Colorado University Athletics
Tuesday, January 20
Boulder, Colo.
9 p.m.
Colorado
12-7,2-4Big 12
69
vs
75
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Kansas
14-5,4-2Big 12
1
2
F
Kansas
40
35
75
Colorado
38
31
69
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Colorado Falls to No. 19 Kansas
January 20, 2026 | Men's Basketball
The Buffs drop their fourth straight
BOULDER — Colorado battled with No. 19 Kansas late into the night on Tuesday, but the Jayhawks outlasted the Buffaloes to the final whistle, 75-69, at the CU Events Center.
The loss drops the Buffaloes to 12-7 overall and 2-4 in Big 12 play, while Kansas moves to 14-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
The late-night tipoff didn't dissuade fans from coming out on Tuesday. A season-high crowd of 8,356 stuck around well into the night. Colorado student tickets also sold out for the first time since hosting Colorado State last season (Dec. 7), and for the first time in a conference matchup since playing Arizona on Feb. 10, 2024.
"It meant a lot having the student body there," Isaiah Johnson expressed after the game. "It helped us with our energy. It's great to see everybody come and support us, and we need that every game."
Colorado was led by Johnson, continuing his standout freshman year with a game-high 19 points. Johnson has now led the Buffs in scoring nine times this season and continues to climb up the CU freshman scoring list. He became just the 14th CU rookie to score 300 points, jumping into 13th with 304 points.
Barrington Hargress and Alon Michaeli also hit double figures on the night. Hargress finished 6-for-15 from the field with 17 points, while Michaeli totaled 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
"Tough loss for the Buffaloes," head coach Tad Boyle noted. "Kansas was better tonight. Obviously, they out-rebounded us. I love the fight of our guys. I love the fight of this team, and we cannot lose that, and we will not lose that. You know, it starts with me, but I love our team, I love our guys, I love our fight. We're not catching many breaks, and that's just the way it is.
"Honor Huff banks in a 3 at West Virginia when we're up six with a couple of minutes to go. And tonight, Darryn Peterson does it. We had our chances, you know, I thought we had some really good looks offensively in the second half, but hey, we got to play better. We got to play better."
KU, playing without head coach Bill Self, who remained in Lawrence for health reasons, had four players score in double figures. Melvin Council Jr. led the way with 18 points, helping the Jayhawks outshoot the Buffs 46.2% to 35.7%.
Kansas won the battle on the boards, 45-33, but Colorado held the advantage on the offensive glass, 12-9, and second-chance points, 15-13. Colorado won the turnover advantage, forcing 12 KU mishaps and committing just three.
"You have got to build on the positive and to have three turnovers against a team like KU, which is a good defensive team," Boyne explained. "They were switching. They've got good guys that can guard the ball; they're good athletes. I mean, Melvin Council Jr. is a good defender. I think they have got multiple guys that can guard, and their bigs do a good job. And with Elijah out, they were able to switch a lot in the second half, and that was effective for them. We worked on that because we knew they were doing that. Our guards got to do a better job of attacking their bigs, and then our bigs got to do a better job of scoring on their guards and taking advantage of those mismatches. But we didn't do enough of that tonight."
How It Happened
The Buffs and Jayhawks played a nearly identical first half on the stat sheet, with Kansas claiming a slight 40-38 lead. Both sides shot over 40% from the field with each team hitting six 3-pointers in the half. Kansas' Tre White totaled 12 points, while Hargress matched his effort with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Neither side turned the ball over, with CU forcing KU into three turnovers in the half, while committing just one.
Colorado put the first points on the board with Johnson converting from behind the arc on the Buffs' first shot of the night. The CU freshman scored the team's first five points, giving CU the early 5-4 advantage.
KU had a pair of 3-pointers fall from Darryn Peterson, snapping the Jayhawks' 0-for-4 shooting start. Melvin Council Jr. hit KU's third straight 3, extending the visitors' lead to 13-5 with 15:26 left to go in the half.
Bangot Dak scored four of the Buffs' following six points, including an emphatic dunk in front of two KU defenders to cut the lead to 15-12, forcing KU acting head coach Jeremy Case to take a timeout with 12:54 left in the half.
KU used a quick 5-0 run to gain its largest lead of the half, 28-20, but Felix Kossaras immediately answered back with a shot from long distance to get back within five, 28-23. KU's lead didn't hit more than six the rest of the half, with the Buffs closing to within one on four occasions.
Hargress scored CU's last four points, including flying to the rim from across the baseline for a last-second tip-in to beat the buzzer.
The Buffs were slow to start out of the break, hitting just 3-for-11 from the field in the opening eight minutes. Dak got the period started, tying the game at 40-40 on the opening possession, but CU followed with a 0-for-6 slump—but was able to keep pace with KU, keeping the two-point halftime deficit intact at 51-49 with 11:53 to play.
Kansas extended its lead to seven, 56-49, with 11:03 to play, but a 3-pointer from Johnson sparked him to five straight points to get the Buffs back within four, 58-54, with 9:00 on the clock.
The Buffs' offense kept scoring in bunches with Michaeli putting in five straight points to cut the Jayhawk lead to 60-59, but Kansas responded with four quick points from Council Jr., including a controversial steal on the CU inbound pass, to push the lead back to five, 64-59, with 4:58 on the clock.
"That was the deciding factor of the game," Boyle added. "Part of it is, we didn't finish our transition. KU was the better transition team on offense and defense. We got numbers, we got an advantage break, and we didn't score. They got an advantage break, and they did score. That play that you refer to happens, and that's a big turning point, a momentum shift, and we never quite recovered from that. I'll learn more as I watch the film. That was a big turning point in the game, and really frustrating, the kid (Darryn Peterson) banks a 3 when we're making another comeback. We just couldn't get over the hump. Sometimes the breaks go your way, and sometimes they don't, and this year they haven't, so far, not in these close, close games."
Colorado's offense stalled down the stretch, suffering through a 0-for-10 shooting streak, and Kansas was able to take advantage, gaining its largest lead of the night, 71-60, by the 1:07 mark.
Kansas finished the half hitting 52.2% from the field (12-23), including hitting 6 of its last 8 shots in its momentum-shifting run.
Johnson led all players with 12 of his 19 points coming in the second half.
Up Next
Colorado will close its quick two-game homestand with a meeting against UCF on Saturday, Jan. 24. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
The loss drops the Buffaloes to 12-7 overall and 2-4 in Big 12 play, while Kansas moves to 14-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
The late-night tipoff didn't dissuade fans from coming out on Tuesday. A season-high crowd of 8,356 stuck around well into the night. Colorado student tickets also sold out for the first time since hosting Colorado State last season (Dec. 7), and for the first time in a conference matchup since playing Arizona on Feb. 10, 2024.
"It meant a lot having the student body there," Isaiah Johnson expressed after the game. "It helped us with our energy. It's great to see everybody come and support us, and we need that every game."
Colorado was led by Johnson, continuing his standout freshman year with a game-high 19 points. Johnson has now led the Buffs in scoring nine times this season and continues to climb up the CU freshman scoring list. He became just the 14th CU rookie to score 300 points, jumping into 13th with 304 points.
Barrington Hargress and Alon Michaeli also hit double figures on the night. Hargress finished 6-for-15 from the field with 17 points, while Michaeli totaled 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
"Tough loss for the Buffaloes," head coach Tad Boyle noted. "Kansas was better tonight. Obviously, they out-rebounded us. I love the fight of our guys. I love the fight of this team, and we cannot lose that, and we will not lose that. You know, it starts with me, but I love our team, I love our guys, I love our fight. We're not catching many breaks, and that's just the way it is.
"Honor Huff banks in a 3 at West Virginia when we're up six with a couple of minutes to go. And tonight, Darryn Peterson does it. We had our chances, you know, I thought we had some really good looks offensively in the second half, but hey, we got to play better. We got to play better."
KU, playing without head coach Bill Self, who remained in Lawrence for health reasons, had four players score in double figures. Melvin Council Jr. led the way with 18 points, helping the Jayhawks outshoot the Buffs 46.2% to 35.7%.
Kansas won the battle on the boards, 45-33, but Colorado held the advantage on the offensive glass, 12-9, and second-chance points, 15-13. Colorado won the turnover advantage, forcing 12 KU mishaps and committing just three.
"You have got to build on the positive and to have three turnovers against a team like KU, which is a good defensive team," Boyne explained. "They were switching. They've got good guys that can guard the ball; they're good athletes. I mean, Melvin Council Jr. is a good defender. I think they have got multiple guys that can guard, and their bigs do a good job. And with Elijah out, they were able to switch a lot in the second half, and that was effective for them. We worked on that because we knew they were doing that. Our guards got to do a better job of attacking their bigs, and then our bigs got to do a better job of scoring on their guards and taking advantage of those mismatches. But we didn't do enough of that tonight."
How It Happened
The Buffs and Jayhawks played a nearly identical first half on the stat sheet, with Kansas claiming a slight 40-38 lead. Both sides shot over 40% from the field with each team hitting six 3-pointers in the half. Kansas' Tre White totaled 12 points, while Hargress matched his effort with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting. Neither side turned the ball over, with CU forcing KU into three turnovers in the half, while committing just one.
Colorado put the first points on the board with Johnson converting from behind the arc on the Buffs' first shot of the night. The CU freshman scored the team's first five points, giving CU the early 5-4 advantage.
KU had a pair of 3-pointers fall from Darryn Peterson, snapping the Jayhawks' 0-for-4 shooting start. Melvin Council Jr. hit KU's third straight 3, extending the visitors' lead to 13-5 with 15:26 left to go in the half.
Bangot Dak scored four of the Buffs' following six points, including an emphatic dunk in front of two KU defenders to cut the lead to 15-12, forcing KU acting head coach Jeremy Case to take a timeout with 12:54 left in the half.
KU used a quick 5-0 run to gain its largest lead of the half, 28-20, but Felix Kossaras immediately answered back with a shot from long distance to get back within five, 28-23. KU's lead didn't hit more than six the rest of the half, with the Buffs closing to within one on four occasions.
Hargress scored CU's last four points, including flying to the rim from across the baseline for a last-second tip-in to beat the buzzer.
The Buffs were slow to start out of the break, hitting just 3-for-11 from the field in the opening eight minutes. Dak got the period started, tying the game at 40-40 on the opening possession, but CU followed with a 0-for-6 slump—but was able to keep pace with KU, keeping the two-point halftime deficit intact at 51-49 with 11:53 to play.
Kansas extended its lead to seven, 56-49, with 11:03 to play, but a 3-pointer from Johnson sparked him to five straight points to get the Buffs back within four, 58-54, with 9:00 on the clock.
The Buffs' offense kept scoring in bunches with Michaeli putting in five straight points to cut the Jayhawk lead to 60-59, but Kansas responded with four quick points from Council Jr., including a controversial steal on the CU inbound pass, to push the lead back to five, 64-59, with 4:58 on the clock.
"That was the deciding factor of the game," Boyle added. "Part of it is, we didn't finish our transition. KU was the better transition team on offense and defense. We got numbers, we got an advantage break, and we didn't score. They got an advantage break, and they did score. That play that you refer to happens, and that's a big turning point, a momentum shift, and we never quite recovered from that. I'll learn more as I watch the film. That was a big turning point in the game, and really frustrating, the kid (Darryn Peterson) banks a 3 when we're making another comeback. We just couldn't get over the hump. Sometimes the breaks go your way, and sometimes they don't, and this year they haven't, so far, not in these close, close games."
Colorado's offense stalled down the stretch, suffering through a 0-for-10 shooting streak, and Kansas was able to take advantage, gaining its largest lead of the night, 71-60, by the 1:07 mark.
Kansas finished the half hitting 52.2% from the field (12-23), including hitting 6 of its last 8 shots in its momentum-shifting run.
Johnson led all players with 12 of his 19 points coming in the second half.
Up Next
Colorado will close its quick two-game homestand with a meeting against UCF on Saturday, Jan. 24. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
Team Stats
KU
CU
FG%
.462
.357
3FG%
.421
.290
FT%
.792
.625
RB
45
33
TO
12
3
STL
3
8
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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