Saturday, January 18
Stillwater, Okla.
1 p.m.
Colorado
9-8,0-6Big 12
73
at
83
Oklahoma State
10-7,2-4Big 12
1
2
F
Colorado
33
40
73
Oklahoma St.
43
40
83
Turnovers and Fouls Plague Buffs At Oklahoma State
January 18, 2025 | Men's Basketball
STILLWATER, Okla. – Turnovers and foul trouble plagued Colorado against Oklahoma State on Saturday, as the Buffaloes dropped their sixth straight game 83-73 at the Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Colorado (9-8, 0-6) battled Oklahoma State (10-7, 2-4), but a common theme of turnovers and 3-point shooting woes, along with a season-high 29 fouls committed, did the Buffaloes in.
Colorado found itself within two possessions in both the first and second half
Oklahoma State didn't shoot lights out from the field as a team but shot a season-high 31 of 42 from the free-throw line. Five different players made at least four free throws.
"It's really hard when you put a team at the line 42 times," head coach Tad Boyle said. "Forty-two free throws for them and 25 for us, it's not a good advantage."
Sophomore Bangot Dak led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 15 points shooting 6 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line to go with five rebounds and a block.
Two other Buffs scored in double-digits. Sebastian Rancik had 11 on 3 of 5 from the floor and 1 of 2 from three as well as 10 from senior point guard Julian Hammond III.
Avery Marchelus and Bryce Thompson led the Cowboys in points with each putting up 14 on 4 of 10 from the field. Thomspon would go 7 of 9 from the charity stripe, along with Marchelus going 2 of 5 from 3-point range.
Despite a few 3-point makes late Colorado shot just 5 of 22 (22.7%) and was outrebounded 36-23 by Oklahoma State.
"I thought they were the more aggressive team and that really shows up in the rebounding column, and they out rebounded us in a big way 36 to 23 that's minus 13," Boyle said. "We knew the only chance we had to win this game is two ways. One was to take care of the basketball, against their pressure, which we knew was coming, and then the second thing was keep them off the offensive glass, because they averaged 13 offensive rebounds a game, and they got their average, they got their 13, and they scored 22 points off of those. So nobody to blame but ourselves. But give Oklahoma State credit, they were the tougher team, the more aggressive team, the better team tonight. We knew what we had to do to win this game. We didn't get it done."
HOW IT HAPPENED
After going down 3-0 just over a minute into the game, Colorado would go on a quick 6-0 run to take the lead behind a basket by Jakimovski and free throws by Hammond and Dak.
The next 6:22 Oklahoma State was unable to make a field goal but stayed in the game making six free throws to keep the game close 10-9 with 13:06 in the first half.
Like the Cowboys, Colorado struggled to make shots but were able to keep the game close making six free throws of their own before Jakimovski made the only 3-pointer in the first half to cut the lead to 24-21 with 8:16 in the half.
Immediately Oklahoma State went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 10 with 5:51 left in the half. Despite Colorado making four of its next five shots the lead still stayed at nine points with Oklahoma State continuing to get to the free-throw line.
Colorado turned the ball over 10 times and allowed the Cowboys to shoot 21-26 from the free throw line in the first half. Colorado shot 12-12 from the line themselves and 9-14 from inside the arc but went 1-9 on 3-point attempts.
"When we get good shots, we're pretty darn good," Boyle said on the turnovers. "The problem is we turn it over before we get good shots. Dead last in the league in that category [turnovers], and Oklahoma State knew it. That's why they pressed us, why they doubled our ball screens, and we've got to be able to handle it better."
Foul trouble hurt the Buffs with three - Harrison Carrington, Elijah Malone, and Javon Ruffin with three fouls each in the first half. They weren't the only Buffs who committed fouls early with three other players with two fouls apiece.
Down 10 points to start the second half, Colorado opened on a 5-0 run behind a basket by Hammond and an and-1 by Dak. Following a basket by Oklahoma State, Ruffin made his ninth three-pointer of the season to cut the lead to 45-41 the closest it would be for the rest of the game.
Turnovers and fouls continued to plague the Buffs who ended with 16 turnovers and 29 fouls committed. A late flurry by the bench who scored 39 points kept the Cowboy lead hovering around 10 points before the clock ran out and ended 83-73.
DECISIVE MOMENT
After Ruffin hit the second 3-pointer of the game for Colorado, to cut the lead to 45-41 with 15:40 left in the game, Oklahoma State went on a 19-9 run to give them a 14-point lead.
WHAT IT MEANS
This is the worst start to conference play under Boyle since starting 0-7 in 2016-17. That season following the seventh loss, Colorado won six of the next seven games.
NEXT UP
The Buffaloes return home to take on BYU on Tuesday with a late tip at 9:00 p.m. MT on ESPNU.
Colorado (9-8, 0-6) battled Oklahoma State (10-7, 2-4), but a common theme of turnovers and 3-point shooting woes, along with a season-high 29 fouls committed, did the Buffaloes in.
Colorado found itself within two possessions in both the first and second half
Oklahoma State didn't shoot lights out from the field as a team but shot a season-high 31 of 42 from the free-throw line. Five different players made at least four free throws.
"It's really hard when you put a team at the line 42 times," head coach Tad Boyle said. "Forty-two free throws for them and 25 for us, it's not a good advantage."
Sophomore Bangot Dak led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 15 points shooting 6 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line to go with five rebounds and a block.
Two other Buffs scored in double-digits. Sebastian Rancik had 11 on 3 of 5 from the floor and 1 of 2 from three as well as 10 from senior point guard Julian Hammond III.
Avery Marchelus and Bryce Thompson led the Cowboys in points with each putting up 14 on 4 of 10 from the field. Thomspon would go 7 of 9 from the charity stripe, along with Marchelus going 2 of 5 from 3-point range.
Despite a few 3-point makes late Colorado shot just 5 of 22 (22.7%) and was outrebounded 36-23 by Oklahoma State.
"I thought they were the more aggressive team and that really shows up in the rebounding column, and they out rebounded us in a big way 36 to 23 that's minus 13," Boyle said. "We knew the only chance we had to win this game is two ways. One was to take care of the basketball, against their pressure, which we knew was coming, and then the second thing was keep them off the offensive glass, because they averaged 13 offensive rebounds a game, and they got their average, they got their 13, and they scored 22 points off of those. So nobody to blame but ourselves. But give Oklahoma State credit, they were the tougher team, the more aggressive team, the better team tonight. We knew what we had to do to win this game. We didn't get it done."
HOW IT HAPPENED
After going down 3-0 just over a minute into the game, Colorado would go on a quick 6-0 run to take the lead behind a basket by Jakimovski and free throws by Hammond and Dak.
The next 6:22 Oklahoma State was unable to make a field goal but stayed in the game making six free throws to keep the game close 10-9 with 13:06 in the first half.
Like the Cowboys, Colorado struggled to make shots but were able to keep the game close making six free throws of their own before Jakimovski made the only 3-pointer in the first half to cut the lead to 24-21 with 8:16 in the half.
Immediately Oklahoma State went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 10 with 5:51 left in the half. Despite Colorado making four of its next five shots the lead still stayed at nine points with Oklahoma State continuing to get to the free-throw line.
Colorado turned the ball over 10 times and allowed the Cowboys to shoot 21-26 from the free throw line in the first half. Colorado shot 12-12 from the line themselves and 9-14 from inside the arc but went 1-9 on 3-point attempts.
"When we get good shots, we're pretty darn good," Boyle said on the turnovers. "The problem is we turn it over before we get good shots. Dead last in the league in that category [turnovers], and Oklahoma State knew it. That's why they pressed us, why they doubled our ball screens, and we've got to be able to handle it better."
Foul trouble hurt the Buffs with three - Harrison Carrington, Elijah Malone, and Javon Ruffin with three fouls each in the first half. They weren't the only Buffs who committed fouls early with three other players with two fouls apiece.
Down 10 points to start the second half, Colorado opened on a 5-0 run behind a basket by Hammond and an and-1 by Dak. Following a basket by Oklahoma State, Ruffin made his ninth three-pointer of the season to cut the lead to 45-41 the closest it would be for the rest of the game.
Turnovers and fouls continued to plague the Buffs who ended with 16 turnovers and 29 fouls committed. A late flurry by the bench who scored 39 points kept the Cowboy lead hovering around 10 points before the clock ran out and ended 83-73.
DECISIVE MOMENT
After Ruffin hit the second 3-pointer of the game for Colorado, to cut the lead to 45-41 with 15:40 left in the game, Oklahoma State went on a 19-9 run to give them a 14-point lead.
WHAT IT MEANS
This is the worst start to conference play under Boyle since starting 0-7 in 2016-17. That season following the seventh loss, Colorado won six of the next seven games.
NEXT UP
The Buffaloes return home to take on BYU on Tuesday with a late tip at 9:00 p.m. MT on ESPNU.
Team Stats
CU
OSU
FG%
.469
.460
3FG%
.227
.353
FT%
.880
.738
RB
23
36
TO
16
14
STL
12
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
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