Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: Pick a reason. Houston shot 60%, made 10 3-pointers, and outrebounded CU 34-22.
Three stars
1. UH’s Milos Uzan. Finished 9-for-13 with five 3-pointers, matching a career-high with 26 points while adding six assists.
2. UH’s Kingston Flemings. The Cougars’ standout freshman recorded 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
3. CU’s Isaiah Johnson. The game’s other star freshman guard broke out of a recent mini-slump, finishing with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Up next: CU travels to Utah for the final road game of the regular season on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN+).
HOUSTON — Compared to other recent road ventures against nationally-ranked teams, it wasn’t a bad start at all for Colorado.
In the early moments against No. 5 Houston, the Buffaloes forced a few misses, knocked down some confidence-building shots, and even took a quick eight-point lead.
But the good vibes didn’t last long. And neither did Tad Boyle.
The Buffs completely collapsed after a solid start and never recovered, suffering a lopsided 102-62 defeat on Saturday at the Fertitta Center. Boyle was ejected with 3 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the first half after being assessed a pair or technical fouls.
The loss was CU’s 13th in a row against a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and its 26th consecutive loss against ranked teams in true road games. The Buffs also fell to 1-18 in road games since the start of the 2024-25 season.
For the first time in nine years, Houston was coming off three consecutive losses — against top-15 teams Iowa State, Arizona and Kansas, facing two of them on the road — but the Cougars dominated the Buffs in all facets.
“Credit Houston. That’s a top-five team in the country, there’s no doubt about it,” Boyle said. “I know they had lost three straight coming in here, but I knew coach (Kelvin) Sampson would have their attention. And they did.
“I liked the way we started the game. But we couldn’t sustain it, and Houston’s just so good on both sides of the ball. It’s a great learning opportunity for our young guys to see what a top-five team in the country looks like.”
The Buffs jumped to an early 10-2 lead, but it was all Houston from there. The Cougars twice reeled off 12 consecutive points during a dominant 27-5 run, taking a 26-point lead at halftime and pushing the advantage to 29 points early in the second half. The Buffs surrendered eight offensive rebounds in the first half and committed 10 turnovers by halftime, offsetting a decent shooting performance that saw CU finish with a .460 mark.
CU finished with 15 turnovers, tying its second-highest total in Big 12 play. The Cougars recorded eight of their 10 second-chance points in the first half and finished with a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers.
“I just feel like we were complacent today,” CU guard Isaiah Johnson said. “We came out ready to play, but over time we kept getting a lack of effort, lack of concentration, on the defensive end. We’ve just got to be better.”
Johnson was a bright spot offensively for the Buffs, as he went 7-for-9 with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds. Houston outrebounded CU 34-22 and recorded a .596 field goal percentage, including a 10-for-17 mark on 3-pointers. It was the 10th time in 29 games CU has allowed the opposition to shoot at least 50%, and it was the 11th time a team has hit at least 10 3-pointers against the Buffs.
Even with a four-point overtime loss at BYU in the mix, CU has lost its past five Big 12 road games by an average of 25.4 points.
“Our transition defense wasn’t good enough by any stretch of the imagination,” Boyle said. “Our toughness wasn’t good enough on the glass. You know you’re in for a war with Houston every time you play them. We just weren’t tough enough. We weren’t good enough in transition. And we didn’t know their personnel well enough.
“Now, their personnel is very good. They’re going to make tough shots. But you’ve got to make them make the shots you want them to make. And we didn’t do that.”
No. 5 Houston 102, Colorado 62
COLORADO (16-13, 6-10 Big 12)
Dak 6-12 3-5 15, Rancik 3-4 4-4 11, Hargress 3-7 0-0 6, Holland 1-5 1-3 3, Johnson 7-9 3-3 19, Inman 0-3 0-0 0, Sanders 1-3 2-2 4, Michaeli 1-4 0-0 2, Ifaola 0-0 0-1 0, Kossaras 1-3 0-0 2, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 13-18 62.
HOUSTON (24-5, 12-4)
Tugler 4-8 6-7 14, Cenac 6-8 0-0 12, Flemings 4-5 3-4 11, Sharp 2-7 4-4 10, Uzan 9-13 3-4 26, Miller 2-5 5-6 10, McCarty 3-5 2-2 10, Sakho 4-5 1-2 9, Harwell 0-0 0-2 0, Lath 0-1 0-0 0, McFarland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-57 24-31 102.
Halftime: Houston 55-29; 3-point field goals: Colorado 3-14 (Johnson 2-4, Rancik 1-1, Dak 0-1, Holland 0-2, Hargress 0-3, Inman 0-3); Houston 10-17 (Uzan 5-7, McCarty 2-3, Sharp 2-5, Miller 1-2). Rebounds: Colorado 22 (Hargress 5); Houston 34 (Miller 8). Assists: Colorado 14 (Hargress 6); Houston 20 (Flemings 8). Turnovers: Colorado 15 (Six players with 2); Houston 7 (Sharp 2). Total fouls: Colorado 21, Houston 15. Technicals: CU coach Tad Boyle 2; CU bench; Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. A: 7,035.
from The Denver Post https://ift.tt/GHQyg6z
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