The freshman`s rim-rocker off a nice lob pass from Nate Tomlinson put an exclamation point on the Buffs` 78-54 victory over San Francisco on Tuesday night.

Jeff Bzdelik was also giving Hornbuckle a standing ovation after the play. CU`s head coach wants to see encore after encore as the talented 6-7 forward develops.

"We just need Keegan to be very aggressive," Bzdelik said. "Keegan has great skill. I think you got evidence of that with his dunk. I mean, he`s very athletic. He just needs to get ticked off. He needs to have that ticked-off attitude, and we`ve talked about that.

"He sometimes kind of goes with the flow instead of making it happen."

Hornbuckle has been a part of Bzdelik`s rotation all season but was averaging 2.7 points and 2.0 rebounds through the first six games. He finished with five points, three assists, two rebounds and the No. 1 highlight against the Dons.

"I`m starting to feel a lot more comfortable," Hornbuckle said. "Making big plays makes me feel even more comfortable than just going out there and running around."

The ally-oop wasn`t even a set play, just a product of the on-court chemistry between CU`s sophomore point guard and Hornbuckle.

"I was supposed to go to the elbow and I looked up and saw Nate motioning me to run to the basket," Hornbuckle said. "I just ran to the basket and hoped for the best."

Pupil to peer

When Bzdelik was with the Miami Heat as an assistant to Pat Riley he used to coach Rex Walters. The current San Francisco head coach, who played collegiately at Kansas, was famous for his pre- and post-practice shooting regiment.

"When people asked me what I did to work out I pretty much rebounded for Rex," Bzdelik said. "He`d get up thousands of shots."

Walters is now 13-23 in his second season coaching the Dons.

Glass half-full

CU was out-rebounded 17-12 in the first half and allowed San Francisco to score nine second-chance points off seven offensive rebounds. The Buffs won the battle of the boards 18-16 in the second half and didn`t allow the visitors any second-chance points over the final 20 minutes.

Series

San Francisco still leads the all-time series 2-1 thanks to some of the program`s legendary names.

On Dec. 16, 1946, Pete Newell coached the Dons to a 34-30 victory in Boulder, and on March 19, 1955, Bill Russell scored 24 points to lead the Dons to a victory over CU in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.

Notable

CU outscored USF 30-24 in the paint, 10-0 in fast break points and 19-16 in bench points. ... San Francisco is now 12-18 all-time against teams from the Big 12. ... CU junior Marcus Relphorde celebrated his 21st birthday on Tuesday with 10 points, six assists, two blocks and one turnover in 28 minutes. ... The Buffs` largest lead was 27 points (74-47) with 3:46 remaining.