Higgins scores 18 in Colorado’s 78-71 victory over No. 22 Baylor
By APTuesday, January 12, 2010
Higgins Leads Colorado to upset of No. 22 Baylor
BOULDER, Colo. — Cory Higgins scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, and Colorado pulled away to upset No. 22 Baylor 78-71 on Tuesday night, ending a nine-game winless streak stretching back three years against ranked opponents.
Marcus Relphorde added 17 points and Alec Burks 16 for Colorado (10-6, 1-1 Big 12), which improved to 9-0 at home. The Buffaloes punctuated their best home start in 18 years with their first win over a ranked team since beating Oklahoma State 84-75 on Feb. 15, 2007. The Cowboys were ranked 18th then.
Baylor (13-2, 1-1 Big 12) saw its nine-game winning streak snapped. The Bears were led by LaceDarius Dunn’s 23 points in losing for just the fourth time in their last 24 games. Ekepe Udoh had 14 points, all in the second half, and Tweety Carter had 13.
Trailing by five at halftime, Colorado forged a 38-all tie with 15:07 remaining when Relphorde hit a baseline jumper off a feed from Higgins.
Dunn connected on a 3-pointer to give Baylor a 51-50 lead with 7:25 left. Colorado answered with a 9-0 run that Dwight Thorne II touched off with a baseline jumper.
Dunn’s three-point play pulled Baylor to within 59-54 with 5:04 remaining before Colorado edged away again when Relphorde made a 3-pointer to extend the Buffaloes’ advantage to 64-55 with 2:40 remaining.
The Bears pressed Colorado in the closing minutes but Higgins broke through the frenzied defense for a fastbreak layup and the Buffaloes made 12 of 18 free throws in the final minute and a half. That was more than enough to offset three late 3-pointers by the Bears.
Baylor, down by seven midway through the first half, leaned on Dunn’s outside shooting to get back in front 32-27 at the break.
Relphorde hit a 3-pointer to put Colorado up 21-14 with 8:01 to go in the opening session but Josh Lomers, who had 10 points, rebounded his missed shot and put it back in.
From there, Dunn went on a torrid streak, draining three consecutive 3-pointers. Flustered, Colorado’s Nate Tomlinson fouled Dunn when he drove the lane for a layup. The Baylor guard muscled the shot in and made the free throw that followed to account for 12 of Baylor’s points in the 14-3 surge that put Baylor in front, 28-24. It was the Bears’ first lead since the opening moments of the game.
