Colorado star Alec Burks scores 36, helps hand No. 8 Missouri a second loss
Associated Press
BOULDER, Colo. -- The Colorado Buffaloes broke Missouri's press and also the Tigers' stranglehold on their one-sided series.
Super sophomore Alec Burks, from suburban Kansas City, scored a career-high 36 points and the Buffaloes upset Missouri 89-76 in their final Big 12 opener.
The Buffaloes (12-4, 1-0), who join the expanded Pac-12 next season, snapped a streak of 13 straight losses in conference openers with their first win over Missouri (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) in nearly five years.
"It shows that we're a different team from last year. It shows that we can play with anybody in the Big 12, anybody ranked," said Burks, whose previous career best was a 29-point effort at San Francisco on Nov. 20. "It's a statement game for us."
The Tigers (14-2, 0-1) had won nine straight overall and nine in a row against the Buffaloes, whose last win over a top-10 team came against third-ranked Texas in 2003.
"It feels great, but we expected to win this game," insisted senior point guard Cory Higgins, who scored 18 points and tied his career high with 10 boards. "We know when we play as a unit, we play together, we feel like we can beat anybody in the country. When we play defense together, we're hard beat. And especially on the offensive end, we have too many weapons out there. I mean, we felt like we were the better team."
Missouri Tigers vs. Colorado Buffaloes - Recap - January 08, 2011 - ESPN