Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: Colorado sputtered during the first 10 minutes and struggled from 3-point range (4-for-17) and at the free throw line (13-for-22).
Three stars
1. CU’s Bangot Dak. The sophomore forward went 8-for-14 from the field and 3-for-3 at the free throw line, finishing with a career-high 20 points, four rebounds and two steals.
2. ISU’s Joshua Jefferson. In a balanced attack for the Cyclones, Jefferson posted 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
3. ISU’s Dishon Jackson. Went 7-for-10 at the free throw line, finishing with 13 points and three rebounds.
Up next: CU returns home to host Baylor on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).
AMES, Iowa — The third time definitely was not a charm for the Colorado men’s basketball team.
Familiarity didn’t help the Buffaloes in their third matchup this season against Iowa State, as the eighth-ranked Cyclones ran away from the Buffs while handing CU a 79-65 defeat on Tuesday night.
The Buffs were unable to build on the momentum from their first Big 12 win of the season last week and did nothing to warm up Hilton Coliseum on a frigid night in Ames. CU recorded just one field goal in the first 10 minutes and struggled to slow down the hosts during the third loss against the Cyclones this season.
The defeat also extended CU’s losing streak against ranked foes in true road games to 21.
“We didn’t handle their pressure. Thatap the biggest thing,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “You’ve got to be, as a ball-handler, you’ve got to be strong with that ball. Because they’re reaching. They’re slapping. They’re digging at it. They’re putting pressure on you, so you’ve got to be able to handle that. We’ve got to come meet passes and be better cutters away from the ball. We didn’t do a very good job of that tonight at all.
“Their pressure was at another level tonight. And we didn’t handle it very well.”
Despite CU’s thorough struggles, the Buffs trailed by only five points after a Julian Hammond 3-pointer — CU’s only field goal of the first 10 minutes, which occurred more than five minutes in. But it was those first 10 minutes that sent the Buffs to their 14th defeat in the past 15 games.
Ten minutes into the game, the Buffs had five times as many turnovers (five) as field goals (one). CU finished with 14 turnovers, a total thatap less than desirable but still was under the Buffs’ average. Yet the Buffs committed eight of those turnovers in the game’s first 11 minutes, 28 seconds.
Compounding the Buffs’ early struggles from the field was their sub-par showing at the free throw line. CU entered the game with the fourth-best free throw percentage in the conference in Big 12 games but finished 13-for-22, with Trevor Baskin missing all four of his free throw attempts in the first five-plus minutes when CU still was in position to stay close.
“You shoot 59% at the free throw line, you miss as many layups as we did, your margin for error on the road is very narrow to begin with,” Boyle said. “But it becomes like the Grand Canyon when you don’t handle the pressure, and you can’t finish at the free throw line or at the rim.”
Iowa State shot .591 during the first half while racing to a 45-28 lead at the break, matching the most points allowed by the Buffs in an opening half this season that the Cyclones posted in the teams’ first matchup in November at the Maui Invitational. The Buffs didn’t get closer than 15 points until a Felix Kossaras 3-pointer in the waning seconds.
Bangot Dak (20 points) and Harrison Carrington (11) both posted career-high scoring marks, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the early turnovers, poor free throw shooting, and a 4-for-17 effort on 3-pointers.
“I feel like we just weren’t making some shots,” Dak said. “I thought we got some good shots up. But we let their defense dictate how the game was going to go a little bit to start. Those are just things we’ve got to take away from the jump, because they sped us up a little bit, took us out of our actions a little bit to start. Those just can’t happen in games like these.”
No. 8 Iowa State 79, Colorado 65
COLORADO (10-16, 1-14 Big 12)
Dak 8-14 3-3 20, Jakimovski 4-8 2-5 10, Rancik 2-2 0-0 4, Malone 0-4 2-2 2, Hammond 3-9 2-2 9, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Carrington 4-5 2-3 11, Ruffin 2-5 2-2 6, Kossaras 1-1 0-0 3, Diop 0-3 0-1 0, Baskin 0-0 0-4 0. Totals 24-53 13-22 65.
IOWA ST. (21-5, 11-4)
Jefferson 4-6 2-3 12, Momcilovic 2-8 7-8 13, Jackson 3-4 7-10 13, Gilbert 1-3 2-4 5, Lipsey 4-7 2-2 12, Jones 3-9 0-2 7, Heise 4-6 1-2 11, Chatfield 3-3 0-0 6, Fish 0-0 0-0 0, Indrusaitis 0-0 0-0 0, Kelderman 0-0 0-0 0, Rock 0-1 0-0 0, Watson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 21-31 79.
Halftime: Iowa St. 45-28. 3-point field goals: Colorado 4-17 (Carrington 1-1, Kossaras 1-1, Dak 1-3, Hammond 1-4, Diop 0-1, Ruffin 0-2, Smith 0-2, Jakimovski 0-3); Iowa St. 10-21 (Jefferson 2-2, Heise 2-3, Lipsey 2-4, Momcilovic 2-6, Gilbert 1-2, Jones 1-4). Fouled out: Rancik, Jackson. Rebounds: Colorado 29 (Kossaras 5); Iowa St. 31 (Jefferson 7). Assists: Colorado 10 (Hammond, Smith, Kossaras 2); Iowa St. 19 (Gilbert 5). Turnovers: Colorado 14 (Hammond 4); Iowa State 14 (Gilbert 6). Total fouls: Colorado 25, Iowa St. 20. A: 14,267.
