Contact CU Independent Men’s Basketball Writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu and follow her on Twitter @crazysportgirl1.
Despite a strong second half showing from the Colorado men’s basketball team on Friday night, the Utah Utes turned Boulder into Heartbreak City, as Lorenzo Bonam sank the game-winning shot with a second left to hand the Buffs their second Pac-12 loss, 56-54.
“This was a heck of a game and it was won by the team that made big plays down the stretch,” head coach Tad Boyle said. “Utah made plays, we didn’t.”
“They made a good play at the end,” senior forward Josh Scott said. “I think, if you look everywhere else, I think we didn’t anything bad. I mean on offense, we could have been a bit better. Defensively, right there, they made that play at the end. Bottom line, it’s going to happen.”
With ten minutes left in the game, the Buffaloes led their Rocky Mountain rivals by nine points before they let it all slip away from their grasp.
Scott, however, was the highlight of the night. After scoring 10 points and grabbing just as many boards, he finished the night with the 31st double-double of his career. Additionally, he held the best percentage shooter in the conference, Jakob Poeltl, to just six points. Prior to the matchup, the Poeltl was shooting 68.7 percent, third in the nation.
“I think defensively, I did great,” Scott said. “I think offensively, you know, a little frustrated. Didn’t get some calls I thought I should have got, but that’s basketball, it’s going to happen some nights.”
Colorado shot 38.3 percent from the field (23-of-60) and 31.3 percent from deep (5-of-16), but it was the turnovers that ultimately did the Buffs in. Although they only committed 12 turnovers, Utah capitalized on nearly every one with 19 points, including the last two off of a Josh Fortune turnover to give the Utes the ball for the last time.
The Utes shot 40.4 percent on the night (21-of-52) and made six of their 16 three-point attempts (37.5 percent). They narrowly won the turnover game with 11.
Sophomore guard George King was back to his old self, as he finished the game with 21 points and kept the team afloat for much of the contest. No other Buff got close to scoring in double digits.
The Buffs got off to a bit of a slow start, as they allowed Utah to get on the board first and didn’t score for nearly four minutes. The rest of the half, however, was as tumultuous as you’d expect a Pac-12 game to be the way the conference is looking this year.
By the end of the first half, the Buffs and Utes remained nearly deadlocked with eight lead changes and three ties, despite absolutely horrendous shooting from Colorado to start out the game, which reached as low as 15 percent at one point.
But as the clock wore down, Colorado’s shooting improved ever so slightly. They couldn’t seem to overcome Utah’s airtight defense but responded fairly well at the other basket. Thanks to a plethora of turnovers from both teams, the competition remained close in spite of the offensive woes. Utah finished the half with nine turnovers to Colorado’s six.
When the clock struck zero for the break, the Utes had barely edged out the Buffs with a 26-24 score.
Midway through the second half, Colorado got hot as it amassed a nine-point lead, 44-35. But, as was to be expected, the Utes stormed back on a 17-8 run tie the game back up with three minutes remaining, 52-52.
They then turned a nine-point run into a lead, 54-52, with a minute and a half on the clock to put the Buffs on edge. But CU wasn’t done just yet. King responded with double-teamed layup just 18 seconds later, taking this matchup down to the wire.
With 1.1 seconds left, Lorenzo Bonam did the Buffs in with a contested layup, leaving Colorado with no time to recover. Fortune heaved a full court shot that was off the mark as time expired, even though Colorado had a timeout left. The Utes walked away with their first conference victory, while the Buffs dropped to 1-2 in Pac-12 play.
“You can blame this loss on the coach for not calling a timeout at the end and making sure we get a great shot,” Boyle said. “I’m kicking myself, obviously, had one left, so I’m disappointed.”
The Buffs return to their home court on Wednesday, Jan. 13 against the Oregon State Beavers at 9 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
