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After Colorado State head coach Dale Layer's ejection from a game against Colorado earlier this year, senior guard Blair Wilson stepped to the free throw line to pad the Buffs' lead. Wilson, an 81 percent career free throw shooter, missed both.
Nothing could better sum up the Buffs' performance from the line this year, which has been bad and worse. And while coaches often recite an attitude-over-stat mantra, in this case the numbers don't lie.
Off to their best
start since 1989-90, Colorado (6-1) has shot 58.3 percent as a team from the
line, down nearly 10 percent from a year ago. To put that number into perspective,
since the school began keeping stats in 1949-50, no team has finished the season
under 61 percent from the charity stripe. Under coach Ricardo Patton, the Buffs
have never shot below 67 percent as a team.
"It's always a concern. We have to keep working on it and get the right
guys at the line," said Patton of his team's free throw woes.
Why the sudden troubles from the line? Not to pin the blame on one man, but in this case the Buffs' most dominant player, David Harrison, must shoulder much of the blame despite a breakout year.
Battling through double and triple teams, the Nashville, Tenn., native leads the team in scoring (18.7 points per game) and rebounding (9.7 rebounds per game) coming into Tuesday's home game against Utah.
If Harrison's success from the field was within an earshot of his numbers from the line, the Buffs would have their free throw troubles all but solved. The 7-foot center has shot nearly 68 percent from the field (50-for-74) but only 48 percent from the line (31-for-65), down from 56 percent his first two seasons. In comparison, senior Michel Morandais (16.7 ppg), shooting 84 percent from the line, has made nearly as many free throws (27) in half of the attempts (32).
To his credit, Harrison has been quick to accept the blame. After Wilson was asked to address the team's 59 percent shooting (16-for-27) against Oregon State, Harrison was quick to point out that he had missed the majority of the free throws (8-for-17) in the home opener.
As they often do, free throws may make the difference for the Buffs in close games, especially in the tough Big 12 Conference.
"It is going to take a much better effort to beat Utah. I know they have some big guys and can be really physical," said Harrison after a 71-44 win over Tennessee State Friday, in which the Buffs went 10-for-23 from the line. "I have seen them on film and they looked impressive. It will be a very good test for this team."
If the recent past is any indication, Harrison and the Buffs should hope this contest doesn't come to down to free throws.