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Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Colorado suffered a heartbreaker in Salt Lake City.
The Buffs had an up-and-down Friday night during their bout with the Utes in Salt Lake City. Despite clawing back from a 18 point deficit and leading with 9.4 seconds left, Utah managed to walk it off and beat Colorado 77-76.
The Buffs didn’t do themselves any favors in the first half, as they were ice cold throughout the majority of the half. Colorado just couldn’t consistently find the net, bricking shot after shot, making only 4 of their 13 layups. The Buffs finished the half shooting only 34% from the field, hitting only 10 of their 29 attempts.
Colorado is typically a pretty strong team off the boards, but we didn’t see that in the first half either. Utah out-rebounded the Buffs 23 to 13, rarely allowing CU to get a second chance off a miss.
What really killed the Buffs though was their defense in the paint. Utah, one of the nation’s most prolific three-point shooting team, decided to mix things up and attacked the Buffs from inside with great success. The Utes absolutely demolished Colorado down low, scoring 20 points in the paint in the first quarter alone. The Buffs cleaned things up in the second and allowed only 4 points in the paint, but the damage was already done, as Colorado headed to halftime down 24-39.
After Utah opened the second half by drilling a three to extend their lead to 18 points, the Buffs took matters into their own hands. All of a sudden, CU figured out their shooting struggles and started hitting their shots. Frida Formann and Quay Miller hit back-to-back threes for Colorado in the beginning of the third quarter, which opened the floodgates.
Things weren’t completely smooth sailing in the third, as Colorado turned the ball over on four straight possessions, which resulted in 6 quick Utes points. A subsequent 8-0 run by the Buffs helped to mitigate that damage and cut Utah’s lead to only 7 points. The Buffaloes shot 70.6% (12-17) from the field and went a perfect 2 for 2 from deep, putting the game back within their grasp. However, a 5-0 run to end the third from the Utes widened the enemy lead, as the Buffs entered the fourth down 50-62.
The fourth quarter is where things get crazy. After drilling three shots from deep in the first 5 minutes of the quarter to help chip away at some of Utah’s lead, the Buffs put the clamps on. The Utes didn’t score a field goal for about 4 and a half minutes in the middle of the quarter, which allowed the Buffs to get to work and cut the lead to only 5 points.
With 50 seconds left in the game, down 73-68, Jaylyn Sherrod picked the pocket of Utah’s Dasia Young and dished the ball to Kindyll Wetta of beautiful layup. After the Utah fouled Frida Formann and she drilled both her freebies, Formann picked Ines Vieira’s pocket for another quick steal and score. The Buffs found themselves up 74-73, with only 19 seconds to play.
The Buffs subsequently fouled Vieira while inbounding the ball, and she hit both her freebies to give the Utes a one point lead with 19 seconds to play. On Colorado’s final possession of the night, Sherrod took the ball up the floor and drove for a layup, but she missed. In what felt like divine intervention, Aaronette Vonleh snagged the offensive board off Sherrod’s miss and hit a five-foot jumper, giving the Buffs a 76-75 lead with only 9 seconds to play.
It was time for the Buffs to lock in, as they were only a few short seconds away from an amazing comeback win. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. Utah inbounded the ball and found Young, who drove inside and put up a tough contested layup over Vonleh with less than a second to play. After bouncing around the rim for what felt like an eternity, Young’s shot found the net, sending the Buffs home with a heartbreaking 77-76 loss.
Despite having victory taken straight out of their hands, there’s still some positives to look at. The Buffs managed to erase an 18 point second-half deficit and nearly won, which is encouraging. Jaylyn Sherrod also balled out, scoring 15 points and netting 9 assists, along with 2 steals.
Colorado’s record now falls to 20-5 overall and 10-4 in Pac-12 play. Tonight’s loss is one the team will want back, especially now that they’re fighting for a one seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Buffs’ next two games won’t be any easier either, as they head to Los Angeles to play #9 UCLA and #10 USC next weekend. Colorado’s next contest will be at USC’s Galen Center next Friday. Fans can tune in on the Pac-12 Network at 8:00 pm local.
by RylandScholes
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