They are undersized, they have almost no depth and to be honest, they don’t shoot particularly well.

But the Colorado Buffaloes are starting to listen to their head coach. They can play a little defense. And when they combine the two, they can play well enough to win a Big 12 game.

That’s a start.

Tuesday evening, the Buffs presented Jeff Bzdelik with his first Big 12 victory, a 55-51 win over Nebraska in a game that had a whole lot more defense than was evident when the two schools met on the football field last fall (65-51, in case you’ve forgotten).

True to form, the Buffaloes didn’t shoot well, hitting less than 40 percent of their shots. But they forced Nebraska into an even worse night from the floor (34 percent), they outrebounded the taller Huskers (37-32) and they played harassing, in-your-face defense all night long.

That’s a start.

“I’m really proud of my basketball team,” said Bzdelik, whose celebration plans for his first conference win at Colorado were to take his wife out for a cheeseburger. “I thought our defense was much better than it has been. They played hard. They fought, scrapped ... they did a great job.”

Conventional wisdom says there won’t be too many more celebratory cheeseburgers in Bzdelik’s future, at least not this year. There’s a reason the Buffs were picked to finish dead last in the conference.

But if they play with the kind of effort they displayed Tuesday night — and do it for 40 minutes — they do have a chance to be competitive more often than not.

Certainly, folks who appreciate fundamental basketball are seeing a slow, but steady change in this team from a year ago.

For starters, everybody works, at both ends of the floor. CU’s leading scorer for the season, Richard Roby, totaled just 12 points, but also had a game-high 10 rebounds. Xavier Silas scored just eight points — but added nine rebounds.

“I’ll take the win over scoring 30 points,” Roby said.

Not that Roby didn’t have a little offense when most needed. With 29 seconds remaining and the Buffs clinging to a two-point lead, Roby put the ball on the floor, drove to the bucket and produced the type of money shot big-time players are supposed to make. Silas then added two very clutch free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining to ice the win.

But more than anything, this game came down to CU finally protecting its home floor. Over the last six minutes, Colorado allowed NU to score only 10 points, including a stretch in which the Buffs came up with five consecutive defensive stops.

And everybody chipped in. Freshman Cory Higgins had 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Marcus Hall had nine points, four assists and a pair of steals. Even freshman walk-on Trent Beckley contributed by engaging Nebraska center Aleks Maric in a two-minute wrestling match just before half.

For the last five games, Bzdelik and his staff have been providing each player with a report card after each contest. Bzdelik said that after the game, Roby walked into the locker room and said, “I can’t wait to see my grade.”

Music to Bzdelik’s ears. Proof that the Buffs are listening.

That’s a start — not just for the Big 12 season, but for seasons to come.