Colorado men’s basketball played a near-identical game against the Cincinnati Bearcats to the one against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, ending in the same result: a loss in Big 12 Conference play.
The Buffs struggled out of the game in the 77-68 loss, starting the game on a three-minute scoring drought that saw the Bearcats go up 10-0. The slow first half was once again disastrous, filled with turnovers and missed layups that doomed them to an 18-point halftime deficit Colorado couldn’t overcome. Colorado turned the ball over 17 times in this one, with 10 of those coming in the first half, gifting the Bearcats 19 early points.
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“We wanted to really come out and be the ones to throw the first punch and get them on their heels, but they did that to us,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. “We knew this was going to be a physical game. We knew they’d be aggressive. We lost this game in the first half, there’s no doubt about it.”
Once again, the Buffaloes showed much more life in the second half, with star point guard Isaiah Johnson leading the way to cut the lead to single digits at one point. Still coming off the bench, Johnson scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, but contributed four turnovers. Starter Barrington Hargress had another up-and-down night, scoring 14 points on 4-9 shooting with two turnovers.
Colorado couldn’t find their way at the three-point line either, shooting 7-20 as a team. Alon Michaeli and Sebastian Rancik, who’ve both been some of the Buffs’ best scorers from beyond the arc, were ice cold and shot a collective 1-6 from downtown.
The loss is another “so close, yet so far” effort for the Buffaloes in Big 12 Conference play. The loss sends them to 12-5 on the year and 2-2 in the conference. They get their next chance to get back in the win column on the road against West Virginia on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT.
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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Recapping Colorado basketball’s loss to Cincinnati
