Cyclones blow out Buffaloes as CU loses sixth straight
- Liam Howard
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
The Colorado Buffaloes (12-9, 2-6 Big 12) fell in Ames, Iowa, at the hands of the No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones (19-2, 6-2 Big 12) in a 97-67 boat race on Thursday. This marks Colorado’s sixth-straight loss since starting Big 12 play 2-0.
The Buffaloes snatched an early lead off the opening tip-off, as forward Sebastian Rancik drained a three. However, that was the last Colorado bucket for the next seven minutes, and its only lead of the game, as Iowa State exploded in response.
The Cyclones answered Rancik’s three with a quick layup from guard Tamin Lipsey. The momentum fully shifted to the Cyclones after CU center Elijah Malone and forward Bangot Dak coughed up the ball on back-to-back possessions. Iowa State capitalized with a layup after the first turnover.
As soon as Colorado got a jolt via a block from Dak, it couldn’t capitalize and Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic knocked down a three on the second chance.
Iowa State’s three-pointers only picked up, as it nailed seven of its 13 attempts in the first half.
Defensively, the Cyclones stifled the Buffs for the first 10 minutes, extending their lead as high as 30-4 in that time.
While Colorado’s offense, led by star guard Isiah Johnson’s 15 first-half points, clawed back, Iowa State had answers for every Buffs resurgence. Johnson hit a three with 8:18 to play that seemed to generate some energy. However, a quick layup from Iowa State forward Dominykas Pleta prevented any momentum from being generated.
Turnovers were killer for the Buffaloes in the first half, as the Cyclones generated 12 points off turnovers to Colorado’s five.
As the buzzer sounded for halftime, Iowa State went into the locker room leading 52-29.
While the second half was much closer as a whole, the hole Colorado had already dug itself was far too much to climb out of.
Scoring from Momcilovic and guard Killyan Toure gave the Cyclones a 60-37 lead with 16:30 to play.
The Buffs saw their biggest highlight of the game at that point, though, as Dak caught an alley-oop lob and slammed it through the basket for an emphatic jam.
However, ISU responded a few minutes later with one of its own. The Cyclones corralled two offensive rebounds before lobbing the ball to forward Blake Buchanan as he dunked it over CU forward Fawaz ‘Tacko’ Ifaola.
The second half was a death by a million cuts for the Buffaloes, as Iowa State salted away the game with consistent offense. The Cyclones had six players finish with double-digit points, led by guard Jamarion Bateman’s 17.
In addition to their offense, the ‘Clones dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 38-22.
The final aspect of the game that contributed to the blowout result was the difference in bench scoring. Iowa State’s bench outscored CU’s 40-17 in the game.
Colorado’s bench has struggled to find production since Johnson’s promotion to the starting lineup, and this game may force the Buffs to make a change to confront that issue. Johnson finished the night with 24 points.
As the clock hit triple-zeros, the Cyclones emerged victorious in dominant fashion.
"I knew what we were getting into, I'm not sure (our players) did," Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said postgame. “Our players learned what a top 10 team in the country looks like tonight in Iowa State.”
The Buffaloes’ next game will take place on Saturday at the CU Events Center against the TCU Horned Frogs (13-8, 3-5 Big 12) at 12 p.m. MT (TNT, TruTV).
Comments