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Colorado can’t wake up from their current nightmare.
Every time the Colorado Buffaloes have taken the court during Big 12 play, it’s felt like Groundhog Day. Turnovers, bad shooting, and poor execution have doomed CU for a seventh consecutive game, this time in an ugly 83-67 loss to the BYU Cougars.
The Buffs, now 0-7 in Big 12 play, are living through a nightmare that they seemingly can’t wake up from. Ranked 344 out of 364 Division I teams in turnovers per game ahead of Tuesday’s late-night matchup, Colorado didn’t do themselves any favors against the Cougs.
CU opened the game sloppily, turning the ball over seven times in the first 10 minutes. Thankfully, some stellar shooting helped the Buffs overcome their early mistakes. Colorado shot 11-15 from the floor to open the game, going bucket-for-bucket with BYU and keeping things competitive early.
When BYU’s offense started to sputter, Colorado put their foot on the gas. CU ripped off a 14-0 run, fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from Julian Hammond, to build their lead to 10 points with 5:44 to play in the first half.
Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end for the Buffaloes. CU would proceed to miss their next 16 shots from the floor, essentially handing the game to the Cougars. BYU coach Kevin Young's shifting from man-to-man to zone defense confused the Buffs, leading them to take ill-advised shots and dig themselves into a massive hole. By the end of Colorado’s cold streak, BYU had outscored CU 39-6.
That 39-6 run effectively ended the game with about 14 minutes to play in the second half. Colorado needed to find a way to string together some stops to even have a miracle of digging out of their 23-point deficit, which never happened. BYU hit 19 of their 28 FG attempts in the second half, including six of their 12 three-point attempts, to cruise to an easy 83-67 victory.
Turnovers once again played a large role in Colorado’s struggles, coughing the ball up 16 times against the Cougars. Although the Buffaloes were able to force 14 BYU turnovers of their own, their 0-16 shooting slump proved to be too much to overcome.
Colorado’s lax perimeter defense is another reason this game got out of hand so quickly. The Cougars shot 46% (11-24) from behind the arc, with six of those triples coming during the 39-6 run that doomed the Buffaloes.
BYU did throw Colorado one bone, being foul trouble. BYU racked up 22 total fouls against the Buffaloes, but Colorado could not capitalize, as none of BYU’s players fouled out and CU only shot 66.7% (18-27) from the line.
Julian Hammond once again led Colorado in scoring, tallying 17 points on Tuesday night. Trevor Baskin came off the bench and proved to be a force off the boards, racking up a team-high six rebounds.
With their 0-7 streak to start conference play, this stretch ties for the longest losing streak in Tad Boyle’s 15 seasons coaching the Buffaloes. It doesn’t get any easier from here either, as the Buffs have to travel to Tucson for a road matchup with the red-hot Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, who are 6-1 in Big 12 play.
by RylandScholes
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