The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team (9-14, 0-12 Big 12) came up short once again on Saturday against the No. 5 Houston Cougars (19-4, 11-1 Big 12). In a tight, momentum-shifting battle, Houston closed the game 4-for-4 from the field to beat Colorado 69-59.
Colorado’s Julian Hammond III lit up the game from range on Saturday. The senior guard knocked down seven of his 13 shots from the field, with five of those shots coming from three-point range. Hammond finished the contest with 22 points.
“Number three, Julian Hammond. Boy, he played good today,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson stated. “I mean those step-back howitzers, he hit some howitzers.”
For the Cougars, J’Wan Roberts led the scoring charge. Roberts shot an efficient 9-for-11 from the floor, finishing with 20 points on the night.
Colorado’s keys to the game were rebounding and ball security. A difficult challenge considering that coming into Saturday's matchup, Houston led all of Division 1 in offensive rebounding, averaging 12.5 offensive rebounds per game. The Cougars also ranked top-four in total rebounding (33.9 RPG).
“To me, the difference in this game was two things,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. “It was the rebounding differential, and obviously they outscored us 18 to seven on second-chance points.”
Houston won the rebound battle 38-26, with 15 of those 38 boards coming on the offensive glass, allowing Houston to win the second-chance points battle.
Houston’s Joseph Tugler contributed 10 total rebounds and six offensive rebounds.
“In terms of the stat sheet, the things I looked at immediately were turnovers,” Boyle said. “We only had 12 against Houston, if you’d have told me that before the game I would’ve taken it…We want to be at 11 or fewer. But given our opponent today, I’d have taken that.”
In terms of the Buffaloes’ ball security, they have been progressing in the right direction throughout the season. They only conceded six in each half on Saturday, but this step in the right direction wasn't quite enough to tip the scale in their favor.
Between the Buffs’ recent scoring struggles, rebounding issues, poor ball security and lack of a star player, there are too many ways they can be beaten and it showed against Houston.
Julian Hammond was the only Buff to score more than six points, while the Cougars had four players in double-digit scoring.
Colorado shot 41% from the field to Houston’s 48%. The Buffaloes knocked down three more threes than the Cougars but made eight fewer total shots. Houston also blew out Colorado in points in the paint, outscoring the black and gold 42-20.
Colorado moves to 9-14 on the season, still winless in conference play. The Buffaloes will travel to Lawrence, Kansas, to take on the No. 16 Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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