BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — No. 6 Kansas built a big lead with 3-pointers, then won it at the free throw line, scoring their last nine points from there to hold off Colorado 82-78 on Tuesday night.
Freshman Josh Selby led Kansas’ balanced scoring with 17 points as the Jayhawks (19-1, 4-1 Big 12) bounced back from their first home loss since 2007 to beat the Buffaloes for the 16th straight time.
Alec Burks led Colorado (14-7, 3-3) with 25 points but it wasn’t enough to extend the Buffs’ 14-game home winning streak.
Burks’ two free throws with 31 seconds left pulled the Buffs to 78-76, the closest they had been in the second half. Before the inbounds, Tyrel Reed was fouled and made both free throws.
Cory Higgins drove to the hoop to make it 80-78 with 24 seconds left, but Marcus Morris hit two free throws and the Buffaloes couldn’t find the basket after that.
The Jayhawks were without sophomore sixth-man Thomas Robinson, who flew to Washington, D.C., to care for his 9-year-old sister following the death of their mother last weekend. Lisa Robinson, 37, died Friday of an apparent heart attack.
The Jayhawks will join their teammate on Wednesday as the team will fly to Washington for her funeral on Thursday.
Kansas, which saw the nation’s-best 69-game homecourt winning streak end last weekend with a loss to Texas at Allen Fieldhouse, hit seven 3-pointers in taking a 43-39 halftime lead. The Jayhawks finished with 10 3s, four by Brady Morningstar and three by Selby.
The Jayhawks led 69-59 with 6 minutes left before Colorado chipped its way back but Kansas made 9 of 10 free throws over the final 3 minutes.
Morris scored 15 points and Reed and Morningstar each had 14 for Kansas, which hasn’t lost consecutive games in five years.
The Jayhawks are 29-1 against Colorado in Big 12 play with the loss 60-59 at Boulder on Jan. 22, 2003. They are 120-39 against Colorado overall and have beaten the Buffs 43 times in 44 games since 1991.
The only member of the basketball staff who will not attend the services for Lisa Robinson will be video coordinator Kyle Keller. He will take part in observances in Stillwater, Okla., marking the 10th anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of 10 members of the Oklahoma State basketball program.
Keller was on the Oklahoma State staff at the time and would have been on the plane that crashed if then-coach Eddie Sutton hadn’t asked him to take another flight.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
TUESDAY
At Boulder, Colo.
No. 6 Kansas 82, Colorado 78
KANSAS (19-1)
Marc. Morris 5-6 5-6 15, Mark. Morris 3-6 0-0 6, Taylor 2-4 4-4 9, Reed 4-11 4-6 14, Selby 7-14 0-0 17, Withey 1-2 1-2 3, Morningstar 5-9 0-0 14, Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Little 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-57 14-18 82.
COLORADO (14-7)
Dufault 0-1 0-0 0, Tomlinson 3-6 0-0 8, Relphorde 5-13 2-2 15, Burks 7-14 10-11 25, Higgins 8-15 2-2 19, Sharpe 0-0 1-2 1, Roberson 1-3 0-0 2, Knutson 3-4 0-0 8, Eckloff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 15-17 78.
Halftime—Kansas 43-39. Three-point goals—Kansas 10-24 (Morningstar 4-7, Selby 3-6, Reed 2-8, Taylor 1-1, Johnson 0-2), Colorado 9-13 (Relphorde 3-4, Knutson 2-3, Tomlinson 2-3, Higgins 1-1, Burks 1-2). Rebounds—Kansas 37 (Mark. Morris 11), Colorado 23 (Burks 6). Assists—Kansas 19 (Selby 5), Colorado 14 (Dufault, Relphorde, Tomlinson 3). Total Fouls—Kansas 19, Colorado 17. A—11,203.
