Colorado’s men’s basketball team nearly overcame a large deficit against Texas Tech on Saturday but ultimately lost 73-71 at the CU Events Center. The Buffaloes, coached by Tad Boyle, now hold a 12-4 overall record and are 2-1 in Big 12 play. Texas Tech also moved to 12-4 and 2-1 in conference.
The Buffaloes trailed by as many as 24 points early in the second half before mounting a comeback led by freshman Isaiah Johnson, who scored all of his 21 points after halftime and was perfect from the free-throw line with 13 makes. Barrington Hargress contributed 17 points, while Sebastian Rancik added 13 points and eight rebounds.
In the final moments, Colorado had an opportunity to tie or win. “We had no timeout,” Hargress said about the last possession. “We were really focused on getting that stop and giving ourselves a chance to either put the game in overtime or get the win. We took care of that part. Then, Isaiah (Johnson) and I were looking to get a good shot up.”
Texas Tech featured four players scoring in double figures, including Donovan Atwell with five three-pointers. JT Toppin recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, along with four assists. LeJuan Watts also notched a double-double for Texas Tech.
Colorado outscored Texas Tech by 21 over the final stretch of the game but could not overcome earlier struggles. The Red Raiders made eight three-pointers at a high percentage in the first half but were limited to just three makes from long range after halftime.
Reflecting on his team’s effort, Boyle said: “We found out when we took our trip to Australia that we have a really competitive team that won’t budge for anything. It took us a while to wake up, and the biggest thing we talked about after the game was that if we can be that competitive team you guys saw in the last six minutes of the game, we can play with anybody. So, that really has to be our consistent approach.”
A recurring issue for Colorado this season has been allowing offensive rebounds; Texas Tech grabbed 16 such boards and turned them into ten second-chance points. Boyle addressed this concern: “This year’s Achilles heel is our inability to finish possessions,” he said. “It’s not about winning and losing to me, I told myself that I’m not going to let my emotional state be dictated by wins and losses. I’m going to let my emotional state be dictated by how our team is executing, how we are, how we execute, and every game plan is to finish possessions when we get our stops. You don’t get an offensive rebound unless a shot goes up and doesn’t go in. So when they shoot it and it goes in, that’s a basket. There’s no offensive rebound when they shoot it and miss it. Now there’s either a defensive rebound or an offensive rebound. Our problem is too many offensive rebounds for the opponent, and it’s happened all year.”
Colorado started strong offensively but experienced cold stretches throughout both halves which allowed Texas Tech to build its lead.
Next up for Colorado is an away game against Cincinnati on Wednesday, January 14 at 5 p.m., broadcast on Peacock.
