Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: CU committed 16 turnovers and allowed Oklahoma State to grab 13 offensive rebounds, which the Cowboys turned into 22 second-chance points.
Three stars
1. OSU’s Bryce Thompson. Shared the team lead with 15 points and drew a team-high eight fouls from the Buffs while finishing 7-for-9 at the free throw line.
2. OSU’s Marchelus Avery. Also finished with 15 points with a team-high seven rebounds.
3. CU’s Bangot Dak. One of the few bright spots for the Buffs, Dak finished 6-for-8 with 15 points and five rebounds.
Up next: The Buffs return home for a late-night affair on Tuesday against Brigham Young (9 p.m., ESPNU).
STILLWATER, Okla. — It had been 15 years since the Colorado men’s basketball team last visited Oklahoma State.
It’s starting to feel like the Buffaloes might go that long without winning a Big 12 game.
The early conference misery continued for the Buffs in Stillwater on Saturday, as CU couldn’t defend without fouling and was crushed on the boards in an 83-73 defeat at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The loss followed a familiar script for the Buffs, who committed 16 turnovers, surrendered 13 offensive rebounds, and once again struggled from 3-point range.
It was the sixth consecutive loss for the Buffs, the program’s longest losing streak since a seven-game slide to start Pac-12 Conference play during the 2016-17 season. That 2016-17 team is the only other Buffs squad in the past 37 seasons to start 0-6 in conference play.
“We knew the only chance to win this game was two ways,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. ”One was to take care of the basketball against their pressure. Which we knew was coming. And then the second thing was keep them off the offensive glass, because they average 13 offensive rebounds a game, and they got their average. Nobody to blame but ourselves, but give Oklahoma State credit. They were the tougher team, the more aggressive team, the better team (Saturday). We knew what we had to do to win this game, and we didn’t get it done.”
RJ Smith and Elijah Malone returned to the rotation for CU after missing Wednesday’s loss against Cincinnati, but their presence wasn’t nearly enough to spark a Buffs team that continues to trend the wrong direction with a much tougher stretch of the Big 12 schedule ahead.
CU was outrebounded 36-23, matching the Buffs’ largest rebounding deficit of the season, and the Cowboys turned their 13 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, which eclipsed Iowa State’s 21 on Dec. 30 as the most allowed by the Buffs this season. CU went just 5-for-22 on 3-pointers, dropping the Buffs’ 3-point percentage in Big 12 games to .274.
The Buffs stayed close early thanks mostly to their own repeated trips to the free throw line, where they finished 22-for-25, but that effort couldn’t offset OSU’s 31-for-42 day at the free throw line. OSU’s made free throws and attempts were the most by a CU foe since Arizona went 32-for-44 against the Buffs at the 2016 Pac-12 tournament. CU’s 29 fouls also was its most since committing 33 in that same 2016 game against Arizona.
“They were crashing the glass hard and they’re the home team, so they’re going to get a few more calls,” CU forward Bangot Dak said. “I just feel like they were the aggressor on offense, against our defense. At the other end, we’ve just got to take care of the ball still. When it gets down to it when it’s a close game, every possession matters. We just didn’t take enough pride taking care of the ball.”
CU trailed 43-33 at halftime but showed a momentary spark to start the second half, as a shift to a zone defense kept OSU out of synch for several possessions. The Buffs scored the first five points of the frame and battled to within four points on a Javon Ruffin 3-pointer, but the Cowboys steadily pulled away from there.
“We’ve got to understand what it takes to win the next game. And today was the next game,” Boyle said. “When you don’t do the things that you know you have to do to win a game, you’re not going to win a game. I’m not worried about where we are, where we’ve been. I’m worried about how are we going to win the next one, and how can we learn from the mistakes we’re making. We continue to make them.”
Oklahoma St. 83, Colorado 73
COLORADO (9-8, 0-6 Big 12)
Dak 6-8 3-3 15, Diop 0-0 0-0 0, Jakimovski 3-7 0-0 7, Hammond 3-10 4-4 10, R.Smith 0-2 2-2 2, Rancik 3-5 4-4 11, Baskin 2-6 3-4 8, Ruffin 1-4 0-0 3, Malone 2-3 5-6 9, Carrington 2-3 1-2 6, Kossaras 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-49 22-25 73.
OKLAHOMA ST. (10-7, 2-4)
Jennings 1-3 7-8 9, Ousmane 5-8 4-8 14, Dean 1-3 2-4 5, Keller 0-4 2-2 2, Thompson 4-10 7-9 15, Avery 4-10 5-7 15, Newman 1-3 0-0 3, Brantley 2-2 0-0 4, Suemnick 3-4 4-4 10, Dow 2-2 0-0 6, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Caron 0-0 0-0 0, Cole 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 31-42 83.
Halftime: Oklahoma St. 43-33; 3-point field goals: Colorado 5-22 (Carrington 1-2, Rancik 1-2, Baskin 1-3, Ruffin 1-3, Jakimovski 1-5, Dak 0-1, Malone 0-1, R.Smith 0-2, Hammond 0-3); Oklahoma St. 6-17 (Dow 2-2, Avery 2-5, Dean 1-2, Newman 1-3, Davis 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Keller 0-3). Fouled out: Diop. Rebounds: Colorado 23 (Dak 5); Oklahoma St. 36 (Avery 7). Assists: Colorado 15 (Baskin 4); Oklahoma St. 13 (Dean, Davis 3). Turnovers: Colorado 16 (Hammond 4); Oklahoma State 14 (Ousmane 4). Total fouls: Colorado 29, Oklahoma St. 21. A: 7,247.
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