Colorado
10-16,1-14Big 12
Iowa State
21-5,11-4Big 12
Slow Start Leads to Buffs Loss on the Road Against Cyclones
February 18, 2025 | Men's Basketball
AMES, Iowa – Colorado trailed by double-digits within the first seven minutes, which proved to be too much against a blistering Iowa State offense Tuesday night, with the Buffaloes falling by a score of 79-65 at Hilton Coliseum.
The Buffs fall to 10-16 overall and 1-14 in Big 12 play. Iowa State sweeps the season series over Colorado and improves to 21-6 overall and 11-4 in conference.
"They were the better team tonight," head coach Tad Boyle said. "They deserved to win, and I was really proud of our guys the last 10 minutes. If we would have played the first 30 minutes like we played the last 10 in terms of our aggressiveness and toughness and handling their pressure, attacking their pressure, and guarding them, I think it would have been a different game, but we didn't, and they deserve the credit."
Sophomore Bangot Dak led Colorado with a career-high 20 points on 8 for 14 shooting from the floor and four rebounds. His previous high was 19 points earlier this season against Cincinnati.
Harrison Carrington put up a career-high 11 points while going an efficient 4 for 5 overall shooting. Freshman Felix Kossaras led the Buffs with five rebounds in just 15 minutes of game action.
"I still want to see improvement for this team, this year, and I think we saw that with both Harrison and Felix tonight, who didn't play against Central Florida, and tonight they they got their chance," Boyle stated. "I thought they played really well, especially in the second half. We've got 11 guys I feel really comfortable with in that rotation, and it's hard to play all 11 every night, but those two kids showed great character tonight, with with being resilient and being ready when their number was called."
Dishon Jackson led the Cyclones with 13 points on 3 for 4 shooting along with three rebounds.
Early shooting struggles for the Buffs in the first half (11% 3FG) were the x-factor in this one, allowing Iowa State to start the game with a pair of 10-0 runs after CU managed to put up just five points in between those stretches.
The Cyclones' entire eight-man rotation logged at least one bucket in the first 20 minutes of play, en route to outscoring the Buffs 45-28.
Colorado had committed the same amount of turnovers as Iowa State (14), but it was the Cyclones who capitalized, earning 18 points off turnovers in comparison to CU's 10 points.
The Buffs shot 59% (13-22) from the free-throw line on the night, their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Dak scored the first points of the game via a free throw line after getting fouled on the way up to the rim. The Cyclones would score the next seven points to go up 7-2 at the first media break with 15:58 remaining in the half. An Iowa State 3-pointer out of the break made it a 10-0 run.
Julian Hammond nailed a deep 3-pointer of his own to bring the CU deficit to five, but the Buffs got themselves in foul trouble early on. ISU entered the bonus with 12 minutes left in the first half, which led to their second 10-0 run of the game, putting them up 20-5.
The Cyclones ended the half shooting 6 for 11 (55%) from beyond the arc, putting up 45 points of offense. The Buffs got a Hammond floater to hit for their final basket of the first half, putting up 28 as a team.
Both teams went to the free-throw line multiple times early on in the half, but the Cyclones built their lead to 20 over the Buffs after a Nate Heise 3-pointer with 13:10 remaining in the contest. Colorado responded with a Dak three and Harrison Carrington bucket down low.
Iowa State gained a 24-point advantage over the Buffs at the 10-minute mark thanks to a Joshua Jefferson shot from deep. Dak would go on to capture a career-high in points, but it wouldn't be enough for Colorado to catch up to Iowa State.
UP NEXT
Colorado will look to bounce Saturday afternoon at home, when they take on Baylor at 2 p.m. MT.
