford, got a clutch basket from senior J.R. Giddens - it was only his second of the game after being virtually shut down by CU freshman Cory Higgins - to pull ahead 52-47 with 33 seconds remaining.

CU, after rallying from a 49-38 deficit and closing to 50-47 on senior Marcus Hall's layup, was done.

Bzdelik termed his team's offensive effort "totally out of sync," and few who watched it would argue.

Still, the Buffs kept themselves in the game with key defensive stops late in the game and by forcing 18 Lobos turnovers.

But when the Buffs needed points, they usually remained needy.

CU shot only 34.1 percent from the field (15-for-44), with leading 2006-07 scorer Richard Roby (17.3 average) hitting only a late free throw to match a career-worst night first recorded last season against Nebraska.

"There's always going to be nights like this," said Roby, whose three field-goal attempts were a career low. "I couldn't get in the flow (of the offense), but I can't get down on myself. I probably could have been more aggressive in getting to the basket."

Bzdelik also was perturbed by the Buffs' deliberation in getting the ball up the court, noting, "We have to run the ball up court and not allow the defense to dig in. It was like (watching) a root canal by a bad dentist."

With Roby looking lost in Bzdelik's offense, Hall (11 points) and Higgins (10) attempted to muster CU's scoring punch.

Sophomore Xavier Silas and freshman Levi Knutson each contributed nine.

The Buffs made only four of 19 three-point attempts, with Hall, Higgins, Silas and Knutson hitting one each. But aside from bad marksmanship, Bzdelik said his team "didn't recognize (the Lobos') change of defenses. We knew what to do, but we kind of stumbled through it."

Alford had been known for his sticking to his defensive roots - a tight man-to-man taught by mentor Bob Knight when Alford played for Knight at Indiana.

Still, Bzdelik wasn't sure what he might see from New Mexico, particularly after Regis befuddled the Buffs with a 1-3-1 zone three nights earlier in CU's final exhibition win.

Alford obviously got the scouting report, going to the zone early and building a 30-19 halftime lead, which posed a good news/bad news scenario for the Buffs.

The bad news: They were down by double figures. The good news: That 11-point deficit was two fewer than the 47-34 advantage the Lobos held last season en route to their 105-61 blowout win in Albuquerque.

"We're all having a lot of trouble with the zone defense," said Hall, back after missing last season to attend to academics. "We have to figure (it) out, because other teams will notice our problems against it."

NEW MEXICO (1-0) - Harris 0-2 0-2 0, Faris 4-7 0-1 8, Wills 4-9 2-2 13, Smith 2-4 3-5 7, Giddens 2-5 0-0 4, Gary 0-0 0-1 0, Pegues 1-5 1-2 3, Prentice 0-1 1-2 1, Martinez 3-6 0-0 7, Toppert 4-6 1-2 11. Totals 20-45 8-17 54.

COLORADO (0-1) - Jackson-Wilson 0-0 3-4 3, Hall 4-12 2-2 11, Higgins 3-7 3-4 10, Silas 3-12 2-4 9, Roby 0-3 1-2 1, Thorne 1-2 0-0 2, Knutson 3-5 2-4 9, King-Stockton 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 15-44 13-20 47.

Halftime - New Mexico 30-19. Three-point attempts - New Mexico 6-12 (Wills 3-3, Toppert 2-4, Martinez 1-2, Giddens 0-1, Smith 0-1, Prentice 0-1), Colorado 4-19 (Knutson 1-3, Higgins 1-3, Silas 1-4, Hall 1-5, Thorne 0-1, Roby 0-3). Fouled out - Hall. Rebounds - New Mexico 34 (Toppert 9), Colorado 29 (Hall 6). Assists - New Mexico 13 (Prentice 4), Colorado 10 (Hall 4). Total fouls - New Mexico 21, Colorado 19. A - 8,372.