Colorado overcame its first-half foibles, put together a resounding rally, and almost toppled its second top-five foe in a month.
Almost, but not quite.
The CU men’s basketball team electrified the CU Events Center crowd with a stirring second-half comeback, but it wasn’t enough to take down No. 3 Iowa State as the Cyclones held off the Buffaloes late to hand CU a 79-69 defeat on Monday night in the Big 12 Conference opener.
CU trailed by six at halftime and by 12 after the Cyclones opened the second half with six straight points, but the Buffs responded with a 22-5 run to take a five-point lead. The Buffs led 55-52 with 11 minutes remaining, but the Cyclones recaptured the lead for good with an 11-2 run.
CU remained within a point after a pair of free throws by Trevor Baskin with 4 minutes, 59 seconds remaining, but ISU put the game away with a 15-4 run down the stretch.
Senior guard Julian Hammond III led the Buffs with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, while RJ Smith added 14 points. Like last month’s matchup against ISU, a 28-point Cyclones win at the Maui Invitational, CU doomed itself with turnovers, this time finishing with 19. ISU turned those 19 CU turnovers into 24 points.
CU (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) played shorthanded, as starting forward Andrej Jakimovski was sidelined due to an illness.
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