Coach Jeff Bzdelik to Miss the Maui Invitational

The Colorado Buffaloes basketball team will be without their head coach for a second game this season. Jeff Bzdelik has left Hawaii where the Buffs are scheduled to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Monday 1:30 pm MT in the Maui Invitational. Bzdelik missed the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game, the season opener, to attend to a medical emergency with his daughter, a freshman at Wake Forest. Here is the press release from cubuffs.com as Bzdelik has flown to Chicago to be with his mother who has fallen ill:

University of Colorado head men's basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik will miss the EA Sports Maui Invitational after receiving news Sunday that his mother has fallen ill. Bzdelik left Maui Sunday afternoon for a flight to Chicago.

Associate Head Coach Steve McClain will coach the Buffaloes in Bzdelik's absence for the next three days that begins with CU's first round game against Gonzaga, Monday, 1 p.m. (MST) at the Lahaina Civic Center. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

McClain, the former University of Wyoming head coach from 1998-2007, brings over 27 years of coaching experience to the CU bench.

McClain is the second winningest coach in Cowboys' history with 157 career victories and posted one of the best home court records with a 102-26 (.790) mark. McClain averaged 18 victories in nine years at Wyoming with three NIT berths and one NCAA Tournament appearance.

CU is 3 - 0 this year after defeating Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Coppin State and Texas Southern. The Gonzaga Bulldogs will give the Buffs their best barometer test in the early part of the season.