Tad Boyle calls late collapse vs. ASU a top 5 most disappointing loss
Tad Boyle didn't need much time to think about it Thursday night, saying after the Buffaloes' 60-59 loss to Arizona State that it was one of the “top-five disappointing losses in my 13 years in Colorado."
The bottom line is this Buffs team just can't seem to find any consistency -- they followed a strong first half with a sloppy second and have now alternated wins and losses through their first eight games.
This was the Pac-12 opener for both teams, so the loss carries a little extra sting.
“In this team we continually talk about a lot of the same things: not finishing, turning the ball over, not handling pressure,” Boyle said. “It's been a common theme with this group and not being able to put two halves together, whether it's offensively or defensively. I thought we lost this game right out of the chute in the second half. Our guys that were starting that second half were not ready to play.”
In the first half, Colorado appeared to have the Sun Devils locked down, holding them to just 9 of 31 from the field and 0 of 13 from on 3s while holding a 29-17 rebounding edge. Offensively, the Buffs spread the ball around, efficiently shooting 43.75 percent from the field to build a 38-23 halftime lead.
Then, in the second half, the starters looked like “they were like running in mud,” Boyle said.
And as the half progressed the Buffs' shot selection deteriorated, the shooting numbers reversed and they committed 12 second-half turnovers. Colorado went 6 of 21 from the field while ASU made 15 of 30 shots, got some 3s to go down finally and scored 14 points off turnovers.
Still, Colorado led by 12 with 6 minutes left to play.
But in the minutes when it mattered most, Arizona State -- without its top shooters Frankie Collins (illness) and Marcus Bagley, who was suspended -- went on a 13-0 run, including 3s from DJ Horne, Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Devan Cambridge to take its first lead since early in the first half, 57-56 with 2:34 to play.
Jalen Gabbidon went to the line and drained three free throws, but Colorado wouldn't score again. Desmond Cambrdge Jr. called it a night hitting a 3-point jumper with 4 seconds left.
“We played well enough to win tonight, we got stops down the stretch when we needed to,” Boyle said. “But you know that last play like [DJ] Horne driving to the rim. We had four guys, four guys collapsing on him and we leave a wide open good shooter on the scouting report. Look, we beat Yale the other night because we got [stops]. We needed to get a stop and we made free throws. Tonight, we didn't make free throws. We had to make free throws and we didn't get that last stop.”
KJ Simpson led the Buffs with 13 points while Tristan da Silva was the only other Colorado player in double figures with 10 points.
Simpson missed the front end of a one-and-one at the line with 12 seconds left and then missed the final 3-pointer to end it. Collectively, the team had many missed opportunities in the second, but Simpson wanted to take ownership for the close loss.
“I just want to say, it’s my fault Buff Nation,” Simpson said. “We’re going to get better. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to watch film and we’re going to get better. But we had this one. Personally, I blame it on myself as a leader, but we’re going to get better. I’m going to make sure that we get better and I get better.”
