It was a stretch of about three and a half minutes, spread over one short interval and then an even shorter one, that doomed the Colorado Buffaloes at Colorado State.
However, after losing state bragging rights in Fort Collins on Wednesday night, the Buffaloes will be less concerned about reviewing the minutes that got away than finding a big-picture solution to some early road woes.
The 88-83 defeat suffered by the CU men’s basketball team at 20th-ranked Colorado State occurred in the Buffaloes’ only true road game of the nonconference schedule, and the three games in which the Buffs have struggled the most so far during the still-young season have happened away from the CU Events Center.
The Buffs have overwhelmed the competition during four home wins. But their other three games — the CSU loss, plus games against Richmond and Florida State at the Sunshine Slam — have produced CU’s three worst 3-point games and both of the Buffs’ losses.
“Challenge their mental toughness. Because that’s the only difference,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “The only difference is you’re away from home. The baskets are still 10 feet high. The balls are the same size. Maybe the whistles aren’t the same but we know that. That’s part of the game. It’s all mental toughness. That’s all it is. Mentally tough teams play well on the road, just like they do at home. Mentally weak teams don’t play well on the road and play well at home. That’s who we are right now. Bottom line.”
CU’s collapse at CSU’s sold-out Moby Arena can be traced to a pair of first-half sequences. First, the Rams needed only a little more than 3 minutes to reel off a 10-0 run, with the Buffs committing turnovers on four consecutive possessions and five of six.
By the time that run was over the Rams owned a nine-point lead, and the deficit for CU might have stayed at 10 if not for a disastrous final 3 seconds of the half. After J’Vonne Hadley fouled CSU’s Jalen Lake on a 3-point attempt (Lake made all three free throws), Josiah Strong stole Hadley’s inbounds pass and converted a layup at the buzzer, giving the Rams five points in 2.5 seconds in a game that ultimately ended with a five-point final margin.
While the Buffs (5-2) no longer can do anything about the results at CSU, they won’t have another opportunity to address the away-from-home woes until after Sunday’s home date against Pepperdine (3 p.m., Pac-12 Network). The Buffs’ next away-from-home date is a Dec. 10 game against No. 8 Miami in Brooklyn.
In CU’s four home games, the Buffs have shot .568 overall with a .481 mark on 3-pointers (37-for-77). Even with a red-hot .690 mark in the second half at CSU, spurred by a rally led by KJ Simpson and Cody Williams, the Buffs have shot just .431 in their three games away from home while shooting just .273 on 3-pointers (12-for-44). Individually, center Eddie Lampkin has shot .577 at home (15-for-26) and .350 away from home (7-for-20). Senior leader Tristan da Silva has posted his two lowest-scoring games of the young season in CU’s two losses (eight in the overtime loss against Florida State, six at CSU) and still is looking for his first 3-pointer outside the Events Center (0-for-12).
“We took a lot of early shots (at CSU) and we didn’t really get the ball in the paint, force it inside with our advantage,” Simpson said. “They were able to execute off our long three misses. It kind of hurt us in the beginning and then that’s when the lead started to extend.”
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