Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: CU committed 19 turnovers and surrendered 20 offensive rebounds, digging a hole that couldn’t be erased by a solid shooting night.
Three stars
1. CU’s Julian Hammond III. The senior guard led the way the entire night, recording 21 points, four rebounds and four assists without committing a turnover.
2. ISU’s Curtis Jones. Finished just 5-for-16 from the field, but he got to the rim at will went 8-for-8 on free throws before finishing iwth a team-high 20 points.
3. CU’s RJ Smith. Shook off a shaky start to continue his hot shooting from long range, going 3-for-6 on 3-pointers with 14 points.
Up next: The Buffs play their first true road game of the season when they visit former Pac-12 rival Arizona State on Saturday (4 p.m. MT, ESPN+).
Colorado overcame their first-half foibles, put together a resounding rally, and almost toppled their second top-five foe in a month.
Almost, but not quite.
The CU men’s basketball team electrified the CU Events Center crowd with a stirring second-half comeback, but it wasn’t enough to topple No. 3 Iowa State as the Cyclones held off the Buffaloes late to hand CU a 79-69 defeat on Monday night in the Big 12 Conference opener.
CU, which played without starting forward Andrej Jakimovski due to an illness, lost to Iowa State by 28 points last month at the Maui Invitational due in large part to too many turnovers while surrendering too many second-chance points. Those two issues were the focal points at practice the past week, yet in the end it was too many turnovers and second-chance points that nullified the Buffs’ upset bid.
“We lost to a hell of a team. Iowa State, they’re No. 3 in the nation for a reason,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “They’re tough. They’re well-coached. They’ve got good players. Our players fought, and they battled, and they scratched and they clawed. I’ve got no issues with our effort.
“But we knew the answer to the test before the test was given. We talked about it after the game in Maui. We practiced it — handling their pressure, taking care of the basketball, which we didn’t do a good enough job of for 40 minutes.”
In Maui, the Buffs committed 18 turnovers that led to 37 points for the Cyclones, while also giving up 14 second-chance points. In the rematch on Monday, the Buffs committed 19 turnovers — their second-highest total of the season — that led to 24 extra points for the Cyclones. CU also surrendered a gaudy 20 offensive rebounds, leading to 21 second-chance points for ISU.
Although CU shot well, finishing with a .491 mark, the shooting touch wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the turnovers, poor rebounding, and a glaring discrepancy at the free throw line, where the Cyclones went 17-for-22. CU made just six free throws in a season-low eight attempts.
“We have to take care of the ball and be more physical, and embrace the physicality on the offensive boards,” CU guard RJ Smith said. “I think that’s what lost us this game.”
CU trailed by six at halftime and 12 after the Cyclones opened the second half with six straight points, but the Buffs responded with a 22-5 run that brought the season-high crowd of 9,157 to its feet and gave CU a five-point lead. The Buffs still led 55-52 with 11 minutes remaining, but the Cyclones recaptured the lead for good with an 11-2 run.
CU remained within a point after a pair of free throws by Trevor Baskin with 4 minutes, 59 seconds remaining, yet ISU put the game away with a 15-4 run. The Buffs managed only two field goals during a span of nearly five and a half minutes down the stretch.
Senior guard Julian Hammond III led the Buffs with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Smith added 14 points.
“It’s frustrating, because you work on it,” Boyle said. “You work on it in practice. You show film. You break down drills. We did well enough at times. We back-cut them and got some buckets and made some plays. It’s not like we didn’t do it at all. It’s just those turnovers and they lead to layups at the other end. We just had too many of those.”
Iowa State 79, Colorado 69
IOWA STATE (11-1, 1-0)
Jefferson 6-12 1-1 13, Momcilovic 2-9 0-0 5, Jackson 3-5 2-2 8, Gilbert 6-10 2-2 14, Lipsey 4-10 1-2 10, Jones 5-16 8-8 20, Chatfield 3-4 3-7 9, Heise 0-2 0-0 0, Fish 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-68 17-22 79.
COLORADO (9-3, 0-1)
Baskin 3-6 2-3 8, Diop 1-2 2-2 4, Malone 3-6 0-0 6, Hammond 9-17 0-0 21, Smith 5-10 1-2 14, Ruffin 4-7 1-1 9, Dak 2-5 0-0 4, Rancik 1-3 0-0 3, Carrington 0-1 0-0 0, Kossaras 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 6-8 69.
Halftime — Iowa St. 37-31; 3-point field goals — Iowa St. 4-18 (Jones 2-7, Lipsey 1-4, Momcilovic 1-4, Gilbert 0-1, Heise 0-1, Jefferson 0-1); Colorado 7-22 (Smith 3-6, Hammond 3-7, Rancik 1-3, Carrington 0-1, Dak 0-1, Malone 0-2, Ruffin 0-2). Rebounds — Iowa St. 32 (Jefferson, Chatfield 7); Colorado 28 (Dak 8). Assists — Iowa St. 9 (Gilbert 3), Colorado 18 (Dak 5). Turnovers — Iowa State 9 (Jefferson 3); Colorado 19 (Diop 5). Total fouls — Iowa St. 14, Colorado 18. A — 9,157.
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