Colorado Beats Utah 60-50

Colorado played sluggishly tonight and let Utah hang around for way too long, but the Buffaloes managed to pick up another win in the Pac-12 and beat Utah 60-50. Spencer Dinwiddie led the way for Colorado with 13 points while Sabatino Chen added 12. Despite the sloppy play, the Buffs won, which is all that matters at this time of the year, and have now moved to 8-6 in the Pac-12. Considering the chaos that continues to occur in the conference, the Buffaloes still have a shot, albeit not a great one, to win the Pac-12.

Things the Buffaloes did well:

Their defense was inconsistent, but when Colorado brought pressure, especially in the second half, the Utes had no answer. Utah panicked and couldn't handle the intense defense evident by their 16 turnovers. The Buffaloes also limited Utah to 39 percent shooting on the night. Andre Roberson had a dominant performance picking up 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 steals. Roberson fronted Jason Washburn every possession on defense and didn't let him get into any sort of rhythm as Washburn only had 10 points and a shocking 5 rebounds. Offensively, Roberson played well making some timely layups down the stretch. Jeremy Adams was a big factor off the bench tonight hitting mid range jumpers and constantly attacked the rim. He only had 6 points, but was a threat to score and Utah had to respect his offense when he was on the floor. Sabatino Chen had a strong game tonight and provided scoring with his three point shooting. He was 3-3 from the three point line and also picked up 5 rebounds. Ultimately, it was a lethargic performance for Colorado, but still a critical win.

Things the Buffaloes struggled with:

Colorado let Utah have way too many uncontested looks from three. The Utes shot 8-20 from beyond the arc, and were seemingly open to shoot every possession. On the other hand, Colorado took way too many threes and shot an awful 6-22 from the three point line. The threes were taken way too early in the shot clock both when Utah played zone and when they played man-to-man and as a result, the Buffaloes' offense could never develop. Colorado didn't shoot particularly well from the free throw line either only making 12 out of their 20 attempts. Askia Booker had a poor performance tonight on both sides of the ball. He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting and also struggled greatly with his perimeter defense. He was constantly late to help, and the occasions he did help, he was too late to recover to guard his man.

Up Next:

Colorado heads to the Bay Area to take on Stanford and Cal. They'll take on the Cardinal first on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. MT and will need play similar to how they did in their first matchup. The offense has to be efficient and the defense certainly needs to be much better than it was tonight. There's a chance Josh Scott could be back, but if he's not, Spencer Dinwiddie will have to step up and have another great game. With four games remaining in the Pac-12 season, every game will be critical and although a sweep isn't likely for the upcoming two games, the Buffs need to at least win one of them.