Colorado lost to Stanford 77-68 on Saturday in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Series Phoenix at the Mortgage Matchup Center. The Buffaloes’ record moved to 10-2, while Stanford also improved to 10-2. This was the first meeting between the teams since their time as Pac-12 rivals in 2024.
Head coach Tad Boyle addressed his team’s performance after the game. “We just got punked tonight,” Boyle said. “I don’t think there is any other way you can say it. We were up two points at halftime and they out rebounded us by 13 on the glass, nine offensive in the second half alone. We had seven offensive rebounds for the whole 40 minute game, they had nine in the second half. You don’t have to look anywhere more than the rebounding column to see why Stanford won and why Colorado lost.”
Barrington Hargress led Colorado with 16 points and six assists. Sebastian Rancik added 14 points, while Isaiah Johnson scored 11.
Stanford’s freshman guard Ebuka Okorie set a new school record for most points by a freshman in a single game, finishing with 32 points. He shot six-of-13 from the field and made 18 of his 21 free throw attempts.
Colorado started strong in the first half, building up a seven-point lead by controlling play inside. However, Stanford closed that gap as Colorado managed only one made shot during the final five minutes before halftime.
The Buffaloes’ struggles continued into much of the second half; they began five-of-20 from the field and saw Stanford build a lead that grew as large as sixteen points with six minutes left.
“They came out of halftime and out of 15 possessions, we had five stops,” Hargress said. “We stopped getting stops and then we let their shooters get active and then just turning the ball over. It created a disaster, and then we didn’t respond. It was a snowball effect that we let avalanche.”
In spite of making seven of their last eight shots late in regulation, Colorado could not generate enough defensive stops to close the deficit.
Stanford limited Colorado to twelve-of-twenty-eight shooting after halftime and forced eleven turnovers leading to thirteen points; overall, Colorado committed eighteen turnovers which resulted in twenty-three Stanford points throughout the game. While Colorado held Stanford to eleven-of-twenty-five shooting from the field after halftime, frequent fouls sent Stanford to line thirty times in just one half—forty-one times overall for the game.
Colorado will return home next Sunday following a holiday break for its final non-conference matchup against Northern Colorado at CU Events Center (1 p.m., ESPN+).
