Chris Copeland is a psychology major, but his chosen field of study hasn't given him any insight into his team's slow starts this season on the basketball court, particularly those on the road.
Copeland returns today to his childhood home in Richmond, Va., where the Colorado Buffaloes meet the Richmond Spiders in the final game prior to the beginning of the Big 12 Conference schedule (4 p.m. tipoff MST).
Copeland attended Hermitage High School in Richmond, where he led his team to the Colonial District Championship during his junior and senior seasons. He chose Colorado over Richmond in the recruiting process and expects about 25 family members and friends in the stands at the Robins Center.
Copeland, a 6-foot-8 junior, is coming off the best scoring night of his career against Utah on Thursday, when he tallied 17 points and made seven field goals. He has averaged 16 points in the past three games and is beginning to look like the leader of a team in need of one.
The 80-48 loss to the Utes was the worst outcome in three years for Colorado, which hadn't lost a game by more than 30 points since the end of the 2001-02 season.
The Buffs fell behind early, scoring just 21 points in the first half. It was the fourth time this season coach Ricardo Patton's team has found itself in comeback mode on the road. But it was the first time CU never managed a serious run.
Copeland has no idea why he and his teammates have been consistently flat at game time on the road this season. It happened at Michigan, Oregon State, California and Utah. Since today is more like a homecoming for Copeland than a road game, he's hoping the trend will end.
"It's a good question, and obviously if I had the answer, we wouldn't have had those problems," Copeland said of the Buffs' slow starts. "That's just something we've got to find a way to do."
Colorado (7-3) also has to find a way to compete for points in the paint and rebounds on both ends of the floor. The Buffs are playing without forward Julius Ashby for the fourth consecutive game tonight and don't expect their leading rebounder and shot blocker back anytime soon.
Ashby suffered a torn ligament in his foot two weeks ago and is expected to miss most of the remainder of the season. Without his physical presence in the lineup against Utah, 7-foot forward Andrew Bogut had his way with the rest of the Buffs, including Copeland.
"We just have to step up and find other ways to get it done," Copeland said. "We were deep enough to bang with Utah. We just didn't execute."
Patton is asking Copeland to fill Ashby's shoes on both ends of the floor. Copeland never has been considered a strong inside presence on either end of the court, but he probably needs to develop into one quickly on the defensive side if the Buffs are going to be competitive today and in the conference.
CU faces another 7-footer in Spiders center Kevin Steenberge, who is averaging more than 13 points a game. Part of stopping Steenberge requires significant improvement in rebounding today compared with Thursday, when no member of the CU team grabbed more than four.
"I have to be more of an inside presence," Copeland said.
Richmond (5-5) has played a solid schedule this season against teams such as Arizona, Butler and Seton Hall.
Copeland returns today to his childhood home in Richmond, Va., where the Colorado Buffaloes meet the Richmond Spiders in the final game prior to the beginning of the Big 12 Conference schedule (4 p.m. tipoff MST).
Copeland attended Hermitage High School in Richmond, where he led his team to the Colonial District Championship during his junior and senior seasons. He chose Colorado over Richmond in the recruiting process and expects about 25 family members and friends in the stands at the Robins Center.
Copeland, a 6-foot-8 junior, is coming off the best scoring night of his career against Utah on Thursday, when he tallied 17 points and made seven field goals. He has averaged 16 points in the past three games and is beginning to look like the leader of a team in need of one.
The 80-48 loss to the Utes was the worst outcome in three years for Colorado, which hadn't lost a game by more than 30 points since the end of the 2001-02 season.
The Buffs fell behind early, scoring just 21 points in the first half. It was the fourth time this season coach Ricardo Patton's team has found itself in comeback mode on the road. But it was the first time CU never managed a serious run.
Copeland has no idea why he and his teammates have been consistently flat at game time on the road this season. It happened at Michigan, Oregon State, California and Utah. Since today is more like a homecoming for Copeland than a road game, he's hoping the trend will end.
"It's a good question, and obviously if I had the answer, we wouldn't have had those problems," Copeland said of the Buffs' slow starts. "That's just something we've got to find a way to do."
Colorado (7-3) also has to find a way to compete for points in the paint and rebounds on both ends of the floor. The Buffs are playing without forward Julius Ashby for the fourth consecutive game tonight and don't expect their leading rebounder and shot blocker back anytime soon.
Ashby suffered a torn ligament in his foot two weeks ago and is expected to miss most of the remainder of the season. Without his physical presence in the lineup against Utah, 7-foot forward Andrew Bogut had his way with the rest of the Buffs, including Copeland.
"We just have to step up and find other ways to get it done," Copeland said. "We were deep enough to bang with Utah. We just didn't execute."
Patton is asking Copeland to fill Ashby's shoes on both ends of the floor. Copeland never has been considered a strong inside presence on either end of the court, but he probably needs to develop into one quickly on the defensive side if the Buffs are going to be competitive today and in the conference.
CU faces another 7-footer in Spiders center Kevin Steenberge, who is averaging more than 13 points a game. Part of stopping Steenberge requires significant improvement in rebounding today compared with Thursday, when no member of the CU team grabbed more than four.
"I have to be more of an inside presence," Copeland said.
Richmond (5-5) has played a solid schedule this season against teams such as Arizona, Butler and Seton Hall.
