
The Colorado Buffaloes (9-7, 0-5 Big 12) lost 68-62 to the Cincinnati Bearcats (11-5, 1-4 Big 12) Wednesday in a turnover-riddled game. The loss spoiled a phenomenal performance from sophomore forward Bangot Dak, who finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks. The loss marked the fifth straight to open conference play.
It was a sloppy start for both teams as baskets were hard to come by, but the Bearcats struck first blood and went up 6-0 early. Turnovers and lack of penetration were the source of the Buffs’ early struggles.
Dak made his presence felt on the defensive end with a block that gave Colorado a spark and followed it with a putback on the other end to cut the Cincinnati lead to one. His performance carried the Buffs throughout the evening, as he was the only player in black and gold to have a double-digit scoring effort.
In the blink of an eye, both teams stepped up their efficiency and started to light up the CU Events Center. A barrage of threes and alley-oops put the crowd on their toes, but the Buffaloes were just a step behind the Bearcats after every flurry. Although the Colorado offense was playing better, the score read 32-23 with four minutes left in the half.
Just as it began, the half closed with sloppy play and poor ball control from the Buffs, as they scored just four points in the final five minutes of the half. Colorado head coach Tad Boyle visibly became more and more frustrated as the first half dwindled. Entering halftime, the Bearcats led 34-27. Dan Skillings and Day Day Thomas combined for 13 points for Cincinnati while Dak and Sebastian Rancik had 16 of their own.
After the game, Boyle expanded on his emotions in the frustrating loss. The same errors have been shown repeatedly with no fix in sight.
“We’re going through hell, it’s no fun. No one feels sorry for us,” Boyle said. “Right now I don’t feel like we’re getting better.”
Entering the second half, it was much of the same for Colorado. In the first four minutes, their lone score came from Assane Diop who had an and-one to cut Cincinnati’s lead 36-30. Turnovers for the Buffs kept them from shooting the ball while junior forward Dillon Mitchell helped put the Bearcats up 42-30 in response.
Colorado looked dead in the water, but Harrison Carrington brought the energy midway through the second half for the Buffs with an energetic putback followed by a layup to cut into the Bearcat lead.
With under nine minutes left, Dak brought down the house with a high-flying slam that gave life to the arena and cut the lead to just three. He never stopped giving his all, no matter how grim it looked at times.
With just over four minutes left in the game, a Trevor Baskin layup gave the Buffs their first lead, 51-50. The lead was short-lived, as the Bearcats immediately re-took the lead and never gave it back. Their run put them up 60-55, which was just too much of a deficit for the Buffs to make up. Colorado played the foul game and tried to force a miracle, but their efforts were not enough. The 15 turnovers stand out as the reason for another loss.
With plenty of blame to go around, Boyle put the mistakes on the shoulders of the coaching staff.
“I feel like this is the most poorest coached team in America. The stuff we talk about in practice, the stuff that we talk about in huddles, it doesn't translate to the game,” Boyle said. “Maybe they’re tuning me out? I don’t know. I am not getting through to them.”
Colorado will travel to Stillwater to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday. The 1 p.m. tipoff will be televised on ESPN+.
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