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Buffaloes glad to have Tomlinson back tonight

By B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 9, 2008 at 4:26 p.m.

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Jeff Bzdelik is reluctant to attach undue importance to a particular game or to any single player's presence in his University of Colorado basketball team's lineup.

But Bzdelik won't deny this: He's glad to have freshman point guard Nate Tomlinson back for the Buffaloes' game tonight against in-state rival Colorado State (8 p.m., Coors Events Center, FSN Rocky Mountain).

Tomlinson is "our quarterback . . . ." Bzdelik said. "I think people got a glimpse of what Nate could do against Stanford, even though he was on one leg."

In CU's 76-62 loss at Stanford on Nov. 29, Tomlinson scored a career-best 18 points and contributed three assists and three rebounds. A game later, against Texas Christian at the Events Center, he was held out because of what CU's medical staff feared was a stress fracture in his right foot.

Further tests, though, revealed a sprain, and after a recuperative period with his foot in a protective boot, Tomlinson is scheduled to start tonight.

His teammates hope his return can help shake the Buffs out of whatever funk enveloped them in a 62-46 loss against the Horned Frogs in which CU recorded no first-half assists and 13 early turnovers.

"It's going to be great (having Tomlinson back)," sophomore off-guard Cory Higgins said. "He sees the court so well. . . . I knew (his absence) would have an impact because me and Dwight (Thorne II) are more off-the-ball scorers. We need a guy like Nate to get the ball to us."

Tomlinson, who leads CU in assists (18) and averages 9.6 points, said he's "somewhere around 80 percent" of being whole: "I'll feel good at the start of practice or the start of a game, then towards the back end (the foot) begins to bother me."

Watching the meltdown against TCU, Tomlinson said he became "miserable and angry at myself." Bzdelik seconded those emotions but didn't blame Tomlinson for his injury.

"It's not because we lost the game, it was because of our lack of toughness and execution," Bzdelik said.

"We just kind of fell apart in all areas. We didn't take a charge against a team that was driving the ball."