LAWRENCE — Colorado’s drudge through the Big 12 continued Tuesday as the Buffs picked up their 13th-straight conference loss against No. 17 Kansas, falling 71-59 at head coach Tad Boyle and assistant coach Danny Manning's alma mater.

Another anticipated ending for the 17.5-point underdog ensued as CU’s issues came out on KU’s floor. Timid distribution of the ball, unideal shot making and finding their stride in the Jayhawks' hostile environment left CU working for every possession.

Colorado’s lackadaisical first-half shooting (33.3%) from the field eventually turned around in the second half with Andrej Jakimovski’s hot hand. His three 3-pointers helped CU close the gap to within a 5-point deficit. However, Colorado (9-15, 0-13 Big 12) was overpowered by one of the top blue bloods of college basketball.

“This game was just a microcosm of our season this year,” Boyle said. “It's just who we've been and who we continue to be, and until we change our ways it's going to continue that way. Played well in stretches. I thought our fight in the second half was good. Our defense was better in the second half.

"I thought we lost this thing in the first. The whole key with KU we wanted to keep the ball in front of us, no layups, no dunks.”

The only shooting category that CU led was with its 18 layups to 16 for KU. The Jayhawks’ ball movement with 18 assists to CU’s nine, their effort on the glass, getting outrebounded 39-33 and CU shooting just 39% in the game was all a culmination of Colorado’s losing product.

“I do think we could be tougher, and toughness shows up in rebounding,” Boyle said. “That's where this team has not lived up to the standards.”

The Kansas offense was relentless in the first half as the Jayhawks (17-7, 8-5) were hitting on 57.1% of their shots from the field and 42.9% from beyond the arc (3 for 7). The Jayhawks’ frontcourt left CU with much work to do trailing 40-26 at the half.

Boyle’s halftime pep talk may have struck a nerve as the Buffs came out of the half with a much more aggressive energy as Jakmovski nailed three 3-pointers in five minutes following a first half where CU only made one 3-pointer.

Through Bangot Dak, Sebastian Rancik and the Buffs feeding Malone, CU found itself with the smallest deficit of the evening down by five, 50-45, with 13:17 to play. In the backcourt, Colorado finally began to tame Kansas’ offensive production leading to two lengthy 3-minute scoring droughts.

Kansas ultimately had the final say and extinguished CU’s second half progress with a 7-0 run to seal the final separation.

Despite the Buffs’ inability to finish, a new hero emerged for Colorado in Rancik recorded a career-high 19 points and a career-high in rebounds with nine.

“I was just telling myself to be aggressive and not force anything, just kind of play the game, and kind of went into the game with an aggressive mindset,” Rancik said. “These are the games you dream of. So I was just happy to be here and happy to play basketball.”

While Rancik was penetrating the paint, Dak was going head-to-head with Kansas’ top producer, Hunter Dickinson.

The 7-foot-2 center, who leads the conference with 7 rebounds per game and is fourth in scoring average with 16.5 points per game, was the Buffs’ biggest adversary Tuesday evening. Dickinson’s size and ability outmatched CU tremendously allowing him to finish with 19 points and nine rebounds.

“If you let [Dickinson] establish position, I don't care who's guarding,” Boyle said. “It doesn't matter who's guarding him in the country like he's 8 for 11 from the field, he just gets the ball and finishes. But Bangot keeps getting better. He really does. So, it's a learning experience and that's what you gotta continue to do is learn and get better.”

Dak was second on CU with 11 points to go with 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal and an assist.

Boyle is 1-6 in his tenure against his alma mater, but he and his Buffs still remain optimistic that a win in conference play is on the horizon. Colorado’s next opportunity to claim its first win is this Saturday against UCF at the CU Events Center at 1 p.m. MT.

“We're not going away, but we're just not good enough to sustain to get over that home. We're just not right now and I do believe at some point we will, and we'll win a game. I don't know when it'll be, but next opportunity is against Central Florida on Saturday, and that's what we got. That's all we can worry about right now.”