Buffs Burned Again: Defensive Struggles, Hot UCF Backcourt Extend Colorado’s Losing Skid
Colorado knew exactly what it needed to do heading into Saturday’s matchup with UCF: contain the Knights’ starting backcourt. But knowing and doing are two very different things - and the Buffs never came close to doing.
Riley Kugel and Themus Fulks carved up Colorado’s defense all night, sparking a 95-86 UCF win at the CU Events Center and handing the Buffs their fifth straight loss. It wasn’t just that the Knights’ guards were good - it was that Colorado made life way too easy for them.
Fulks and Kugel combined to shoot 13-for-22 from the field, including a blistering 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. Fulks, the floor general, also dished out eight assists, while Kugel shook off early foul trouble and exploded in the second half, scoring 17 of his 22 points after the break.
“This was a winnable game for us,” said head coach Tad Boyle. “We played well enough offensively to win. We’re just not good enough defensively and we’re not tough enough on the glass.”
That about sums it up. The Buffs put up 86 points - more than enough to win most nights - but couldn’t string together stops when it mattered.
And when Kugel got going late, it felt like a rerun of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, when he dropped 11 points off the bench for Florida in a wild 102-100 loss to Colorado. This time, he had the last word.
UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins praised his backcourt for steadying the ship in key moments.
“I thought (Kugel) was terrific for us down the stretch,” Dawkins said. “He’s been really good for us all season, but he really stepped up when we needed him most tonight. I thought he and Themus… both of those guys gave us really huge contributions, especially in the second half.”
Stillwell’s Return Adds More Muscle
UCF also got a big boost with the return of forward Jamichael Stillwell, who had missed the Knights’ previous game against No. 9 Iowa State with an injury. Stillwell logged 30 minutes in his return, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding seven rebounds and four assists.
“He was still in a position where we weren’t quite sure,” Dawkins said. “He had practiced but it was a situation where he could easily regress.
He’s big for us. He’s like our leader.
He’s kind of our heart and soul.”
Stillwell’s presence gave UCF a physical edge on the interior, and his ability to stretch the floor and make plays as a passer added another layer to an already humming offense.
Another Gut-Punch Three
If it feels like the Buffs have been on the wrong end of some backbreaking shots lately, it’s because they have. For the third straight game, Colorado was burned by a late, high-degree-of-difficulty three that turned a manageable deficit into a steeper climb.
This time, it was Kugel banking in a triple with 2:14 left, stretching a six-point lead to nine. Just days earlier, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson did the same.
And before that, it was West Virginia’s Honor Huff banking one in at the shot clock buzzer. That’s three games in a row where the Buffs were hit with a momentum-killing shot that felt like a dagger.
CU forward Sebastian Rancik put it in perspective.
“At the end of the day, it’s basketball. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” Rancik said.
“We’ve just been unlucky, but I think we make sure of our fortune in the 40 minutes. One play doesn’t define the game.
We don’t lose or win the game with one play. I think we’ve just got to do a better job of playing winning basketball for 40 minutes.”
Tournament Snub Raises Eyebrows
Off the court, Boyle expressed frustration over a lack of communication from the Big 12 regarding the Player’s Era multi-team tournament. Back in November, the league announced that the top eight teams from the previous season would represent the Big 12 in the NIL-driven event. But this week, the conference unveiled a predetermined group of participants - and Colorado wasn’t on the list.
The eight teams selected: Baylor, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
Boyle said he never received any update or explanation from the league.
“I had no idea,” Boyle said. “Maybe there’s an email that I haven’t opened. But I’m not aware of anything.”
Notables: Some Bright Spots, But Trouble Lingers
There were a few silver linings for Colorado, even in the loss:
- Three 20-point scorers: Rancik, Barrington Hargress, and Isaiah Johnson each hit the 20-point mark - the first time CU has had three players do that in a game since February 9, 2014, against Washington.
- Jalin Holland: The freshman posted a season-high nine points, showing flashes of what he could bring off the bench.
- Turnovers: Colorado committed just nine turnovers, marking the third straight game with single-digit giveaways - the program’s first such stretch since December 2020.
But there were also some concerning trends:
- Bench production: UCF’s reserves outscored Colorado’s 30-15, marking the first time this season the Buffs’ bench was outscored.
- Hot shooting from UCF’s bench: Carmelo Pacheco, Devan Cambridge, and Chris Johnson combined to hit 11-of-15 from deep - a blistering pace that kept the pressure on CU all night.
- Elijah Malone’s quiet return: Back in the starting lineup after leaving the Kansas game early, Malone played just under six minutes and didn’t attempt a shot. He’s scored just four points over the past four games and has only one rebound in the last three.
- Coaching absence: Assistant coach Evan Battey missed the game due to illness.
The Buffs have the offensive firepower to compete with anyone - that much is clear. But until they shore up their defense and stop giving up career nights to opposing guards, the wins will be hard to come by.
Five straight losses sting, but the bigger concern is that the issues don’t look like flukes. They're patterns.
And with conference play heating up, Colorado is running out of time to fix them.