National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Colorado 87, Kansas St. 75
When: 3:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 10, 2011
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Officials: # Terry Davis, # Gerry Pollard, # Kelly Self
Attendance: 18910

Colorado's Cory Higgins scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, and the Buffaloes beat Kansas State for the third time in three tries this season, winning 87-75 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday at Sprint Center.

After scoring 16 points in the first half, Colorado leading scorer Alec Burks cooled off after halftime, but Higgins picked up the slack. The senior guard scored 10 straight Colorado points during one stretch in the second half to keep the Buffaloes in it, and Colorado hit 10 of 11 free throws down the stretch to pull away.

Burks finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, and Andre Roberson came off the bench to post a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado, which shot 58 percent (29 of 50) and hit 6 of 9 from 3-point range.

The win likely locks up at least an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the Buffaloes (21-12), who advance to face top seed Kansas in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday.

Curtis Kelly had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jacob Pullen had 18 points and seven assists for the Wildcats (22-10). Will Spradling added 14 points off the bench for Kansas State, which had won six straight since a 58-56 loss at Colorado on Feb. 12.
Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   Kansas St.
Cory Higgins 28 Scoring Curtis Kelly 18
Alec Burks 5 Assists Jacob Pullen 7
Andre Roberson 14 Rebounds Curtis Kelly 10
Alec Burks 8 Free Throws Made Curtis Kelly 4
Alec Burks 2 Steals Curtis Kelly 2
Andre Roberson 3 Blocks Jordan Henriquez-Roberts 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Colorado 87 58.0 6-9 23-27 11 33 5 5
Kansas St. 75 42.4 7-23 12-16 16 27 5 9