2002–03 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Colorado Buffaloes Men's basketball team represented the University of Colorado as a member of the Big 12 Conference during the 2002–03 season. Led by 7th-year head coach Ricardo Patton, the Buffaloes played their home games at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colorado. After finishing 4th in the conference regular season standings, Colorado reached the semifinal round of the Big 12 tournament. The team did receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 10 seed in the South region – the program's first NCAA tournament selection in six seasons. Colorado would lose to Michigan State in the opening round to finish the season with a 20–12 record (9–7 Big 12).

2002–03 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	20–12 (9–7 Big 12)
Head coach	Ricardo Patton (7th season)
Home arena	Coors Events Center
Seasons ← 2001–02 2003–04 →

2002–03 Big 12 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 6 Kansas	14	–	2		.875			30	–	8		.789
No. 5 Texas	13	–	3		.813			26	–	7		.788
No. 3 Oklahoma †	12	–	4		.750			27	–	7		.794
Oklahoma State	10	–	6		.625			22	–	10		.688
No. 24 Missouri	9	–	7		.563			22	–	11		.667
Colorado	9	–	7		.563			20	–	12		.625
Texas Tech	6	–	10		.375			22	–	13		.629
Texas A&M	6	–	10		.375			14	–	14		.500
Iowa State	5	–	11		.313			17	–	14		.548
Baylor	5	–	11		.313			14	–	14		.500
Kansas State	4	–	12		.250			13	–	17		.433
Nebraska	3	–	13		.188			11	–	19		.367
† 2003 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

Roster

2002–03 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 13 David Harrison 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 280 lb (127 kg) So   Brentwood, Tennessee F 15 Chris Copeland 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr   Richmond, Virginia G 30 Michel Morandais 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Life Center Academy	Head coach Ricardo Patton Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 22, 2002*		Cal Poly	W 97–69	1–0	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Nov 24, 2002*		Stetson	W 107–74	2–0	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Nov 27, 2002*		at New Mexico State	L 71–75	2–1	Pan American Center  Las Cruces, New Mexico
Dec 3, 2002*		Georgia	L 70–71	2–2	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Dec 7, 2002*		at Kansas City	W 62–59	3–2	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 11, 2002*		Chicago State	W 80–61	4–2	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Dec 21, 2002*		at Rice	L 61–80	4–3	Rice Gymnasium  Houston, Texas
Dec 23, 2002*		North Texas	W 87–71	5–3	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Dec 27, 2002*		vs. Louisiana-Lafayette	W 75–56	6–3	Dale F. Halton Arena  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 28, 2002*		at Charlotte	W 76–74	7–3	Dale F. Halton Arena  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 29, 2002*		vs. Loyola (IL)	W 76–72	8–3	Dale F. Halton Arena  Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 4, 2003*		Penn	W 80–57	9–3	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 7, 2003*		Colorado State	W 93–72	10–3	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Big 12 Regular Season
Jan 11, 2003		at No. 9 Oklahoma	L 54–69	10–4 (0–1)	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 15, 2003		Kansas State	W 69–63	11–4 (1–1)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 18, 2003		at Nebraska	L 77–80 ^OT	11–5 (1–2)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 22, 2003		No. 6 Kansas	W 60–59	12–5 (2–2)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 29, 2003		at Texas Tech	L 56–66	12–6 (2–3)	United Spirit Arena  Lubbock, Texas
Feb 1, 2003		at No. 25 Missouri	L 70–73	12–7 (2–4)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Feb 4, 2003		No. 3 Texas	W 93–80	13–7 (3–4)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 8, 2003		Iowa State	W 84–69	14–7 (4–4)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 11, 2003		at Kansas State	L 54–62	14–8 (4–5)	Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 15, 2003*		Texas A&M	W 98–83	15–8 (5–5)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 19, 2003		at No. 6 Kansas	L 87–94	15–9 (5–6)	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 22, 2003		Missouri	W 89–68	16–9 (6–6)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 25, 2003		at Iowa State	L 55–81	16–10 (6–7)	Hilton Coliseum  Ames, Iowa
Mar 1, 2003		at Baylor	W 72–59	17–10 (7–7)	Ferrell Center  Waco, Texas
Mar 5, 2003		No. 20 Oklahoma State	W 68–56	18–10 (8–7)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Mar 8, 2003		Nebraska	W 84–69	19–10 (9–7)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, Colorado
Big 12 Tournament
Mar 13, 2003*		vs. Kansas State Quarterfinals	W 77–76	20–10	American Airlines Center  Dallas, Texas
Mar 14, 2003*		vs. No. 6 Oklahoma Semifinals	L 59–74	20–11	American Airlines Center  Dallas, Texas
NCAA Tournament
Mar 21, 2003*	(10 S)	vs. (7 S) Michigan State First round	L 64–79^[2]	20–12	St. Pete Times Forum  Tampa, Florida
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Mountain Time.

Rankings

See also: 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[3]

References

1. 2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
2. "Spartans impressive in rout of Colorado". ESPN. March 22, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
3. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1119–1120. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.