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Ralphie Report: Buffaloes lose nail-biting duel with UCF in Orlando

NCAA Basketball: Iowa State at Colorado

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

It’s hard to win basketball games with 22 turnovers...


Colorado had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game against the Knights in Orlando.

The Buff headed to Central Florida to take on the UCF Knights, badly in need of a bounce-back win after being run out of the gym against Arizona State last Saturday. Coincidentally, the Knights found themselves in the same boat after suffering a 51-point loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Sunday.

Luckily for Colorado, the same UCF we saw against Kansas showed up in Orlando to start the contest. The Knights bricked all their first 10 shots of the game, going 0-6 on three-pointers in that span. UCF’s cold streak allowed the Buffs to build a 6-0 lead to open the game.

Not-so-luckily, UCF’s Jordan Ivy-Curry had something to say about Colorado building a quick lead. Ivy-Curry led the Knights on a 7-0 run, scoring all seven of those points, putting UCF on top of the Buffs 7-6. The Knights parlayed that spark from Ivy-Curry into a 15-5 run, finding their groove and building some momentum.

Led by Julian Hammond running point, Colorado would squash UCF’s momentum and get their offense up and running again. A long three and floater from Hammond would cut the Buffs back on top.

The Buffs and Knights would trade blows, with UCF’s Keyshawn Hall and Benny Williams drilling threes, countered by a big three from CU’s Andrej Jakimovski and four freebies made by Assane Diop. Diop specifically was willing to do the dirty work for the Buffs in the low post, drawing four shooting fouls and hitting 7 of his 8 FTs in the first half.

Fouls would play a huge role in the first half, with the refs calling 22 total fouls in the first half alone. Colorado would take 18 FTs and UCF would take 12, despite having 10 more attempts from the field.

Both teams would go toe-to-toe for the remaining five minutes of the first half, with Colorado beginning to seize control of the game’s flow and taking the crowd out of it. Just when it felt like the Knights were on the rope, UCF would draw pivotal fouls and hit their free throws to keep the game within reach.

Headed into the half, Colorado went to the locker rooms up 37-34 on UCF, with Julian Hammond leading with 10 points.


First-half stats from Orlando: #CUBuffs pic.twitter.com/EytYQAzlfl

— Ralphie Report (@RalphieReport) January 9, 2025

The Buffs returned from the break ready to hoop, hitting their first six shots from the field and going on a 9-3 run, building up a nine-point lead. After a three-point shooting slump against Iowa State and Arizona State, Andrej Jakimovski bounced back in a big way against UCF, drilling two three-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half, with an additional layup for good measure.

Colorado continued rolling well into the second half, shooting 8-12 from on FG and a perfect 3-3 on threes to start the period. With a 10-point lead and a chance to put the game in the bag, disaster struck.

The turnover bug struck at the worst time. CU turned the ball over eight times in five minutes, allowing UCF to cut their lead to only three points. A flagrant foul by Assane Diop allowed UCF to tie the game and take a 60-58 lead after a Keyshawn Hall layup.

What followed was a trading of clutch buckets from both teams. A long three from Hammond put the Buffs back on top, but UCF’s Deebo Coleman and Darius Johnson responded with three-pointers of their own to put the Knights on top 71-67.

When all seemed lost, Julian Hammond swooped in once again to save the day. Hammond drew two shooting fouls on back-to-back possessions and hit four of his freebies, following that up by drawing another shooting foul, hitting the floater regardless, and swishing the and-one. Hammond’s heroics put CU up 74-71 with three minutes to play.

On the verge of winning, Colorado was blanked. Poor shot selection, three fouls, and a turnover allowed UCF to claw all the back and take a one-point lead with :22 seconds left to play.

With only four seconds separating the shot and game clock, all Colorado had to do was hit one bucket to win the game. Instead, the Buffs inbounded the ball after a timeout and immediately looked confused. Julian Hammond was forced to heave up a desperation three-pointer that would fall multiple feet short of the basket.

Defeat seemed almost certain for the Buffs, but the refs had one final gift for them. UCF took their time inbounding the ball on the baseline after Hammond’s airball, getting knocked with a five-second violation and giving the Buffs the ball back.

With only six seconds on the clock this time, the ball found Elijah Malone directly under the hoop with a clear lane to make the bucket. Instead, Malone got stuffed (and got hit pretty hard when putting up the shot) as the clock hit zero. No foul was called.

It’s hard to win basketball games when you turn the ball over 22 times and foul the other team an additional 22 times, which CU did in Orlando. Julian Hammond did his best to keep his Buffs in this game, but untilmately came up short. Colorado fell by a final score of 75-74.

It wasn’t all bad news, as Hammond got the bounce-back game he so badly needed. After being blanked in Tempe on Saturday, Hammond led the game in scoring with 26 points (8-14 FG), with five boards and assists each. Andrej Jakivoski also showed out, putting up 16 points of his own.

After falling to 0-3 in Big 12 play, the Buffs will head back to Boulder for a two-game homestand. They’ll return to action next when the #21 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers take the floor at the CU Event Center this Sunday.

by RylandScholes
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Ralphie Report: Buffaloes vs. Knights - Game Post

NCAA Basketball: Iowa State at Colorado

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Join us for the Colorado Buffaloes - UCF Knights game tonight at 5:00 p.m. MT in Orlando, Florida.

January 8th, 2025

Who:
Colorado Buffaloes vs. UCF Knights

Where: Addition Financial Arena - Orlando, Florida

When: 5:00 p.m. MT

TV: ESPN+

Radio: AM 850 KOA

UCF Blog: Black & Gold Banneret

Line: Colorado +6

Welcome to the Ralphie Report as the Colorado Buffaloes get ready to take on the UCF Knights in Orlando, Florida for the fourteenth game of the 2024-25 season.

No need to go anywhere else today, The Ralphie Report has everything you need and we welcome you to weigh in with your live game analysis, critiques, observations and predictions.

Check out the old game thread from the Hawaii game to see how it works. Throw all your comments about the game below and let’s get this thing rolling. If you don’t have an account, sign up here for free and enjoy all that our site has to offer.

Make sure to follow us on X and Facebook. Go Buffs!

by Jon Woods
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Ralphie Report: Buffs add key LB piece

Oklahoma State v Colorado

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

The Colorado Buffaloes have a huge hole. Specifically, in the middle of their defense. Kind of like a donut. The Buffs have a donut on defense. Lavonta Bently and Nikhai Hill-Green have graduated or moved on to Alabama, so CU needs some experienced operators in the middle of Robert Livingston’s scheme. They’ve added some nice players, like Jeremiah Hughes, that can play around the middle linebacker spot, but they still need some high-level starters. So why not add one of the best run stoppers in the country last year?

Martavius French is a bad dude. He started at Tennessee but blossomed at UTSA, where he played under Jeff Traylor (and with former Buff Owen McCown). French played for UTSA over the last 3 years and he started or played heavily in all three of them. Last year was his best. French had 80 tackles, 52 solo, and 17 OF THOSE TACKLES WERE TACKLES FOR LOSS. I think the 2022 Buffs had 17 tackles total, not even for loss. French plays all over the linebacking corps, but he will play in the middle most of the time for CU.

French will join a brand new linebacking group at CU. Jeremiah Hughes was already mentioned, but we also added Kyan Salter (Kaidon Salter’s brother) and have a few more players on deck. French will be expected to start right away and he is sorely needed. Add a few more pieces and this defense is near the top of the Big 12.


Welcome, Martavius!

by Jack Barsch
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Ralphie Report: 2025 NFL Draft: With order finalized, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter eye landing spots

2023 Pac-12 Football Media Day

Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images

With the draft order being finalized, here’s a look at where Shedeur and Travis may end up.

As the NFL regular season comes to a close, the futures of Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders are becoming clearer. The action from week 18 had major implications for CU’s superstars, as we saw a dramatic shift in the selection order near the top of the draft.

Over the last three weeks, the teams most had projected to pick first have all won a game or two, squandering their chances to pick near the top. It looked like a sure thing that either the Raiders, Giants, or Patriots would pick first just a few short weeks ago, but that’s not exactly how things shook out. Instead, the Titans and Browns pulled off successful tank jobs to secure top picks.

Here’s a look at the finalized top ten picks:

Draft Order​

  1. Titans
  2. Browns
  3. Giants
  4. Patriots
  5. Jaguars
  6. Raiders
  7. Jets
  8. Panthers
  9. Saints
  10. Bears

With this order being official, let’s take a look at some of the best potential landing spots for Sanders and Hunter when the draft rolls around this April.

Shedeur Sanders


With most people viewing Shedeur as either the best or second-best quarterback in the draft, we can likely pencil him in as a top-five pick. Three or more quarterbacks have gone in the top five picks in both 2023 and 2024. This is just the way the modern NFL is, with the best teams having one thing in common: an all-pro quarterback.

With the Titans having taken a quarterback just two seasons ago and with them firing their general manager, there’s no telling what they will do with the first overall pick. For now, it seems like the Titans will probably take Cam Ward at #1. There have been rumors circulating the internet that the Titans and head coach Brian Callahan favor Ward over Shedeur, but take those with a grain of salt. If the Titans decide to stick with 2023 second-round pick Will Levis, I think they’d look to trade back and give up the number one overall pick to a team looking for a quarterback. Either way, it doesn’t look like Shedeur will end up in the Music City.

With the Titans allegedly being low on Shedeur, the other QB-needy teams at the top of the draft will be ready to strike and snag their franchise guy. These teams include, and probably be limited to, the Browns, Giants and Raiders.

All three of these teams have good draft capital and need a new franchise quarterback. Despite the Browns having the best pick of the group, they will still have Deshaun Watson under contract next year at a price tag of $46 million and a cap hit of $73 million. What the Browns will do is still unpredictable, but expect the QB-desperate Raiders and Giants to jump at the chance to pick Shedeur if he’s still on the board when they’re on the clock. Who knows, maybe the Browns, Giants or Raiders can trade up with Tennessee to get Shedeur...

Travis Hunter


Travis’ outlook is a little less complicated. He could go to any team in the top five or ten that isn’t in the market for a QB, likely either the Patriots or Jaguars. It wouldn’t be surprising if the prospect of being a Jag is more enticing to Hunter, as he would be moving back home, being raised in both Florida and Georgia.

Travis is a unique player that requires a unique situation. With him being so skilled at playing both receiver and corner, he’ll need to go into a position where he can play on both sides of the ball for a team. That could put him in a spot where he falls to a team that will allow him to play his style of football, instead of being picked near the top of the draft. We’ve never seen a player like Travis declare for a modern NFL Draft, so seeing where he lands will be one of the biggest storylines of the night.

by Jacob.Thompson
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Ralphie Report: Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter to watch NFL draft from Boulder

Oklahoma State v Colorado

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

Could we see a watch party with fans and students this spring?

It should come as no surprise that Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are currently expected to be picked near the top of the first round come April.

Both players are projected to go in the top three, marking the first time two Buffaloes would be picked in the top five in program history. Despite the potential for history to be made, Sanders and Hunter will not be traveling to Green Bay to attend the draft in person, opting to have their own draft party in Boulder instead.

The exact specifics are still up in the air, but CU head coach Deion Sanders went on the Rich Eisen show on Monday to make it clear that his players are staying in Boulder when draft season comes around this spring.

“You won’t see us (at the draft) ... We’re good man,” said Coach Prime. “[Shedeur and Travis] want to celebrate with our people, with our folks, with our wonderful student body.”

Much like they have since arriving in Boulder, Shedeur and Travis have decided to do their own thing and break away from the norm. Plus, chilly Green Bay, Wisconsin in early April isn’t exactly a vacation destination. (Trust me, I know from experience...)

As soon as any more details about a potential Boulder watch party are released, we’ll have updates up asap here at Ralphie Report, so make sure to keep up with us!

by Jacob.Thompson
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