Ashby, Copeland, Freeman, Hall out of Missouri game
BOULDER - That plan of finishing the season with a flourish suddenly doesn't appear too promising for the University of Colorado men's basketball team.
On the heels of a puzzling and lackluster 15-point home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday, CU coach Ricardo Patton on Monday suspended four players - including two starters - for the Buffaloes' Big 12 Conference game at Missouri tonight (5 MST, Altitude).
In a statement released by the school's athletic media relations office, Patton said he suspended juniors Chris Copeland, Martane Freeman and Julius Ashby and sophomore Marcus Hall for violating the same undisclosed team rule.
Hall, who had given the Buffs a recent spark at point guard, and Ashby, the team's leading rebounder (6.1), are starters. Copeland is CU's second-leading scorer (12.6) and rebounder (6.0). Hall is averaging 11.9 points and a team-best 4.4 assists; Freeman, a reserve forward, averages 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds.
The four - believed to have violated curfew Friday night - will be reinstated for CU's game Saturday against Kansas State (2 p.m.) at the Coors Events Center.
Patton said he "learned Saturday evening that the four had violated team rules." The players did not travel with the team to Columbia, Mo. A source close to the school said the four had partied at Boulder until nearly 3 a.m. Saturday.
The Texas A&M game, pegged as critical because it opened a final stretch of five regular-season contests that appeared winnable and could boost CU's conference tournament seeding, tipped off at 2 p.m.
The lethargic Buffs trailed by 15 points at halftime, 23 early in the second half and ultimately became a dubious "streak-buster" for the Aggies, who ended a 20-game losing streak in conference road play.
Also, Texas A&M's 15-point victory margin was its largest in a Big 12 road game.
CU assistant coach Jason Shelton, subbing Monday for Patton on the Big 12 coaches teleconference, said "we didn't think the level of intensity was there" against Texas A&M. "And every second, (the Aggies) play hard."
Shelton also said he hoped the 92-77 loss would be "more of a lesson than a setback."
At 13-11 (4-8 conference), the Buffs have little hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament. And needing to finish above .500 for a National Invitation Tournament berth, losing three of their four final regular-season games and a first- round game at Kansas City, Mo., would snuff that postseason possibility.
Patton dismissed redshirt freshman Keith Smith from the team earlier this season for breaking an undisclosed team rule.
Notes: The four suspensions will cut into the Buffaloes' depth and probably will mean more minutes for freshman Marcus King-Stockton and junior Lamont Arrington . . . King-Stockton is averaging 9.6 minutes, Arrington 11 . . . Eddy has made five conference starts, McGee three . . . Missouri is coming off its first road win of the season, a 56-53 victory Saturday at Nebraska . . . Kleiza led the Tigers with 15 points, including two free throws with 35 seconds to play . . . Missouri has gone 12-4 at home this season . . . The Buffs might find hope in this statistic: They have fared no worse in league road play this season than at home. They have gone 2-4 at home and 2-4 on the road . . . CU defeated Missouri 64-62 on Jan. 26 at the Coors Events Center on Roby's three-pointer with 21 seconds to play . . . After that defeat, the Tigers lost their next four games before pulling out of the nosedive. They currently are on a three-game winning streak . . . The Buffs have not won at Columbia, Mo., since 1997 (87-78) and trail 49-11 in games played there . . . Missouri leads the series 88-52.
BOULDER - That plan of finishing the season with a flourish suddenly doesn't appear too promising for the University of Colorado men's basketball team.
On the heels of a puzzling and lackluster 15-point home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday, CU coach Ricardo Patton on Monday suspended four players - including two starters - for the Buffaloes' Big 12 Conference game at Missouri tonight (5 MST, Altitude).
In a statement released by the school's athletic media relations office, Patton said he suspended juniors Chris Copeland, Martane Freeman and Julius Ashby and sophomore Marcus Hall for violating the same undisclosed team rule.
Hall, who had given the Buffs a recent spark at point guard, and Ashby, the team's leading rebounder (6.1), are starters. Copeland is CU's second-leading scorer (12.6) and rebounder (6.0). Hall is averaging 11.9 points and a team-best 4.4 assists; Freeman, a reserve forward, averages 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds.
The four - believed to have violated curfew Friday night - will be reinstated for CU's game Saturday against Kansas State (2 p.m.) at the Coors Events Center.
Patton said he "learned Saturday evening that the four had violated team rules." The players did not travel with the team to Columbia, Mo. A source close to the school said the four had partied at Boulder until nearly 3 a.m. Saturday.
The Texas A&M game, pegged as critical because it opened a final stretch of five regular-season contests that appeared winnable and could boost CU's conference tournament seeding, tipped off at 2 p.m.
The lethargic Buffs trailed by 15 points at halftime, 23 early in the second half and ultimately became a dubious "streak-buster" for the Aggies, who ended a 20-game losing streak in conference road play.
Also, Texas A&M's 15-point victory margin was its largest in a Big 12 road game.
CU assistant coach Jason Shelton, subbing Monday for Patton on the Big 12 coaches teleconference, said "we didn't think the level of intensity was there" against Texas A&M. "And every second, (the Aggies) play hard."
Shelton also said he hoped the 92-77 loss would be "more of a lesson than a setback."
At 13-11 (4-8 conference), the Buffs have little hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament. And needing to finish above .500 for a National Invitation Tournament berth, losing three of their four final regular-season games and a first- round game at Kansas City, Mo., would snuff that postseason possibility.
Patton dismissed redshirt freshman Keith Smith from the team earlier this season for breaking an undisclosed team rule.
Notes: The four suspensions will cut into the Buffaloes' depth and probably will mean more minutes for freshman Marcus King-Stockton and junior Lamont Arrington . . . King-Stockton is averaging 9.6 minutes, Arrington 11 . . . Eddy has made five conference starts, McGee three . . . Missouri is coming off its first road win of the season, a 56-53 victory Saturday at Nebraska . . . Kleiza led the Tigers with 15 points, including two free throws with 35 seconds to play . . . Missouri has gone 12-4 at home this season . . . The Buffs might find hope in this statistic: They have fared no worse in league road play this season than at home. They have gone 2-4 at home and 2-4 on the road . . . CU defeated Missouri 64-62 on Jan. 26 at the Coors Events Center on Roby's three-pointer with 21 seconds to play . . . After that defeat, the Tigers lost their next four games before pulling out of the nosedive. They currently are on a three-game winning streak . . . The Buffs have not won at Columbia, Mo., since 1997 (87-78) and trail 49-11 in games played there . . . Missouri leads the series 88-52.
