Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: Pick the reason. Baylor shot .528 while the Buffs committed nine of their 10 turnovers during a disastrous first half.
Three stars
1. BU’s Tounde Yessoufou. The freshman star went 10-for-16 with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
2. BU’s Cameron Carr. Did a little bit of everything against the Buffs, recording 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.
3. BU’s Obi Agbim. The Colorado native enjoyed his first outing against the Buffs, finishing with 19 points and six assists.
Up next: The Buffs return home to face Arizona State on Saturday (7:30 p.m., ESPN2).
WACO, Tex. — Hoping to recapture the competitive spark Colorado received from a reshuffled starting lineup earlier in the week, head coach Tad Boyle rolled with the same opening five at Baylor.
This time, there was no spark from the starting lineup. Or the other key players coming off the bench. And it didn’t take long for the Buffaloes to fizzle.
Much like a week earlier at Iowa State, the Buffs were run out of the gym quickly on Wednesday night. Unlike the matchup against Iowa State, ranked seventh in the nation, this time it happened against a team CU had a reasonable belief it could defeat.
Instead, Colorado’s first visit to Baylor in 15 years ended in embarrassment, as the Bears rolled past the Buffs in an 86-67 decision at Foster Pavilion.
It was the seventh loss in eight games for the Buffs, while Baylor won its second consecutive game after losing seven of its first eight Big 12 games.
“Both these teams are trying to get their seasons turned around, there’s no question about that,” Boyle said. “And Baylor played like they wanted their season to get turned around more than we did. So we took a step backward. I thought the first half, our frustration, our youth, really showed in terms of letting our frustrations on offense bleed over into defense. And that can’t happen. Not on the road.
“We missed some shots at the rim that we normally finish. We missed some free throws. Just little things like that, we didn’t quite have it. But when you don’t guard and you let their best three players score 65 points, something’s wrong.”
Those three players — guards Tounde Yessoufou, Cameron Carr and Colorado native Obi Agbim — made life miserable for the Buffs in Waco. The trio combined to go 22-for-40 overall, 10-for-22 on 3-pointers and 11-for-13 at the free throw line. Carr grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and Yessoufou added seven. Carr and Agbim, a former standout at Rangeview High School, finished with six assists apiece.
While last week’s ugly 30-point loss at Iowa State featured a Cyclones club that buried the Buffs immediately after halftime, the Bears were more meticulous in their dismantling of the Buffs. CU freshman Isaiah Johnson scored the game’s first bucket, but that proved to be the only lead of the night for the Buffs, who quickly fell into a 16-6 hole.
The Buffs remained within nine points before the Bears reeled off a 16-4 run, paving the way for a 45-21 halftime lead for Baylor. CU committed nine of its 10 turnovers in the first half. Baylor owned a 13-0 advantage in points off turnovers at halftime.
“Those three guys were the difference in the game,” Boyle said. “Going into the game, we know we want to take away Obi’s threes. We want to take away Carr’s threes. Yessoufou, we’ll make him make a couple over a hand. But as he gets going, and he starts feeling it, you’ve got to get up in him and make him a driver. We had no answer for those three guys.”
Baylor went 7-for-15 on 3-pointers in the first half, several of them off wide-open looks. The Bears finished with a .528 overall field goal percentage, becoming the ninth opponent this season, and the fourth in six games, to shoot at least 50% against the Buffs.
Johnson endured his most frustrating shooting effort of the season, going 3-for-13 with 10 points. CU also was outrebounded (32-26) for the fifth time in six games.
“Definitely bad rotations. Leaving shooters open,” said CU freshman Jalin Holland, who led the Buffs with a season-high 12 points. “It was a little bit of pressure on their side of the ball, and we were just sloppy with the ball.”
Baylor 86, Colorado 67
COLORADO (13-10, 3-7 Big 12)
Ifaola 0-0 0-0 0, Hargress 5-7 0-0 11, Holland 3-7 5-6 12, Johnson 3-13 3-4 10, Sanders 2-3 3-4 7, Rancik 1-5 2-2 5, Dak 2-8 0-0 5, Michaeli 2-5 3-7 7, Inman 4-6 0-0 10, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Kossaras 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 16-23 67.
BAYLOR (13-9, 3-7)
Powell 2-3 2-2 6, Agbim 6-12 4-4 19, Carr 6-12 4-5 19, Williams 2-4 1-2 5, Yessoufou 10-16 3-4 27, Rataj 1-5 5-6 7, Nnaji 1-1 1-2 3, Kuykendall 0-0 0-0 0, Perry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 20-25 86.
Halftime: Baylor 45-21. 3-point field goals: Colorado 7-17 (Inman 2-4, Hargress 1-1, Dak 1-2, Rancik 1-2, Holland 1-3, Johnson 1-4, Michaeli 0-1); Baylor 10-24 (Yessoufou 4-7, Carr 3-6, Agbim 3-9, Rataj 0-2). Fouled out: Ifaola, Williams. Rebounds: Colorado 26 (Dak 6); Baylor 32 (Carr 8). Assists: Colorado 11 (Johnson 4), Baylor 17 (Agbim, Carr 6). Turnovers: Colorado 10 (Johnson, Holland, Hargress 2); Baylor (Agbim 3). Total fouls: Colorado 18, Baylor 19. A: 7,012.
