University of Missouri
Colorado
Missouri Falls To Colorado, 64-62
1/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2005
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Freshman Richard Roby made the biggest shot of his young career Wednesday night, sinking a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to lift Colorado to a 64-62 win over Missouri.
Roby, the half-brother of Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin, dribbled a couple times, took a step inside the 3-point line to create room between himself and the defender, then stepped back behind the line and swished the game-winner.
Seconds later, Jason Horton of Missouri (10-9, 2-4 Big 12) had a good look at a 3-pointer that would have given the Tigers the lead, but he missed and Mizzou remained winless (0-6) away from home this season.
Marcus Hall of Colorado (10-7, 2-4) rebounded Horton's miss and fed to Jayson Obazuaye, who was fouled and missed two free throws with 1.3 seconds left. But the Buffs rebounded the miss to seal their second straight conference win after four losses to begin the Big 12 season.
Roby led the Buffaloes with 15 points while Chris Copeland had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Jason Conley led Mizzou with 16 points. Teammate Linas Kleiza had 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting from the floor, a far cry from his 8-for-12, 31-point effort last weekend in a win over Nebraska.
This game had all the trappings of a meeting between two struggling teams desperate to stay out of the cellar in the Big 12. Neither shot particularly well or got into any kind of rhythm and nobody took a lead of more than seven points.
But while the first 39 minutes were lackluster, the last 60 seconds made for good drama.
Leading 62-61 with about a minute left, Missouri's Thomas Gardner missed a shot but hustled back on defense and made a steal to get the ball back for the Tigers. He fed to Jimmy McKinney, but McKinney shot an airball.
Colorado got the rebound to set the stage for Roby, a 6-foot-6 guard out of San Bernardino, Calif., who chose Colorado over UCLA and a number of other high-profile programs.
He has shown flashes of how good he can be throughout this season, averaging 14 points and five rebounds a game. This, however, was his biggest moment, and as he walked off the court, teammate Andy Osborn acknowledged it - draping his arm over the freshman's head and saying, `That's what I'm talking about!' as the team went to the locker room.
