Colorado University Athletics
Wednesday, February 25
Boulder, Colo.
7 p.m.
Colorado
16-12,6-9Big 12
79
vs
70
Kansas State
11-17,2-13Big 12
1
2
F
Kansas St.
33
37
70
Colorado
42
37
79
Photo by: Ashton Scott
Buffs Close Out Kansas State
February 25, 2026 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER – Colorado pulled away late in the second half against Kansas State, securing a 79-70 win thanks to a career night by freshman Ian Inman, Wednesday night at the CU Events Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs improve to 16-12 and 6-9 in the Big 12. This marks the fourth-straight home victory for Colorado.
Kansas State falls to 11-17 and 2-13 in the Big 12.
Two freshman guards led the way for the Buffs, with both setting new career highs. Inman finished with 17 points on 5-of-7 from 3-point range while adding five rebounds. All three were new career highs.
"There are two kinds of shooters," head coach Tad Boyle said on Inman. "There are shot takers and shot makers. Ian [Inman] is a shot maker. We see that in practice every day. Ian was terrific, and he made shots that kept us in the game."
Fellow freshman guard Isaiah Johnson filled up the stat sheet. He ended the game with 18 points recording personal-bests with nine rebounds and seven assists. He led the team in all three categories.
"Coach Bill (Grier) said before the game that the guards have to come help the bigs rebound," Johnson said. "They have some pretty big guys, so I went down there to help BD (Bangot Dak), Alon (Michaeli), and Sebi (Sebastian Rancik) rebound."
Three other Buffs scored in double figures: Barrington Hargress totaled 15 points, Sebastian Rancik had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Bangot Dak added 10 points.
Kansas State was led by P.J. Haggerty, who scored a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Colorado controlled the game early, building a 19-point lead, but a late 15-5 run by the Wildcats narrowed the margin to nine, 42-33, at the half.
Kansas State whittled the lead down to five a few minutes into the second half, but the Buffs responded with a 17-0 run to create a 22-point lead. Again, Kansas State battled back, this time cutting the lead to 73-70 with 2:13 remaining. To close the game, the Buffs made six free throws and blocked three shots on the defensive end to ice the game.
Much of this game was choppy, with four flagrant fouls called between the two teams after extended reviews that led to additional stoppages in play.
"It sure helps them," Boyle commented on the extended stoppages. "When you got four reviews for flagrant fouls, and then we challenged one and lost it. You've got that plus you've got nine media timeouts, four in the first half, five in the second, you've got four timeouts from video reviews. What's that? 13? You've got three timeouts by each team. That's 19. We do lose our home court advantage, without a doubt."Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
After scoring the first basket seconds into the game, Colorado followed it up with five turnovers. The Buffs took early control of the glass with four offensive rebounds to keep it tied 6-6 after five minutes.
Colorado found success on offense by attacking the rim and getting into the paint. Of the 15 points scored, 14 came in the paint with the last coming from the free throw line after an and-1 by Johnson to give the Buffs a 15-14 lead with 11:31 left in the first half.
The Buffs went on a 13-0 run, controlling the game on defense, forcing Kansas State into 1-of-7 shooting and holding them scoreless for four minutes to take a 26-14 lead with 7:58 left in the first half.
Inman helped extend the run to 21-2 over seven minutes of game time, hitting three 3-pointers, to push the lead to as much as 19 points. A few sloppy turnovers allowed the Wildcats to cut the lead to 37-23 with three minutes left in the first half.
Kansas State cut the lead to 42-33 just before halftime after a full-court pass for a layup.
Colorado controlled the first half in almost every metric. The Buffs outscored the Wildcats 20-16 on points in the paint and made six 3-pointers to only three for Kansas State. But the Buffs turned the ball over 10 times, which led to 12 points, keeping the game close for Kansas State.
After two quick baskets for Kansas State to cut the lead to five to begin the second half, Colorado responded with an 8-0 run in 41 seconds with a Johnson 3-pointer as an exclamation point to go up 50-37 with 16 minutes left.
Colorado kept control, extending the lead to as much as 22 points after scoring 17 straight, holding Kansas State scoreless for five minutes to lead 59-37 with 13 minutes left. Inman tied his career-high after hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game during the run.
The Wildcats slowly chipped into the lead, cutting it to 11 points after going on an 11-2 run, with the only points for the Buffs coming at the line by Johnson. Colorado led 64-53 with eight minutes left in the game.
As Kansas State continued to creep back into the game, Inman continued to provide a spark offensively. After making two from the free throw line, he made his fifth 3-pointer of the night. This time, in the right corner of the dish, Johnson gave the Buffs a 71-61 lead with 3:34 left in the game.
After the fourth overall flagrant foul of the game, Kansas State had a six-point possession to cut the lead to 73-70. Three free throws from Johnson wrapped around two big blocks by Dak on the defensive end gave Colorado a 76-70 lead with 35 seconds left. The Buffs iced the game at the free-throw line and won 79-70.
UP NEXT
Colorado hits the road to face off against No. 5 Houston at 10 a.m. on ESPN 2. The Cougars enter on a three-game losing streak for the first time this season after falling to then No. 6 Iowa State, No. 4 Arizona, and No. 14 Kansas. The loss to Iowa State was only the second home conference loss since joining the Big 12 in 2023.
Â
Tad Boyle's Buffs improve to 16-12 and 6-9 in the Big 12. This marks the fourth-straight home victory for Colorado.
Kansas State falls to 11-17 and 2-13 in the Big 12.
Two freshman guards led the way for the Buffs, with both setting new career highs. Inman finished with 17 points on 5-of-7 from 3-point range while adding five rebounds. All three were new career highs.
"There are two kinds of shooters," head coach Tad Boyle said on Inman. "There are shot takers and shot makers. Ian [Inman] is a shot maker. We see that in practice every day. Ian was terrific, and he made shots that kept us in the game."
Fellow freshman guard Isaiah Johnson filled up the stat sheet. He ended the game with 18 points recording personal-bests with nine rebounds and seven assists. He led the team in all three categories.
"Coach Bill (Grier) said before the game that the guards have to come help the bigs rebound," Johnson said. "They have some pretty big guys, so I went down there to help BD (Bangot Dak), Alon (Michaeli), and Sebi (Sebastian Rancik) rebound."
Three other Buffs scored in double figures: Barrington Hargress totaled 15 points, Sebastian Rancik had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Bangot Dak added 10 points.
Kansas State was led by P.J. Haggerty, who scored a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Colorado controlled the game early, building a 19-point lead, but a late 15-5 run by the Wildcats narrowed the margin to nine, 42-33, at the half.
Kansas State whittled the lead down to five a few minutes into the second half, but the Buffs responded with a 17-0 run to create a 22-point lead. Again, Kansas State battled back, this time cutting the lead to 73-70 with 2:13 remaining. To close the game, the Buffs made six free throws and blocked three shots on the defensive end to ice the game.
Much of this game was choppy, with four flagrant fouls called between the two teams after extended reviews that led to additional stoppages in play.
"It sure helps them," Boyle commented on the extended stoppages. "When you got four reviews for flagrant fouls, and then we challenged one and lost it. You've got that plus you've got nine media timeouts, four in the first half, five in the second, you've got four timeouts from video reviews. What's that? 13? You've got three timeouts by each team. That's 19. We do lose our home court advantage, without a doubt."Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
After scoring the first basket seconds into the game, Colorado followed it up with five turnovers. The Buffs took early control of the glass with four offensive rebounds to keep it tied 6-6 after five minutes.
Colorado found success on offense by attacking the rim and getting into the paint. Of the 15 points scored, 14 came in the paint with the last coming from the free throw line after an and-1 by Johnson to give the Buffs a 15-14 lead with 11:31 left in the first half.
The Buffs went on a 13-0 run, controlling the game on defense, forcing Kansas State into 1-of-7 shooting and holding them scoreless for four minutes to take a 26-14 lead with 7:58 left in the first half.
Inman helped extend the run to 21-2 over seven minutes of game time, hitting three 3-pointers, to push the lead to as much as 19 points. A few sloppy turnovers allowed the Wildcats to cut the lead to 37-23 with three minutes left in the first half.
Kansas State cut the lead to 42-33 just before halftime after a full-court pass for a layup.
Colorado controlled the first half in almost every metric. The Buffs outscored the Wildcats 20-16 on points in the paint and made six 3-pointers to only three for Kansas State. But the Buffs turned the ball over 10 times, which led to 12 points, keeping the game close for Kansas State.
After two quick baskets for Kansas State to cut the lead to five to begin the second half, Colorado responded with an 8-0 run in 41 seconds with a Johnson 3-pointer as an exclamation point to go up 50-37 with 16 minutes left.
Colorado kept control, extending the lead to as much as 22 points after scoring 17 straight, holding Kansas State scoreless for five minutes to lead 59-37 with 13 minutes left. Inman tied his career-high after hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game during the run.
The Wildcats slowly chipped into the lead, cutting it to 11 points after going on an 11-2 run, with the only points for the Buffs coming at the line by Johnson. Colorado led 64-53 with eight minutes left in the game.
As Kansas State continued to creep back into the game, Inman continued to provide a spark offensively. After making two from the free throw line, he made his fifth 3-pointer of the night. This time, in the right corner of the dish, Johnson gave the Buffs a 71-61 lead with 3:34 left in the game.
After the fourth overall flagrant foul of the game, Kansas State had a six-point possession to cut the lead to 73-70. Three free throws from Johnson wrapped around two big blocks by Dak on the defensive end gave Colorado a 76-70 lead with 35 seconds left. The Buffs iced the game at the free-throw line and won 79-70.
UP NEXT
Colorado hits the road to face off against No. 5 Houston at 10 a.m. on ESPN 2. The Cougars enter on a three-game losing streak for the first time this season after falling to then No. 6 Iowa State, No. 4 Arizona, and No. 14 Kansas. The loss to Iowa State was only the second home conference loss since joining the Big 12 in 2023.
Â
Team Stats
KState
CU
FG%
.388
.431
3FG%
.217
.360
FT%
.722
.714
RB
36
43
TO
14
17
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballHIGHLIGHTS: Colorado Men's Basketball vs. Kansas State | 2.25.26
Thursday, February 26
HIGHLIGHTS: Colorado Men's Basketball vs. Oklahoma State | 2.21.26
Saturday, February 21
Basketball Coaches Show featuring Tad Boyle and JR Payne, Feb. 16, 2026.
Tuesday, February 17
Colorado Men's Basketball Postgame Press Conference at BYU | 2.14.26
Sunday, February 15