Buffs Set To Face Utah In Road Finale

Tuesday, March 3

Salt Lake City, Utah

7 p.m.

Colorado

Utah

Isaiah Johnson

Photo by: Ashton Scott

March 01, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 30 - Utah, Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Tip: 7:01 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPN+ (Chris Sylvester, Joe Cravens, Sammy Miller) https://buffs.me/4r03v95
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 390, SXM App 980 https://sxm.app.link/SXM980
Live Statistics: https://buffs.me/4rJTVZn

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 16-13 overall and tied with Arizona State for 11th place in the Big 12 Conference standings with a record of 6-10. The Buffaloes could mathematically reach as high as a tie for ninth in the final league standings, but tiebreakers are likely to cap them no higher than the 11th spot. Colorado was eliminated from the top half and a potential first-round bye over the weekend.

The Buffaloes are 4-4 over their last eight games, with all four wins coming at the CU Events Center. Colorado has doubled its conference win total from a year ago and the win over K-State guarantees the Buffaloes will finish no lower than 14th in the final league standings.

Colorado heads to Salt Lake City for its final true road game of the season. The Buffaloes are 1-8 in road contests and have lost their last seven.

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in 19 of 29 games. The Buffaloes have had six games with at least five scoring in double digits, most recently in the win over Kansas State.

Colorado had only four games with four players scoring in double figures in 35 contests last year (3-1 record) and none with five.

The Buffaloes have had six different players lead the team in scoring this season and four have had 20-point games. Colorado is averaging 27.7 points per game from its bench, ranking second in the Big 12, accounting for 35 percent of the team's scoring.

Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, which ties for third in the Big 12 and 17th in the nation in scoring by a freshman (based on qualifying individuals). Johnson led the Buffaloes in scoring for a team-best 15th time this season with 19 points on 7 of 9 shooting at Houston. He filled up the box score nicely against Kansas State scoring 18 points and recording career highs with nine rebounds and seven assists, leading the Buffaloes in all three categories.

Johnson leads the Buffaloes in free throws made (140) and attempted (173), 3-pointers made (48) and steals (29) while ranking second in assists (83) and third in 3-point percentage (.371).

Johnson is 11th in the nation for free throws made by a freshman and 25th in free throw percentage (.809).

Junior Barrington Hargress leads Colorado in assists (130), overall shooting (.541), 3-point percentage (.506) and overall field goals made (151) while ranking second in scoring (14.2 ppg) and 3-pointers made (45) and third in steals (26).

Hargress is second in the Big 12 and 11th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.6 and leads all conference players in league games with a 4.1 mark. He has 17 games with no more than one turnover. Hargress has 10 games with at least five assists. Over the last 14 contests, he has 58 assists against just 12 turnovers (4.8 a/to).

Additionally on the Big 12 charts, Hargress ranks sixth in field goal percentage and 13th in assists. He is the best field goal shooter in the Big 12 and 10th in the country from the guard position. He is the second-best shooter in the nation, listed at 6-foot-1 or shorter.

Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in rebounding (5.6 rpg), free throws made (111) and attempted (129) and steals (27) and third in scoring (12.3 ppg) and assists (57). Rancik leads the team and ranks third in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 86.0 percent.

Rancik pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds against Oklahoma State to go along with seven points and a pair of assists. The performance gave him double figures in rebounds for the third time in a four-game span. He also had 10 rebounds at BYU while dishing out a career-best six assists with nine points and a team-high three steals.

Rancik recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and a personal-best 11 rebounds in the home win over Arizona State. Four of those rebounds came off the offensive end, which is also a career high. He is averaging 7.5 rebounds over the last six games.

Junior forward Bangot Dak leads the Buffaloes and is 16th in the Big 12 at 6.4 rebounds per game and seventh in blocks at 1.5 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field.

Dak had 15 points and a pair of blocked shots at Houston. He recorded team season-high four blocked shots along with 10 points and six rebounds against Kansas State.

Dak was named to the Big 12 Starting Five on Feb. 23, honoring his standout performance against Oklahoma State. Dak scored a game-high 17 points, hitting 5 of 8 from the field and 6 of 7 from the free throw line, along with seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

It marks the first Big 12 weekly honor of any kind for Dak and the first for the Buffaloes since rejoining the conference last season. This is the first season of the Big 12 Starting Five, which honors strong performances across the conference. Dak is joined on the Big 12 Starting Five by Arizona's Anthony Dell'Orso, UCF's Themus Fulks, Cincinnati's Moustapha Thiam and BYU's AJ Dybantsa who claimed both Player and Newcomer of the Week honors.

Freshman guard Ian Inman is starting to make a big impact off the bench. Inman had 17 points, on 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and five rebounds - all career highs - in the win over Kansas State. It was his third career double-figure scoring game, all coming in the span of six contest. Inman has scored 55 of his season's 66 points in the last nine games (6.1 ppg). He is Colorado's fifth leading scorer in terms of average during Big 12 play (5.3 ppg).

CU IN THE NET: A snapshot of Colorado's NET rankings in 2025-26 (through games of March 1).

Current: 78 | Highest: 39 (Dec. 2) | Lowest: 86 (Jan. 29)

Avg. Opponent Net Rank: 18 | Opponent Avg. Net: 95

Quad 1: 1-9 | Quad 2: 4-3 | Quad 3: 7-1 | Quad 4: 4-0

ABOUT THE UTES: Utah is 10-19 overall and tied for 15th in the Big 12 at 2-14. The Utes have lost their last three, returning home for their final home game of the season. The Utes are averaging 74.5 points per game, shooting 45.1 percent from the field. Utah makes 7.9 3-pointers per game which ranks ninth in the Big 12. Defensively, the Utes are allowing 78.1 points per game, and have held opponents to 47.3 percent shooting. Utah forces 9.5 turnovers per game and allows teams to shoot 34.2 percent from the 3-point line.

Junior guard Terrence Brown leads the Utes at 19.7 points per game which ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 39th in the NCAA. Brown also leads the team with 3.7 assists per game, 1.4 steals per game, and 143 made free throws which is second the Big 12. The Utes have two other players who average double-digits in points: Fifth-year guard Don McHenry (17.1) and junior forward Keanu Dawes (12.6). Dawes makes an impact on the defensive side of the ball with 7.14 defensive rebounds per game. He has the second most defensive rebounds per game in the Big 12 and ranks 10th in the country.

THE SERIES: This will be the 65th meeting between Colorado and Utah with the Buffaloes holding a 36-28 advantage. Colorado won the first matchup this season 85-73, on Jan. 7, in Boulder. Utah holds a 20-10 series lead in Salt Lake City, winning the last three matchups. The last win in Utah for Colorado came on Mar. 5, 2022, an 84-71 victory.

JOHNSON CLIMBING FRESHMAN SCORING LIST: Isaiah Johnson has 476 points on the season, the third-most by a freshman in team history. He needs four points to catch Richard Roby (2004-05) for second and is 36 points away from Alec Burks' all-time mark of 512 set in 2009-10.

Freshman Season Points
Rk.      Name Pts      Season
1.         Alec Burks     512     2009-10
2.         Richard Roby            480     2004-05
3.         Isaiah Johnson       476     2025-26
4.         Chauncey Billups     465     1995-96
5.         McKinley Wright IV 454     2017-18
6.         Donnie Boyce           417     1991-92
7.         Emmett Lewis           389     1975-76
8.         David Harrison          375     2001-02
9.         Spencer Dinwiddie 360     2011-12
10.       Matt Bullard 356     1985-86

Johnson's 16.4 points per game average currently sits as the third-best in a freshman season, trailing only Chauncey Billups' 17.9 points per game in 1995-96 and Alec Burks' 17.1 in 2009-10. He's also on pace to become the eighth Colorado freshman to lead the team in scoring, since the NCAA made freshmen eligible in 1972.

Johnson has a team-best seven 20-point games, including a career and team season-high 27 at BYU. His 27 points were the most by a Colorado freshman since McKinley Wright IV had 30 in a double-overtime game against South Dakota State on Dec. 15, 2017, and the most against a conference opponent since Alec Burks had 27 against Missouri on Feb. 6, 2010. Overall the 27-point effort ties for the ninth best by a freshman in team history.

BD BLOCKS: Junior Bangot Dak is reaching milestone figures on both the Colorado season and career block lists. His 43 blocks in 2025-26 currently ranks 18th on the Buffaloes' season list and three away from equaling his sophomore year total, which is tied for 15th.

Dak had a pair of blocks at Houston to move into 12th on Colorado's career list, needing just seven more to become the 11th Buffalo to reach 100 in a career.

Colorado Season Blocks
Rk.      Name Blocks           Season
10.       Josh Scott      52        2015-16
11.       Derrick White 49        2016-17
            Marcus King-Stockton         49        2007-08
13.       Wesley Gordon         48        2016-17
14.       Wesley Gordon         47        2014-15
15.       Bangot Dak   46        2024-25
            Josh Scott      46        2014-15
17.       Tyler Bey       44        2018-19
18.       Bangot Dak 43        2025-26
19.       Andre Roberson       42        2010-11
            Martice Moore           42        1996-97

Colorado Career Blocks
Rk.      Name Gm      Blocks           Avg.   Seasons
10.       Tyler Bey       99        102     1.0       2017-20
11.       Rodell Guest 119     98        0.8       1988-91
12.       Bangot Dak 87        93        1.1       2023-pre        13.       Richard Roby            119     92        0.7            2004-08
14.       Shaun Vandiver       91        90        1.0       1988-91
15.       Chris Copeland        113     88        0.8       2002-06

SHARE & PROTECT RECORD: Junior Barrington Hargress is on pace to set, if not smash, Colorado's season record for assist-to-turnover ratio. Hargress enters the week with 130 assists against 36 turnovers. His 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio, which currently ranks second in the Big 12 and 11th in the nation, is well ahead of Colorado's 43-year old standard of 2.8 set by Billy Houston during the 1982-83 season (104a-37to).
Hargress dished out six dimes at Houston to jump into the top 20 for assists in a season by a Buff with 130. He heads into the Utah game sharing the No. 20 spot with his current assistant coach Nate Tomlinson, who had 130 during his sophomore year in 2009-10. He needs 13 assists to reach the top 15 and 29 to reach the top 10 in a season.

Colorado Season Assists
Rk.      Name Assists          Season
10.       McKinley Wright IV 159     2019-20
11.       Mike Reid      156     1984-85
12.       Billy Law        151     1991-92
13.       Derrick White 148     2016-17
14.       Jaquay Walls 144     1999-00
15.       Chauncey Billups     143     1995-96
            Reggie Morton          143     1989-90
17.       Chauncey Billups     139     1996-97
18.       James Wright            138     2001-02
            Toney Ellis    138     1976-77
20.       Barrington Hargress         130     2025-26
            Nate Tomlinson        130     2009-10

PROTECTING THE ROCK: Colorado's 10.4 turnovers allowed per game ranks third in the Big 12, behind only No. 2 ranked Houston (8.3 topg) and just a fraction behind No. 4 Iowa State (10.3 topg). The Buffaloes have recorded single digits in turnovers 11 times this season. Colorado has a long-standing single-game team goal of allowing 11 turnovers or fewer, a mark they've hit in 19 of 29 games. In contrast, the 2024-25 team only achieved that feat seven times in 35 games and only once recorded single digits (8 at Kansas, Feb. 24, 2025).

The Buffaloes are on pace for a record season in the turnover column. The fewest turnovers Colorado has given up in one season was 346 in 1979-80, which was a 27-game season (12.8 topg). The Buffaloes have allowed 303 total through 29 games this year.

On a per-game basis, Colorado's best season came in 2015-16 where it's NCAA Tournament team had 375 turnovers during a 34-game season (11.0 topg) giving this year's team a chance to be the first sub-11 turnover per game team since the statistic started to be tracked full time in 1977-78.

Colorado already has one turnover record in the books this season. The Buffaloes committed just three turnovers against Kansas, setting a team record for fewest turnovers in a conference game. The previous mark was four, done twice, against Utah on Feb. 24, 2024 and against Iowa State on Jan. 30, 2010. It was the second fewest in team history, trailing only the two given up at San Jose State on Dec. 19, 1978.

SAME ON THE ASSIST-TO-TURNOVER FRONT: Colorado's season assist-to-turnover ratio is at 1.50 and on pace to be the best since 1977-78 when both statistics began to be tracked full time. The Buffaloes' current best came 43 years ago, when the 1982-83 squad had a 1.38 mark (531a-383to) in a 28-game season. The 2023-24 NCAA Tournament team, which dished out a school-record 600 dimes, had a 1.28 assist-to-turnover ratio (467 to).