Colorado
9-11,0-9Big 12
Arizona State
12-8,3-6Big 12
Buffs Fall in Nail-Biter to Arizona State
January 28, 2025 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER – Colorado overcame a slow start, battled back, but fell just short to Arizona State, 70-68, Tuesday night at the CU Events Center.
Colorado falls to 9-11 on the year and 0-9 in the Big 12 Conference. It's the ninth-consecutive loss for the Buffaloes, their longest streak since 2008-09.
Trevor Baskin led the Buffs with 19 points on 7 for 11 shooting with four rebounds and four steals. Baskin also led CU in scoring with 23 points in the last match-up with Arizona State earlier in the month.
Julian Hammond III and Bangot Dak each chipped in 13 points for Colorado. Dak had a team-high six rebounds while shooting an efficient 5-for-8 from the floor.
Adam Miller led Arizona State with 18 points and six assists, going 4-for-5 from the 3-point line.
Colorado trailed nearly the entire game, but had four looks to either tie the game or take the lead in the final minute. Freshman Sebastian Rancik had a chance to tie the game after being fouled on a 3-point play, but made just two of the attempts. Rancik had a second 3-point look just rim out from the baseline that would have given the Buffaloes the lead with :04 left.
Andrej Jakimovski had one final desperation shot from half court at the buzzer that sailed just off to the side.
"Well, I'm not sure I've ever felt as bad for a group of guys as I do for this group that was in the locker room because they are, as BD [Bangot Dak] and Trevor [Baskin] said, they're trying," head coach Tad Boyle said. "They really are. Now, we're not playing smart enough, we're not playing tough enough, we're not playing consistent enough. And that's my job. If you can do it once, you should be able to do it twice. If you do it twice, you should be able to do it three times. And look, the shots sometimes aren't going to go in. That's part of it. But this team, this program, I should say, this program, has set a standard of defending at a high level and rebounding at a high level consistently throughout the 14 years we've been here. This team is nowhere near good enough defensively or rebounding the basketball to win a game like tonight."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Sun Devils opened the scoring with a shot from deep to go up 3-0 early on. Buffs got on the board via tip-in layup from Dak. ASU then gained an 11-2 lead over Colorado after another pair of 3-pointers with 14 minutes remaining in the half.
A Harrison Carrington dunk along the baseline cut ASU's lead to 14-9 at 9:43 mark in the first half. Arizona State responded with their fourth 3-pointer on the night followed up with a steal and score to go up double-digits.
Javon Ruffin drilled the first shot from deep for the Buffs at 7:33, cutting the ASU deficit to 21-15.Forcing a couple of turnovers, the Buffs found themselves trailing by just two after a Baskin layup and an Andrej Jakimovski 3-pointer with five minutes to go in the half.
Arizona State ended the half shooting 7-for-9 from the field, giving them a 33-26 edge headed into the break.
Hammond and Rancik led the charge for the Buffs coming out of the second half, scoring 14 of the team's 17 points in the first few minutes, tying the game at 43 with 11:59 remaining in the contest. An Arizona State technical foul led to two free throws awarded to Colorado, giving the Buffs their first lead of the night, 47-45.
With under four minutes to go, both teams traded buckets back-and-forth, with ASU clinging on to a five-point lead. Dak brought Colorado within two points after a mesmerizing dunk at the 2:38 minute mark. Rancik tied the game at 64 the next possession with a layup.
A score inside the paint with an and-one pushed the Arizona State lead back to three, 67-64, with just under a minute and a half to go. With 20 seconds to go in the game, Rancik was fouled from deep, sending him to the line for three shots with the potential to tie the game but was not able to sink the first attempt. Trailing by one with 16 seconds on the clock, ASU traveled to give CU one last possession. Another Rancik 3-pointer from the corner came up short, leading to the Arizona State win.
UP NEXT
Boyle and the Buffs will be back in action this Sunday on the road against TCU at 2 p.m. MT.
