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Colorado at Texas

'Horns baffle Buffs, now 15-0 for first time since 1932-33
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AUSTIN, Texas -- Others already had a glimpse of what Texas freshman Avery Bradley can do. It's time Big 12 teams see him for themselves.

Bradley scored 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in his Big 12 debut, leading No. 2 Texas to a 103-86 win over Colorado on Saturday.

"What can I say? He was terrific," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "Avery's explosive. He's quick. He's as fast any anybody we've had in a long time."

One of the top recruits in the country, Bradley has been rounding his game into the complete package over the first 15 games. Before Saturday, his season high was a 20-point effort in a win over North Carolina.

"You see the stats," Texas senior forward Damion James said. "He's unbelievable. He's just got to keep it going."

James had 20 points and 14 rebounds as Texas improved to 15-0 for the first time since the 1932-33 season.

For Colorado, it was just another afternoon of road woes. The Buffaloes (9-6, 0-1) dropped their 22nd consecutive road game overall and their 30th in the Big 12.

Marcus Relphorde scored 24 points for the Buffaloes, but he also was one of four Colorado players to foul out in a four-minute stretch of the second half as Texas put the game away.

Offensively, Colorado looked early like a team determined to end its run of road futility. The Buffaloes made 12 of their first 17 shots, but even with that kind of shooting, couldn't keep Texas from building a big lead.

Both teams shot better than 50 percent for the game. Texas scored 39 points off turnovers and second-chance shots.

Bradley was 8 of 9 from the field in the first half. His 3-pointer put Texas up 35-28 and started a 17-4 Texas run helped by three consecutive missed 3-pointers by Colorado.

Bradley found just about any shot he wanted, whether it was from long range, midrange or between two defenders in the lane. Bradley closed the half with a twisting reverse layup at the buzzer to give Texas a 57-42 halftime lead.

"My teammates trusted me. They saw I was making shots and wanted to get me the ball," Bradley said.

Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said the problem was trying to guard Bradley while also trying to stop James and Dexter Pittman near the basket.

The Buffaloes stopped Pittman -- he was in foul trouble the entire game and finished with just four points -- but the others Longhorns took over the game.

"We didn't disrespect Avery by leaving him open, we just couldn't get to him in time because we were helping out in the paint," Bzdelik said. "They have just so many weapons."

Colorado shaved the lead early in the second and kept it close for a while. Bradley fouled Alec Burks on a dunk and the 3-point play made it 59-50. But Bradley also kept making the baskets that held off the Buffaloes.

Bradley's 3-pointer from the corner and another jumper from the left wing kept Texas rolling until Colorado started running into serious foul trouble. Austin Dufault, Shane Harris-Tunks, Trey Eckloff and Relphorde all fouled out within four minutes.

"It made it tough," Relphorde said. "They were a real physical team. We tried to match it."

Texas led by 11 when the exodus started and kept pushing the lead with every departure. Soon after Relphorde was gone, Texas built the lead to 97-77 with just under four minutes to play.

Bradley's third 3-pointer pushed Texas to the 100-point mark for the fourth time this season.

Texas had its own foul trouble that helped keep Colorado, the best free-throw shooting team in the league, in the game. Colorado went 20 of 26 from the line.

"It's a good thing we were scoring today," Barnes said.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
 
 
Colorado can't measure up to Avery Bradley, who scores 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting. (US Presswire)
Colorado can't measure up to Avery Bradley, who scores 29 points on 12-of-14 shooting. (US Presswire)

 
Scoreboard
Colorado (9-6)424486
Texas #2 (15-0) «5746103
CO:Marcus Relphorde 24 Pts
CO:Alec Burks 6 Reb
CO:Nate Tomlinson 6 Ast
TX:Avery Bradley 29 Pts
TX:Damion James 14 Reb
TX:Dogus Balbay 5 Ast
 

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PLAYERS OF THE GAME
TexasColorado
TX
Avery Bradley
CO
Marcus Relphorde
PtsRebsAstPtsRebsAst
29932450
Colorado Buffaloes
C. Higgins, G336-103-422115
A. Burks, G318-165-660321
M. Relphorde, F278-135-550524
N. Tomlinson, G232-42-31637
S. Harris-Tunks, F-C131-20-00052
D. Thorne II, G242-33-41308
K. Hornbuckle, F120-10-00100
C. Crawford, F102-41-23026
T. Eckloff, F101-10-00052
A. Dufault, F90-21-20151
L. Knutson, G80-00-00000
T. Beckley, FDid Not Play
J. Coney, GDid Not Play
R. Higgins, GDid Not Play
S. Sharpe, GDid Not Play
Totals 30-5620-2618132986
 53.6%76.9% 
Texas Longhorns
A. Bradley, G3612-142-393229
D. James, G-F289-161-5140520
D. Balbay, G161-21-12533
D. Pittman, C122-40-01034
J. Mason, G100-10-02310
J. Hamilton, G-F293-95-651412
G. Johnson, F285-76-930216
J. Brown, G152-72-21537
J. Lucas, G142-42-20106
A. Wangmene, F-C101-24-62016
M. Hill, F-C20-10-00000
C. Chapman, F-CDid Not Play
A. Dick, GDid Not Play
D. Melchionni, GDid Not Play
S. Williams, G-FDid Not Play
V. Ward, GDid Not Play
Totals 37-6723-34391824103
 55.2%67.6% 
Big 12
TeamConf. W-LTot. W-L
Kansas16-232-7
Missouri14-430-5
Baylor12-630-8
Iowa St.12-623-11
Kansas St.10-822-11
Texas9-920-14
Oklahoma St.7-1115-18
Oklahoma5-1315-16
Texas A&M4-1414-18
Texas Tech1-178-23
 
Other games
UConn 69 Final
GTOWN 72
Miss St 80 Final
Ole Miss 75
Purdue 66 Final
Wisc 73
MARQET 76 Final
NOVA 78
DUKE 67 Final
GATECH 71
K-State 68 Final
Missouri 74
Georgia 68 Final
Kentucky 76
UNLV 74 Final
N Mexico 62
Mich St 71 Final
Iowa 53
W Virg 68 Final
ND 70
TXTECH 52 Final
Okla St 81
BYU 83 Final
UTEP 77
GONZAG 81 Final
PORT 78