Colorado welcomed one recently missing starter back to the lineup, though another remained sidelined.
The Buffaloes also played without head coach Tad Boyle, who missed his first game in 12 seasons as CU’s coach after testing positive for COVID.
Returning home after a brutal finish to last week’s three-game road trip, the Buffs hoped their home court magic against Oregon would offset the team’s ongoing personnel issues.
The Ducks had a different result in mind.
Taking advantage of the miscues from a Buffs team that once again committed far too many turnovers, Oregon pulled away from CU throughout the second half to hand CU a 66-51 defeat in a Pac-12 Conference battle Thursday night at the CU Events Center.
With associate head coach Mike Rohn filling in for Boyle, Oregon won at the Events Center for the first time since CU joined the Pac-12 and ended its 0-10 all-time mark in Boulder.
It was CU’s third consecutive loss overall, giving the Buffs their first three-game losing streak since the end of the 2019-20 season. CU (13-9, 5-8 Pac-12) also fell two games under .500 within conference play for the first time since starting the Pac-12 schedule with a 2-6 mark in 2018-19.
CU played without senior guard Elijah Parquet for the fourth time in six games due to an ongoing foot issue, while sophomore forward Tristan da Silva returned to the starting lineup following a two-game absence due to his own COVID issue.
The game was tied 40-40 early in the second half before Oregon took control with a 14-3 run, scoring the final nine points in a row. CU finished with 20 turnovers, their second-highest total of the season. CU has committed at least 16 turnovers in six consecutive games, and Oregon used the miscues to post a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
CU shot just .273 after halftime and finished with a .388 field goal percentage overall. Keeshawn Barthelemy led the Buffs with 16 points, but he didn’t score after halftime.
Oregon 66, Colorado 51
OREGON (14-7, 7-3 Pac-12)
Guerrier 3-7 2-2 9, Dante 2-5 0-0 4, Harmon 3-9 1-2 8, Richardson 6-12 0-0 13, Young 8-17 3-5 21, Williams 3-7 2-2 9, Soares 0-2 0-0 0, Kepnang 1-2 0-0 2, Bittle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 8-11 66.
COLORADO (13-9, 5-7 Pac-12)
Battey 4-9 0-0 10, Walker 4-12 2-5 11, da Silva 1-4 2-3 4, Barthelemy 6-11 2-2 16, Clifford 3-5 0-2 6, Simpson 1-5 1-2 3, Hammond 0-2 1-2 1, O’Brien 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 8-16 51.
Halftime — Oregon 36-35. 3-point goals — Oregon 6-21 (Young 2-5, Harmon 1-2, Guerrier 1-4, Richardson 1-5, Williams 1-5), Colorado 5-19 (Battey 2-4, Barthelemy 2-6, Walker 1-4, Hammond 0-1, O’Brien 0-1, Simpson 0-1, Clifford 0-2). Rebounds — Oregon 35 (Guerrier 9), Colorado 37 (Walker 12). Assists — Oregon 5 (Richardson 3), Colorado 11 (da Silva, Simpson 3). Total fouls — Oregon 15, Colorado 10.
