Colorado
14-12,6-9Pac-12
Utah
17-9,10-5Pac-12
CU Road Woes Continue As Buffs Fall At Utah
February 11, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
SALT LAKE CITY — Colorado's road woes continued Saturday night as the Buffaloes dropped a 73-62 decision to Utah at the Huntsman Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs fell to 14-12 overall and 6-9 in Pac-12 play with their eighth loss in nine road games this season. CU also saw a two-game win streak come to an end.
Utah improved to 17-9, 10-5.
Colorado's offense, which has struggled all year on the road, suffered through another difficult night. The Buffs never led in the game, as Utah used an early 14-3 run to break a 7-7 tie and Colorado never came closer than four again.
CU trailed by just six at the break but the Utes took control for good with a 9-0 run early in the second half, building their lead to as much as 18 down the stretch.
KJ Simpson led the Buffs with 14 points, Julian Hammond III added 11 and Luke O'Brien chipped in 10 points and had a team-high six rebounds. CU's Tristan da Silva, who had scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games, was limited to just six points on 3-for-12 shooting.
Marco Anthony and Branden Carlson each scored 17 for the Utes.
The Utes shot almost 50 percent from the floor and dominated the boards as well, holding a 41-29 rebound edge.
Colorado shot just 37 percent from the floor, including a 4-for-18 night from 3-point range.
"Their defense was better than ours and their rebounding was better than ours," Boyle said. "They were the better team, they were the tougher team and that's that's a little bit disheartening as you come into a game like this with a little bit of momentum. We just can't get over the hump on the road because our defense isn't good enough."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Despite allowing the Utes to shoot 52 percent from the floor in the opening half, including 5-for-9 from 3-point range, the Buffs only trailed by six at the half, 38-32. Three minutes into the period, Colorado had possession and a chance to narrow the deficit to three.
But CU came up empty on the possession and the Utes responded with a 9-0 run to take a 14-point lead, 50-36, with 14:28 to play.
CU never came within single digits again.
"They had guys step up and make shots," Boyle said. "We couldn't finish our possessions. Even when we got our stops, we couldn't finish, and there were too many times we couldn't get stops."
Colorado did briefly cut the deficit to 10 on buckets from Lawson Lovering and Javon Ruffin. But the Utes answered with a 6-0 run, forcing Boyle to call timeout with 9:22 remaining and his Buffs trailing, 60-44.
But Utah briefly extended its lead to 18 after the timeout and the Buffs did not threaten again.
Utah no doubt came into the game ready to stop da Silva, who had been on a scoring hot streak. CU's leading scorer had averaged 23.4 points over his last five games. But the Utes double-teamed him every time he touched the ball and he matched his season low with just six points on 3-for-12 shooting.
"Tristan has got to understand that other teams are going to do that," Boyle said. "But he made some nice plays for his teammates and he didn't get much support. We didn't have anybody really play up to the level that they're capable of playing, on offense or on defense. When that happens, it's tough to win."
CU's defense struggled from the outset. Colorado yielded a 14-3 Utah run over a five-minute span in the first half, turning a 7-7 game into a 21-10 Utah lead and the Utes maintained control the rest of the game.
CU did manage to keep the game within range in the first half. An O'Brien 3-pointer and a bucket from da Silva pulled Colorado to within 30-24 and two free throws from Hammond in the final minute shaved Utah's lead to 36-32.
The Utes, though, got a bucket from Branden Carlson with six seconds left in the half to send CU into the break trailing by six, 38-32.
Still, Colorado managed to keep the game close in the first 20 minutes despite allowing the Utes to shoot 52 percent from the floor and hold a 20-12 rebound edge.
TURNING POINT: After the Buffs scored seven in a row to tie the game at 7-7 early in the contest, the Utes reeled off a 14-3 run to take control and the Buffs never came closer than four again.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado still can't solve its road problems, and the Buffs have two more away from home next week before returning to Boulder for the final three games of the regular season.
KEY STATISTICS: The Utes shot 49 percent from the floor (27-for-55) … The Buffs hit just 37 percent of their field goal tries, including a 4-for-18 night from 3-point range … Utah held a 41-29 edge on the boards.
NEXT UP: The Buffs continue their longest road stretch of the Pac-12 season next week with a 6 p.m. game Thursday at Arizona State (Pac-12 Network), followed by a 6 p.m. game Saturday at Arizona (ESPN2). Colorado then wraps up the regular season with three at home: Feb. 23 vs. USC, Feb. 26 vs. UCLA and March 4 vs. Utah.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
