Buffs Fall to No. 16 USC
CU men’s basketball team went the distance, ended up short in crunch time.
On Thursday, Jan. 20, the Buffaloes fell just short from knocking off No. 16 University of Southern California.
What started off as a back and forth game, eventually ended up slipping out of the Buffs’ hands due to turnovers and numerous 2nd chance points that USC excelled on. The Buffs are now 0-4 against ranked opponents this season.
Although Colorado was able to stick in the fight tying it up 25-25 at half, both teams continued to make messy turnovers costing not only the Trojans, but primarily the Buffaloes. USC was able to capitalize their rebounding skills in the paint as they dominated the first half earning eight 2nd chance points compared to CU’s two.
At the post-game press conference Senior Evan Battey spoke about the Buffaloes issues with turnovers saying, “I don’t know how we can fix turnovers, we’ve tried everything, but we’re going to keep on trying.” Battey put up 10 points and picked up eight boards off the glass.
“This loss is on me, I’ll take the blame,” said head coach Tad Boyle during the postgame press conference. “There’s some really telling stats tonight. Turning 16 turnovers on offense is one of them, then getting outrebounded by 15 is the other one, and then getting out scored 38 to 12 in the paint.”
During the second half of the game it seemed CU had built momentum when Nique Clifford hit a 3-pt jumper off the fast break, then for their next offensive play, Tristan Da Silva hit another 3-pt from downtown as the crowd went wild.
Luke O’Brien with the trey! pic.twitter.com/7Yr2t5gBs9
— Sko Buffs Sports (@SBS_CU) January 21, 2022
At that point the Buffs’ were up by their biggest lead – five points with 6:41 left to go in the game, but from that point on, they were careless with the ball. The rest of the plays were last ditch efforts to stick in the game, but what stood out more than anything was their failure to show any plan of execution to seal the game with victory.
As February is approaching around the corner that means the Buffs’ opportunities to shine are quickly disappearing. The 2022 March Madness Tournament is on the horizon and if the Buffaloes want a chance to go dancing they need to make significant improvements if they stand a chance of making a run in the tournament. For the team to make a run in the tournament, they must improve their ball handling skills, optimize their abilities to rebound in the pain, and need to do a better job of defending the ball. USC was able to upstage the Buffaloes as they turned the ball over 16 times leading to 14 USC points and USC had seven fast break points just within the first half.
The Buffs will be wrapping up their home series with No. 9 UCLA coming to visit the Keg on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the CU Events Center. The Buffs aren’t down for the count yet, but if they want the recognition that comes with the March Madness Tournament, Saturday is the game to see if they have what it takes to go the distance.
