Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: BYU went 11-for-22 on 3-pointers while the Buffs went 9-for-32. CU also left points at the free throw line, going 11-for-18.
Three stars
1. BYU’s Robert Wright III. Picked up the scoring slack from the injured Richie Saunders, going 12-for-16 from the floor and 11-for-13 at the free throw line while scoring a career-high 39 points.
2. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa. A defensive effort led by Sebastian Rancik made the Cougars’ freshman phenom work for his points (6-for-20, seven turnovers), but he still finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
3. CU’s Isaiah Johnson. Was the top freshman on the floor despite BYU’s future lottery pick in Dybantsa. Johnson hit four 3-pointers and posted a season-high 27 points, the most by any Buffs player this season.
Up next: CU will have a full week off before hosting Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 21 (1:30 p.m., TNT)
PROVO, Utah — Brigham Young immortalized a program all-timer by retiring the No. 32 jersey of former Cougars sharpshooter Jimmer Fredette.
Colorado shook off its recent road doldrums and did its best to ruin the party for the 22nd-ranked Cougars. Yet the Buffaloes couldn’t quite finish the job.
A short-handed BYU squad held off a spirited upset bid by CU, as the Buffs lost a 90-86 decision in overtime Saturday at the Marriott Center. Despite the encouraging effort, it was CU’s ninth loss in the past 11 games and its 25th consecutive loss in a true road game against a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
The Cougars played most of the game without star Richie Saunders, who went down with a leg injury 45 seconds into the game and didn’t return.
“That was a heck of a college basketball game. I’m really, really proud of our guys,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “We got spanked and punched in the face on Wednesday against Texas Tech. But (Saturday) I felt like we were aggressive the whole game, and we fought like a team I’m proud of representing.
“I’m just proud of our guys’ fight. I’m proud of their resilience.”
CU sophomore forward Sebastian Rancik put together arguably his best defensive effort with the Buffs, taking the lead on a defensive assignment against BYU standout freshman AJ Dybantsa. Dybantsa still filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, but he went 6-for-20 from the floor with a season-high seven turnovers.
BYU guard Robert Wright III picked up the slack for the missing Saunders, scoring a career-high 39 points while leading the Cougars’ 3-point assault. BYU entered the game ranked 12th in Big 12 games with a .332 3-point percentage, but against CU’s defense the Cougars hit seven of their first eight 3-pointers before finishing 11-for-22.
The Cougars also entered the game dead last in Big 12 games with a defensive 3-point percentage of .382, but the Buffs finished just 9-for-32 from the arc (.281). Barrington Hargress went 4-for-6 from long range, but the rest of the Buffs finished 5-for-26 (.192).
“To put up a fight like that against a top-25 team on the road, thatap what we were looking to do in Lubbock,” Hargress said. “We saw what we needed to do, and we came out here and tried to do that to the best of our capabilities. But we didn’t pull it out.”
BYU led 37-32 at halftime and added the first basket after the break, but the Buffs answered with 13 consecutive points to take a 45-39 lead at the first media timeout of the second half. CU’s lead still stood at six points, 51-45, when the Cougars scored six straight points to pull even, getting two of those points on free throws off a technical foul from the Buffs’ bench on assistant coach Nate Tomlinson, then netting two more on free throws after a Josiah Sanders flagrant foul.
CU still led 58-55 when BYU put together a 10-2 run to recapture the lead. The Buffs remained within 78-76 after a shot in the lane by Bangot Dak with 1 minute, 45 seconds to play. After CU recorded a pair of defensive stops, a driving bucket by freshman guard Isaiah Johnson tied the game at 78-78, and solid defense by Rancik on a final chance by Dybantsa at the buzzer sent the game into overtime.
The teams traded points in the extra session until BYU’s Mihailo Boskovic broke an 82-82 tie with a 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining. The Buffs had three chances at a tying 3-pointer on one possession but came up short, and BYU iced the win at the free throw line.
“We had a team meeting, just with the players. We just talked about certain things we needed to get done,” Johnson said. “We talked about all week holding each other accountable, being able to play hard and play with Colorado on our chests and not the name on the back.”
No. 22 BYU 90, Colorado 86, OT
COLORADO (14-12, 4-9 Big 12)
Dak 7-12 1-1 15, Rancik 2-9 5-6 9, Hargress 7-11 2-3 20, Holland 4-9 0-4 9, Johnson 10-23 3-4 27, Sanders 1-2 0-0 2, Michaeli 1-5 0-0 2, Ifaola 1-1 0-0 2, Inman 0-1 0-0 0, Malone 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 33-75 11-18 86.
BYU (19-6, 7-5)
Dybantsa 6-20 7-10 20, Keita 2-4 0-0 4, Davis 3-7 2-2 9, Saunders 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 12-16 11-13 39, Ahmed 0-1 1-2 1, Mrus 2-3 0-0 6, Boskovic 1-4 0-0 3, Kostic 2-4 0-0 6, Mboup 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-62 21-27 90.
Halftime: BYU 37-32. 3-point field goals: Colorado 9-32 (Hargress 4-6, Johnson 4-12, Holland 1-3, Inman 0-1, Michaeli 0-2, Dak 0-3, Rancik 0-5); BYU 11-22 (Wright 4-4, Mrus 2-3, Kostic 2-4, Boskovic 1-1, Davis 1-3, Dybantsa 1-6, Mboup 0-1). Fouled out: Rancik, Holland. Rebounds: Colorado 39 (Rancik 10); BYU 46 (Dybantsa 13). Assists: Colorado 18 (Rancik 6); BYU 16 (Dybantsa 8). Turnovers: Colorado 7 (Johnson 3); BYU 16 (Dybantsa 7). Total fouls: Colorado 23, BYU 15. A: 18,163.
