Game Day Buff Bites - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Iowa State Cyclones

The Colorado Buffaloes' basketball team got the weekend started on the right foot, beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff 88 - 72 behind Cory Higgins 26 points. Higgins continues to show that he is one of the best players in the Big 12 conference. He may have a little more fire power around him this year to get the Buffs out of the bottom of the Big 12. Good win last night for the Buffs basketball program in front of a good sized crowd considering the opponent. Links for the basketball game are after the jump...

Now it's time for football. Today is a big one against Iowa State as once again Colorado will try to end the dubious road losing streak. Dan Hawkins needs to get his team mentally ready to play today...no excuses after this one coach about being on the road and playing with young football players. Get the problems fixed and get the ship righted. Stay tuned for the five big questions for the game today.

Woelk: Only goal today should be improvement - Boulder Daily Camera

Of all things perplexing and puzzling in the Dan Hawkins era at Colorado, the most frustrating to fans might be that Hawk`s teams have never displayed a strong sense of improvement down the stretch. If the old maxim "the games they remember are played in November" is true, then the Buffs have been mostly forgettable in recent years. Prior to this season, the Buffs were 3-7 in the month to remember under Hawkins, with one win coming in each of his first three seasons. During that period, CU`s stretch runs have consisted more of stumbles than surges.

Win against Iowa State key for Colorado recruiting | INDenverTimes

Breaking the perception that CU can’t win on the road is paramount to keeping this momentum on the recruiting front. Although the game against the Cyclones won’t be televised, verbal commitments and prospects will be paying attention to the outcome.

Buffs’ offense still seeking its identity - The Longmont Times-Call

"It’s been a struggle, I’m not going to lie," Kiesau said. "I did want people to know that when they came to a football game, they would know exactly what to expect. I would say it changed a little bit. "What I wanted to do was come in and establish the run game. That’s very hard, especially early in the season when we were down by a lot of points and we had to throw the ball and get that going. That was tough to do. If you’re down by 30, you can’t be running the ball every down."

Key matchup: CU run defense vs. Iowa State run offense: The Buffs should relish a matchup against an opponent that’s set on running the ball.

Prediction: Statistics aren’t as important as CU’s road mentality. Based on CU’s past 10 road trips — all losses — it’s impossible to pick the Buffs here.

Iowa State 28, CU 20.

Buffaloes need to avoid sack stampede - The Denver Post

Today's host, Iowa State, uses an undersized defensive front and ranks last among Big 12 teams in sacks (12 in 10 games). But taking nothing for granted, Colorado coaches allocated additional practice time to pass protection this week.

Buffs head to eye of Cyclones - Boulder Daily Camera

CU needs strong effort from Stewart to end road woes

Armstrong: Pointless rumor in Boulder - The Denver Post

From the e-mail bag: "There has been some Internet chat about Tommy Tuberville sightings in Boulder. Any truth there?"

Week 11: Colorado Preview - Clone Chronicles

CU Buffs boast balanced attack against Arkansas-Pine Bluff - Boulder Daily Camera

Five different Buffs scored in double figures. And Marcus Relphorde wasn`t one of them. That`s a good sign for Colorado, which is expecting the versatile point-forward to have a major impact in Big 12 play, after getting a 88-72 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday night at the Coors Events Center anyway. The balanced Buffs should be even more dangerous if Relphorde can stay out of foul trouble. The 6-7 transfer was whistled for three personals in the first half and picked up his fourth with 15:52 remaining. He scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in only 18 minutes of action. "I just came out too hyper and caught some early fouls," Relphorde said. "It`s kind of hard to get adjusted, but I am just glad I have the first game out of the way and I`m looking forward to the next one. We played hard and I`m glad we got the win."

Buffs roll to victory in men's basketball opener - Boulder Daily Camera

The Buffs responded by shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the first half to take a commanding 43-22 lead into the locker room at the intermission. Seven different CU players scored in the first 20 minutes, led by Higgins with nine points.

Higgins Leads Buffs to Victory in Opener - CUBuffs.com

Freshman Alec Burks started his first game of his collegiate career with 13 points along with three assists. Sophomore Nate Tomlinson came off the bench to lead the Buffs with seven assists and six rebounds. Both tied career-highs.

Colorado, Arkansas-Pine Bluff Notes - CUBuffs.com

Colorado had five players score in double digits tonight Cory Higgins [26] led the way followed by, Alec Burks [13], Casey Crawford [10], Dwight Thorne II [10], and Austin Dufault [10]. This is the first time that CU has had five players score in double digits since January 5, 2009 at SMU.

Relphorde here to stay - The Longmont Times-Call

"The biggest draw was my relationship with coach Bzdelik," Relphorde said. "But I also liked the people they had coming back. I felt like if they added a couple more pieces and if we could all get on the same page, we could make some noise in the conference."