Buffs suffer first loss of season in Rocky Mountain Showdown

Colorado head coach Tad Boyle looks on as his team suffers its first loss of the season. (Photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes (8-1) fell at the hands of their archrival Colorado State Rams (7-2) 91-86 on Saturday. In the tough road environment, the Buffaloes ran out of answers for the first time in 2025.

The Rams won the opening tip-off and broke out the big guns on offense early. A three-pointer from guard Josh Pascarelli opened the scoring, and it was just the first of many. 

The Rams nailed 10 three-pointers in the first half, shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc. 

It was tough sledding for the Buffs in that category, as they only hit three of their 10 shots from three-point land in the first half.

The Rams built momentum off a three-pointer from guard Jase Butler and a pair of missed free throws from Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson. This kept the Rams' lead at 20-18 with under 11 minutes to play, a lead they only built on for the remainder of the half.

After another pair of threes from Pascarelli and guard Brandon Rechsteiner, the Rams held an eight-point lead, 28-20. 

Rechsteiner caught fire in the last seven minutes of the first half, as he hit another three and a clutch layup to bring his point total to eight. Additionally, he tallied four assists in the first half, which accounted for half of his team’s total.

Offensive rebounding was nearly impossible for the Buffs to come by in the first half, as they recorded their first with just 4:11 to play before halftime. 

Despite CU’s overall inability to use their size at the rim, forward Bangot Dak asserted his on back-to-back lob jam dunks with under two minutes to play. Michaeli followed those up with a three-pointer to cut the Rams' lead to 45-39

A pair of traded shots sent both teams into the locker room for halftime with Colorado State leading 48-41.

While the Rams continued to find success from beyond the arc early in the second half, the Buffaloes quickly found success of their own after CSU’s three-pointers stopped falling. 

Off the backs of multiple forced turnovers from forward Sebastian Rancik and Johnson, the Buffaloes tied the game at 62 apiece. 

Freshman guard Jalin Holland followed this up with a second-chance dunk that gave the Buffs their first lead since 19:17 in the first half. Another dunk from guard Felix Kossarras extended their lead to four, but that was as far away as CU could push the Rams

Pascarelli took over the game and cut the Buffaloes' lead to one off a three-pointer. His team rallied around him from beyond the arc, as a Butler three gave the Rams the lead.

“We just weren’t locked in on the scouting report,” Johnson said following the loss. “Coach told us before the game that we’ve got to take away three-pointers, and we just didn’t execute that.”

CSU attempted 35 three-pointers in the game and hit 18 of them. The Buffaloes knew the Rams would threaten from three-point range, but failed to execute on the scouting report. 

“Nobody listened to me, and nobody listened to our scouting report,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said postgame. “...If you let a team make 18 threes, it’s going to be hard to win no matter who you’re playing or where you’re playing.”

While Colorado took the lead once more with 2:40 to play, Pascarelli’s 26 points off 9-for-13 shooting and 8-for-10 shooting from three-point range were too much for the Buffaloes to overcome.

The Buffs' next game will be back at the CU Events Center on Saturday, when they will face the UTSA Roadrunners at 2 p.m. MT (ESPN+).