After a humbling 78-44 loss at Texas Tech earlier in the week-a game that left head coach Tad Boyle saying he was “embarrassed for the state of Colorado”-the Buffaloes bounced back with a performance that, while not a win, showed the kind of grit and cohesion that coaches dream about in February.
Colorado fell 90-86 in overtime to No. 22 BYU on Saturday, but the tone from Boyle postgame was night and day.
This wasn’t a team that backed down. This was a team that responded to adversity, fought for 45 minutes, and nearly took down a ranked opponent on their home floor.
“That was a heck of a college basketball game,” Boyle said. “We got spanked and punched in the face on Wednesday against Texas Tech. But (against BYU) I felt like we were aggressive the whole game, and we fought like a team I’m proud of representing.”
And they did fight. Colorado forced 16 turnovers and converted them into 21 points-an effort that kept them in the game even as BYU lit it up from deep, hitting 50% of their threes.
The Buffs had their chances late, but the shots just didn’t fall when it mattered most. In overtime, Colorado went just 2-of-10 from the field.
That was the difference.
“I told them in the locker room, sometimes basketball comes down to a make/miss game,” Boyle said. “Most games don’t, but some games do. And tonight, BYU made the open shots when they had them, especially down the stretch, and we didn’t.”
Boyle’s not one for moral victories, but he made it clear: the effort was there, and that matters.
“Look, our guys fought, and I can live with that,” he said. “I don’t do moral victories, but I can live with the fight we had.”
The Cougars had to dig deep themselves after losing key contributor Richie Saunders to an apparent knee injury less than a minute into the game. But BYU’s bench stepped up in a big way. Tyler Mrus, Aleksej Kostic, and Mihailo Boskovic combined for 15 points, and it was Kostic’s three in overtime that gave BYU a lead they never relinquished.
“Give BYU credit,” Boyle said. “Those kids that came in off the bench-Mrus, Boskovic, Kostic-who don’t normally get to play, they made four threes in that first half. They were thrown into the fire and they responded.”
Then there was the battle with BYU’s freshman star, AJ Dybantsa. Statistically, Dybantsa flirted with a triple-double-20 points, 13 boards, eight assists-but Colorado made him work for every bit of it.
He shot just 6-of-20 from the field and turned the ball over seven times. That’s the kind of defensive effort that doesn’t always show up in the box score but makes a real impact.
“Sebastian Rancik did a phenomenal job defending AJ Dybantsa,” Boyle said. “I know he fouled out at the end, but he did a phenomenal job with his discipline. But I think it’s a combination of Sebastian’s individual effort on him, as well as Josiah Sanders and Jalin Holland when they were on him.”
Now sitting at 14-12 overall and 4-9 in Big 12 play, Colorado heads back to Boulder for a pair of home games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State-both winnable, and both pivotal if the Buffs want to build momentum heading into March.
“I told them in the locker room, ‘I’ll go to war with you guys when you perform like you did tonight in terms of your effort, your togetherness, your energy,’” Boyle said.
That’s the kind of message that resonates down the stretch. The Buffs may not have gotten the result they wanted in Provo, but if they keep bringing that kind of fight, they’ll be a tough out for anyone.