LINCOLN, Neb. — Cory Higgins was on the court for 37 minutes.
Colorado`s all-time leader in free throws made did not go to the line.
In fact, the Buffs were only 7-for-9 from the stripe during Tuesday night`s 79-67 loss to Nebraska at the Devaney Center.
And no one in the visiting locker room was complaining about the whistles, or lack thereof. Credit Doc Sadler`s version of the Blackshirts for this one.
“Against these guys it`s hard to get to the rim. We knew we were going to have a little more of an outside game,” said CU shooting guard Levi Knutson, who was 5-for-11 from 3-point distance and 0-for-0 at the line in 28 minutes. “We didn`t want to shoot too many 3s, we wanted to get the ball moved and get into the mid-range area, which we needed more of. But we knew they were going to pack it in.”
CU finished the game 12-for-30 (40 percent) from behind the arc. The visitors used six 3-pointers in the first half to turn a 10-point deficit into a 26-23 lead.
But the Buffs` bread and butter — driving into the paint and either scoring or getting fouled — was taken away by the Cornhuskers. Obviously, Sadler watched the film of CU`s 75-71 win over Oklahoma State. The Buffs were 34-for-39 at the line against the Cowboys (Higgins was 10-for-10).
“I can`t even imagine it,” Sadler said of his team limiting CU to nine free-throw attempts. “They probably shouldn`t have shot nine because we had a couple bad fouls late. That`s the difference.”
The nine free throws were a season-low for CU and the 12 made 3-pointers were a season-high.
“I thought we shot it well enough,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “When you rely on the three-ball it worries you as a coach, and we don`t want to rely on it as much as we did tonight.”
Boyle honored
Boyle was named National Coach of the Week by The Hoops Report in its weekly awards for the week of January 10-16.
The Buffs opened Big 12 play with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents (Missouri and Kansas State) for the first time ever and a 75-71 victory over Oklahoma State in front of a sellout crowd at the Coors Events Center.
Boyle became the first CU head coach since Henry Iba (1933-34) to win his first three conference games.
Bracketology snub
Despite nearly cracking the Associated Press top-25 poll this week (30th in voting), CU did not make the projected NCAA Tournament at espn.com.
Joe Lunardi, the “Bracketology” guru, has the Buffs as one of the “first four out” of the field. Remember, the NCAA Tournament has expanded to 68 teams.
Bracketology projected Kansas as a No. 1 seed facing No. 16 Northern Colorado — Boyle`s old team — in the Southwest.
Burks watch
NBAdraft.net had a little more love for Alec Burks on Tuesday, projecting the CU sophomore as the No. 7 pick to Detroit in the 2011 draft.
A scout from the Pistons made his way to snowy Lincoln for the game to see Burks play live. The 6-6 sophomore guard finished with 22 points and eight rebounds.
Series update
Nebraska leads the all-time series 76-71, including a 52-14 edge in Lincoln.
The Buffs snapped a 36-game Big 12 road losing streak with an 81-68 win at the Devaney Center on March 2. Casey Crawford scored 20 points in that game with six 3-pointers.
The Huskers have a 17-13 edge in Big 12 games.
CU and Nebraska will meet for the final time as conference rivals in the regular-season finale on March 5 at the Coors Events Center.
Notable
Higgins moved into second place on the CU all-time list in career minutes passing Richard Roby (3,805, 2004-08). Higgins has logged 3,840 career minutes. … The Buffs are 3-7 all-time on ESPN2. They last appeared on the Deuce during the Maui Invitational last season (2-1). … A snowstorm in Lincoln spoiled any chance Nebraska had of drawing a sellout crowd. A total of 8,477 tickets were distributed and 7,489 made it through the turnstiles at the Devaney Center.
