KANSAS CITY, Mis. - The No. 16 seeded Colorado Buffaloes’ (14-20, 3-17 Big 12) miracle Big 12 Championship run came to an end Thursday at the hands of the No. 1 seeded Houston Cougars (28-4, 19-1) by a score of 77-68 in the quarterfinals.
The Buffaloes got off to a similarly slow start to their second round matchup against West Virginia. Defensively, they struggled to prevent 3-pointers with Houston going 3-of-5 (60%) from beyond the arc in the first five minutes of play. Colorado struggled to respond to this early offense surge from the Cougars and were forced to call a timeout with 11:38 to play in the first half after falling behind by a score of 21-7.
In this early stretch, forward Bangot Dak was one of the few bright spots for the Buffs, as he registered four of their first six points while giving the Cougars fits on defense.
“Going into this game, I knew I needed to be more aggressive,” Dak said postgame. “I needed to play better for us to have a better game, so that was just my mindset going into this game.”
Houston continued their efficient scoring, however, and with just over seven minutes before halftime they were shooting over 50% from the field and 3-point range.
The difference between these two teams in defensive caliber was night and day early on, with Houston running effective double teams to hold Colorado scoreless for a six-minute stretch starting with just over 16 minutes to play in the first half. The Buffs' luck continued to run dry as freshman forward Sebastian Rancik went down with an apparent knee injury with six minutes remaining in the half and did not return to the game. An MRI later reported negative for a tear.
“In the moment it was pretty scary,” Rancik said. “I was kind of in shock, but I’ll know more tomorrow and I know that God’s got me and if this is something he has planned for me it’ll make me stronger and better for the future.”
The Buffs found an eventual spark when forward Andrej Jakimovski subbed back into the game. In the final five minutes of the first half he shot efficiently from beyond the arc and rebounded effectively. He finished the half 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc with three total rebounds. His effective play late in the half allowed the Buffs to claw their way back into the game as they only trailed the top-seeded Cougars by a score of 38-33 at halftime.
Despite its cold spell at the end of the first half, Houston came out of the locker room invigorated with new energy and played like a true top-seeded team. They quickly returned to their defensive dominance and forced a high volume of turnovers from the Buffaloes who finished the game with 13. Their offensive dominance was potent as well and they made it clear by taking advantage of the undersized Buffaloes and forcing a total of 23 team fouls.
“Credit to them,” said Colorado head coach Tad Boyle postgame. “They’re the second best team, by rankings, in the country for a reason.”
Their disruption prevented Colorado’s offense from finding a consistent rhythm which had been so crucial to its wins in the tournament so far. This was especially difficult for the team’s leading scorer: guard Julian Hammond III. He finished the night just 2-of-13 from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
“Every game they bring a lot of pressure,” Hammond said. “It’s tough to keep getting in the paint, getting shots in and out, and we know they rotate so well.”
Jakimovski continued to be the main scorer for the Buffs as he finished the night with 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting with eight total rebounds. His efforts weren’t enough to fend off the Cougars down the stretch, however, with a 19-point performance from guard Emanuel Sharp and two clutch 3-pointers from guard Milos Uzan in the final four minutes as the Buffaloes fell short by nine points.
The loss concludes the Buffaloes' season and as they look towards the future, there’s a lot for fans to get excited about regarding their young core.
“Being a leader is something I look forward to,” Rancik said regarding his outlook on next season. “I feel like next year, me and [Dak] especially are going to have a chance to lead this team so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Cover photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports
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