Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
9-6, 2-1
Utah
13-2, 3-0
Brooks: No. 9 Utes Hand Buffs First Pac-12 Loss
January 07, 2015 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
SALT LAKE CITY – With Josh Scott back in the lineup, the Colorado Buffaloes entered Utah's Jon M. Huntsman Center on Wednesday night believing they could run with the No. 9 Utes. Instead, they were overrun.
A first-half scoring drought, a second-half defensive letdown, overall shoddy execution and the early loss of CU wing Xavier Johnson helped the deep and talented Utes roll to a 74-49Â Pac-12 Conference win. It was the Buffs' worst defeat since their 77-48 loss to Pittsburgh in last season's NCAA Tournament.
After weekend wins against UCLA and USC, CU (9-6, 2-1) lost for the first time in conference play and dropped to 0-4 on the road this season. Utah (13-2, 3-0) won for the 11th consecutive time this season in the Huntsman Center.
The Buffs trailed 31-21 at halftime after losing Johnson to a high-ankle sprain barely 7 minutes into the game. Still, coach Tad Boyle said his team continued to battle: "We weren't playing great, but we were battling. But in the second half we really let our defense soften up. They made every open shot and they made us pay."
The Utes went 9-for-22 from 3-point range, including 7-for-14 in the second half. Three consecutive treys ignited a 19-4 run that all but buried the Buffs. Scott called the three straight triples "kind of daggers to our defense. You get plays like that and they get the crowd (13,876) into the game. It's really tough."
Just as tough for the Buffs were their 18 turnovers, which tied a season high and cost them 28 points. Every CU player – Boyle used 10 – who stepped onto the court had at least one turnover.
"Utah is a good team, but 41 of their points came off of Colorado – second-chance points (13) and turnovers," Boyle said. "That's on us, those 41 are on us because we don't take care of the ball and we don't box out and rebound as good as we need to."
Boyle said that even hurt the Buffs in their two Pac-12 wins, but it was even more devastating against a top 10 team on the road. He said his team "has to get better" in a number of areas, but cutting down the turnovers, pumping up the board work and overall better defense "are three good places to start. We do those three things and this is a game . . . I'm not saying we win, but we're in it. We give ourselves a chance at the end. And we didn't even come close to that tonight."
While the Buffs got Scott, their 6-10 post, back after a two-game absence due to back spasms, they lost Johnson with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Scott finished with three points, all on free throws, and took only three shots from the field.
Asked how he felt, Scott smiled and answered, "Next question . . . my body is still kind of shaky. But what are you going to do about it?"
He said he played with some lingering back pain but refused that as a reason for getting only three shots and making none. "I want the ball, I'm in pain, but I'll still always want the ball," he said. "I'll leave it at that . . . I'll just say some other factors played into it."
Askia Booker and Jaron Hopkins led the Buffs with 12 points each, while Utah had three scorers in double figures, led by Brandon Taylor's 14 points. Utah's bench outscored CU's starters 32-31, and 10 of the 12 players used by coach Larry Krystkowiak scored.
The 6-7 Johnson didn't score. CU's third-leading scorer (13.8 ppg), injured himself on a fast-break layup attempt, coming down awkwardly on his right foot. After writhing under the basket until play stopped, Johnson was assisted to the locker room. He eventually returned to the bench, his right foot in an ice wrap.
"Anytime one of your top guys goes down, it's not good for your team," Boyle said. "But it's not an excuse; we've got enough depth on this team. I hope he comes back but those high-ankle sprains are very painful and sometimes they take a little longer."
At the time of Johnson's departure, the Buffs led 12-8, matching their largest lead of the half. But the Utes caught up and took their first lead (14-12) on a layup by 7-0 footer Jakob Poeltl with 12:20 before halftime. More Utah points – and another stretch of CU hurt – were on the way.
After taking its 12-8 lead on a Hopkins layup and losing "XJ," CU went into a 13-plus minute field goal drought and an 8-plus minute scoring drought. The Utes capitalized, using an 15-0 run to go up 29-15, with leftie Brekkott Chapman canning a pair of 3-pointers to get the surge started.
Undermining their rally hopes, the Buffs were encountering foul problems. Collecting their second fouls each, Nos. 1-2 scorers Scott and Booker went to the bench in the half's final 6 minutes – joining Johnson, who had been deemed "questionable" for the remainder of the game. And the Buffs' execution began to mirror his status.
Scoring and turnover woes set in. As Utah was building its 14-point first-half lead, CU was making one of its 10 field goal attempts and suffering seven of its nine first-half errors.
A late mini-run fueled by three points from freshman Dom Collier and a trey by Xavier Talton brought the Buffs to within eight points (29-21), but the Utes ended the half with two free throws by Jordan Loveridge and went to their locker room leading 31-21.
CU needed an efficient second-half start, but Booker's third personal foul wasn't a part of that equation. He remained in the game, however, but when Poeltl picked up his third with 17:43 to play he went to the bench.
No problem. Krystkowiak spelled Poeltl with 7-0 senior Dallin Bachynski. But CU's looming defensive problems didn't begin in the frontcourt.
After cutting their 10-point halftime deficit to eight, the Buffs yielded treys on three consecutive possessions to Dakarai Tucker, Brandon Taylor and Chris Reyes. Suddenly, Utah was up 42-27.
When Wright added a three-point play and Taylor another triple, the Utes' lead mushroomed to 23 (52-29) and the night was slipping away from the Buffs.
The three treys in three possessions, said Talton, were "really big . . . it got their crowd into it and they just took off from there."
Utah got four more points, completing a 23-4 run, and led by as many as 35 points with 4:01 to play.
The Buffs have a week off, which Scott called "big time for the whole team." When they tip it off again, it will be Thursday night, Jan. 15 at No. 7 Arizona.Â
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDUÂ
