Horns race by defenseless Buffs, Pokes win

Texas got a game from Colorado for a half but turned on the jets in the second 20 minutes, routing the Buffs, 102-78, behind an All-American, ESPN-highlight, NBA draft-begging performance by Longhorns' super freshman Kevin Durant.

The tall, hungry-looking forward feasted on CU all game long and finished with 37 points and 16 rebounds. Durant thought he was ballin' on the playground until someone asked him for a postgame interview and he was notified he was put into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Longhorns encountered no defense, just spending the day in a shooting drill, hitting 51 percent of its' shots from the foor, 52 percent from 3-point range, and for good measure, bullied the Buffs on the boards (46-24).

Fellow freshmen D. J. Augustin (15 points, nine assists) and Damion James (15 points, nine rebounds) followed Durant's lead while sophomore A. J. Abrams also scored 15.

CU was schorching hot offensively but faded in the second half while its' opponent kicked it into overdrive. The Buffs were the hare in this story and Texas simply kept punchin' and wore the Black and Gold out.

Richard Roby (pictured) did what was needed of him on offense, piling up 30 points, freshman Xavier Silas worked hard (17 points) and Dominque Coleman also laid it out (12 points, seven rebounds and six assists) but Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, Marcus King-Stockton and Kal Bay all disappeared, totaling 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 52 minutes.

The Black and Gold Truth: No need to get worked up as this was to be expected. Texas is loaded with talent, explosive offensively and Durant is the most talented player ever at UT, as a true freshman. Augustin might be a future All American and Abrams and James are real players, too.

Roby looked like the Roby of old, Silas wanted to show well against his home state and did and Coleman showed what he is capable of, but rarely delivers.

The only thing to knock the Buffs on is the extremely poor defensive effort. As has been the case this season, it reeked of laziness and acceptance of it all, too. No highly successful coach would allow a team to be so poor on that end of the court. Allowing a school to come into your arena and get as comfortable as the Longhorns did and to get whipped on the boards is disgraceful.

The good news is not all teams are as potent as UT.

The bad news is the Longhorns aren't the only Big 12 school with players with the ability to shame CU.

Eleventh-ranked Texas A & M struggled but won at home over Kansas State, 69-65, as its' best two players did their jobs. Acie Law scored 18 and Joseph Jones added 17. Akeem Wright went for 18 for the Wildcats.

BGT: Cartier Martin and David Hoskins, two legitimate scoring threats for K-State, combined for 17 points. Freshman Bill Walker didn't play. That the Cats were even in this game is a testimony to how hard they competed. This game was typical Aggies and the type it will have to win to have a chance to compete for the Big-12 crown.

No. 12 Oklahoma State had to work to beat Baylor, 81-77, and work forward Mario Boggan did, pouring in 26 points and yanking down 13 rebounds. JamesOn Curry added 20 more from the backcourt in the victory. Kevin Rogers had 18 for the Bears.

BGT: The Cowboys aren't deep but Boggan is a monster and with Curry makes for a tough, inside-outside, one-two punch. OSU just looks real strong right now. Coach Sean Sutton has that train a rollin'.

Superb freshman Wesley Johnson tipped in a miss with 1.4 seconds remaining to give Iowa State a 66-65 win at Missouri, helping the Cyclones come back from 16 points down in the second half.

BGT: Johnson is becoming higher profile with each passing week. He scores, he rebounds despite an undeveloped body and just has the look of an amazing player down the line. Against the Tigers, he recorded his eighth double-double of the season (14 points, 13 rebounds). Marshall Brown scored 19 for Missouri and Stefhon Hannah added 17.

Oklahoma, hardly road tested with but one trip this season, went to Lubbock, looked lost and couldn't shoot straight, falling to Texas Tech, 68-54, converting on but 35 percent of its' shots from the floor.

Martin Zeno and Jarrius Jackson, the top two players for the Red Raiders, combined for 31 points, even if they did it on 8 of 21 shooting.

Guard Bobby Maze and forward Nate Carter, both of whom rarely figure into the Sooners' success, were the team's leading scorers with 17 and 13 points, respectively. Center Longar Longar, the team's leading scorer, was no factor with two points and freshman guard Tony Crocker, who has been playing well, hit two 3-pointers but was held to eight points.

BGT: Zeno and Jackson did enough to lead Bob Knight's team to victory. They didn't dominate as they are capable of but they didn't have to after putting the screws to OU's offense. The Sooners are no pushover but their talent level is down this season. Texas Tech is a team you have to ready for but don't expect them to go far in the postseason.

Nebraska beat a solid Western Kentucky team, 82-71, in Lincoln by shooting 62 percent from the floor. Sophomore guard Jamel White busted out for 23 points for the Cornhuskers and Alexs Maric and Charles Richardson, Jr. scored 16 points each in the victory.

BGT: Nebraska will have to defend better to make any sort of noise in conference play but for now, everyone has to be giddy in Big Red country as the Huskers are young and winning.