Julian Hammond III has a chance to top a former teammate for a prominent team record. Whether he does or not, KJ Simpson’s reign as the season free throw percentage leader for Colorado is coming to an end after just one year.

The official record book for the Colorado men’s basketball team is getting an extensive overhaul in order to get the Buffaloes’ historical records in line with modern NCAA standards. This will be an ongoing process, and the final revisions of the record book won’t be completed until the offseason. But the only mark in play for this year’s struggling team is Hammond’s challenge at CU’s season free throw percentage record.

Simpson, who scored a team-high 16 points for the Charlotte Hornets in a Tuesday night loss against Golden State, broke CU’s free throw percentage record last year, at .876 (163-for-186). That topped the previous mark of .866 set by Cory Higgins during the 2010-11. Before Higgins, the top two season free throw percentages in the CU record book belonged to Chauncey Billups, who posted an .861 mark in 1995-96 and an .854 mark the following year.

However, the records revise is pushing all of those marks aside for Rob Gonzalez. During the 1982-83 season, the former CU forward out of Detroit led the NCAA with a .915 free throw percentage. Yet that mark hasn’t been reflected in CU’s standards because the program’s previous minimum standard for qualifying for the record book was 145 attempts in a season.

Gonzalez went 75-for-82 in 28 games, falling well short of that standard. The NCAA standard is at least 2.5 made free throws per game, while playing in at least 75% of the games. Gonzalez meets that NCAA standard, and as the nation’s recognized free throw leader for the 1982-83 season, the belief from CU is that should be reflected in its own record book.

Hammond, though, still has a chance to rewrite that list yet again. Heading into Sunday’s Big 12 matchup at Kansas State (2 p.m., ESPN+), Hammond owns a .902 mark at the line (74-for-82). If the Buffs are eliminated in the first game of the Big 12 tournament, Hammond’s magic number to qualify for the list of CU’s season free throw percentage leaders is 80 made free throws. If the Buffs win a game at the conference tourney, that number becomes 83 made free throws.

Coming around

After a midseason lull, center Elijah Malone has enjoyed a slight resurgence in recent weeks.

Malone went 4-for-8 off the bench with eight points and five rebounds during Monday’s loss against Kansas. Malone has averaged 6.6 points in the past five games while shooting .538 (14-for-26). The former NAIA All-American tallied 13 points total in the previous six games while going 3-for-12.

CU head coach Tad Boyle also lauded the strides Malone has made on the defensive end.

“I think Elijah is starting to figure it out,” Boyle said. “Again, this is a new level for him and it’s taken him a while to figure it out. He’s made three plays now defensively — one against Iowa State, one against Baylor, one (against Kansas) — that he wouldn’t have made at all even three weeks ago, two weeks ago. So he’s starting to figure it out as a ball-screen defender. He’s a good low-post scorer. Elijah’s got to understand, when does he have to use his strength and his muscle, and when does he need to use his skill.

“His activity level, his effort level, is getting better, there’s no doubt about it. And his rebounding’s getting better.”

Notable

CU went through a light workout on Wednesday and will resume full workouts on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s date at KSU. … With Baylor’s loss on Tuesday at Cincinnati, the Buffs lost its second Quad 1 win of the season their ledger. The Bears dropped to No. 31 in Wednesday’s NET rankings, making last week’s victory a Quad 2 win, but it will become a Quad 1 win again if Baylor plays its way back into the top 30 of the NET.