If freshman Xavier Silas is to experience his first Big 12 Conference tournament, his University of Colorado teammates will have to advance to the second round.

The conference announced Monday that Silas, CU's second- leading scorer, is suspended for Thursday's first-round game against Texas Tech (1 p.m. MST).

If the No. 12-seeded Buffaloes beat the fifth-seeded Red Raiders, Silas will return for Friday's second-round game against No. 4 seed Kansas State (1 p.m. MST).

Silas' suspension wasn't unexpected; he and Nebraska's Ryan Anderson were assessed "flagrant fighting fouls" and ejected during the first half of Saturday's game in Boulder.

In such cases, NCAA rules call for automatic suspensions for the next game.

Saturday's incident was the third in the Big 12 this season resulting in player suspensions. Commissioner Kevin Weiberg said physical play "has been a national concern. . . . We've addressed it in a straightforward way (and) tried to deal with it in a straightforward way. It's not a unique challenge to the Big 12."

Anderson missed Monday night's game against Oklahoma State but will return for the Cornhuskers' first-round tournament game Thursday, also against the Cowboys.

Because Saturday's incident was termed fighting, CU coach Ricardo Patton said an appeal was not justified. He said Silas, who is averaging 12.3 points a game, "was missed down the stretch" of CU's 73-69 victory. "But (Silas' absence) also allowed a guy like Kal Bay to get more minutes."

Bay, a freshman point guard, made a three-pointer that allowed Patton to win his final home game. Patton said the Buffs' mind-set for the tournament is "good. We had a chance to play well on Saturday, and (players) feel good about themselves. I also feel we're a lot better than our record (7-19) indicates and feel anything's possible."