Colorado still has a chance to pull off something special in the final home game of the regular season on Saturday.
But Senior Night will not be quite as festive as it might have been.
Arizona State cooled the streaking Buffaloes and put a damper on the start of the Buffaloes’ final homestand, using a hot-shooting night to top the Buffs 82-65 in a Pac-12 battle Thursday night at the CU Events Center.
The win snapped CU’s five-game winning streak and essentially ended any chance of the Buffs playing their way into the NCAA Tournament outside a run to the Pac-12 tournament championship.
ASU posted its first win in Boulder since 2013 behind a 9-for-17 performance at the 3-point line. The Sun Devils shot .492 overall and .552 in the second half. The Sun Devils used runs of 11-0 and 11-1 in the first half to take a 37-26 lead at halftime, and ASU steadily padded its lead throughout the second half.
CU star forward Jabari Walker suffered foul trouble early, committing two fouls in the early minutes and another with just over four minutes remaining in the first half. The Buffs’ leading scorer and rebounder finished with just 12 points and seven rebounds.
Senior Evan Battey, who will play his final regular season home game on Saturday against No. 2 Arizona, paced the Buffs with 13 points.
Arizona St. 82, Colorado 65
ARIZONA ST. (11-16, 7-10 Pac-12)
Graham 7-13 0-0 14, Lawrence 1-5 3-4 5, Gaffney 1-2 0-0 2, Heath 7-10 2-3 18, Horne 3-9 0-0 8, Jackson 5-12 5-5 17, Muhammad 5-6 3-3 15, Neal 1-4 0-0 3, Boakye 0-0 0-0 0, Burno 0-0 0-0 0, Hurley 0-0 0-0 0, Olmsted 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 13-15 82.
COLORADO (18-10, 10-8 Pac-12)
Battey 4-10 2-2 13, Walker 3-9 5-7 12, da Silva 4-7 0-0 9, Barthelemy 3-11 4-4 10, Clifford 2-5 1-2 6, O’Brien 1-2 0-0 2, Hammond 2-5 4-4 9, Simpson 1-4 0-0 2, Loughlin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-54 16-19 65.
Halftime – Arizona St. 37-26. 3-Point Goals – Arizona St. 9-17 (Muhammad 2-2, Heath 2-4, Horne 2-4, Jackson 2-5, Neal 1-1, Gaffney 0-1), Colorado 7-27 (Battey 3-6, Clifford 1-2, Hammond 1-3, da Silva 1-4, Walker 1-5, O’Brien 0-1, Simpson 0-1, Barthelemy 0-5). Rebounds – Arizona St. 35 (Graham, Gaffney, Jackson 5), Colorado 25 (Walker 7). Assists – Arizona St. 12 (Jackson 4), Colorado 8 (Barthelemy 3). Total Fouls – Arizona St. 19, Colorado 16.
