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The Buffs couldn’t keep up with #9 Texas Tech
Don’t let the 91-75 loss to Texas Tech fool you, the Buffaloes actually played a pretty good game against the ninth-best team in the country.
Considering they were without Julian Hammond, CU’s starting point guard and leader in both scoring and assists, Colorado put up a more than valiant fight. CU hit their shots and got the whole team involved, but the better team won in Lubbock on Wednesday night.
Texas Tech being the “better team” might even be the understatement of the season. On their senior night, the Red Raiders had that big iron on their hip ready to shoot. None demonstrated that better than Chance McMillian, the one-time Tad Boyle transfer target playing his final home, as he scored 10 of Tech’s first 14 points on a bevy on jumpers.
Colorado could have gone down early and no one would have batted an eye, but they had their own shots to fire. RJ Smith hit a three, Elijah Malone worked his way into the paint and Bangot Dak herked and jerked his way to a few points. The Buffs had forced enough stops and made enough baskets to hang in, as they trailed just 25-22 after 15 minutes of play.
Those shots continued to fall at a reasonable clip, but CU was mostly making twos while the tortilla throwers were hitting threes. Although Colorado fought hard on defense, it’s tough to stop an offense as relentless as Grant McCasland’s squad. They play with tremendous pace and space, attack the basket at will and are a smart, unselfish team finding open shooters. Around halftime it became a math, and after that it was a beatdown.
Colorado hung around, but the second half deficit always stayed in that 10-20 point range. Not quite a blowout, not quite a comeback, but a liminal space where you just have to appreciate the Buffs refusal to go down.
The Buffs play one final regular season game on Sunday afternoon when they host the TCU Horned Frogs. This season hasn’t been great, but the players deserves everyone’s support when they take the court for the final time in 2024-25.
by RylandScholes
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