Colorado Scores Nine Points in the Second Half, Loses to Wyoming 56-33

Wyoming thrashed Colorado 56-33 on Saturday afternoon and lulled the Buffs into their slow pace possession after possession. It was only a two-point deficit at halftime, but after coming out flat, the Buffs managed to score nine points in the final 20 minutes and suffered their first loss of the season. Xavier Johnson led Colorado with nine points and no Colorado player was in double figures.

Things the Buffaloes did well:

The lone bright spot of this game had to be Dominique Collier. It was Collier's first game of the season after being suspended for the previous two. Although he didn't play much, he provided a spark off of the bench and hit two quick threes to give the Buffs a lead in the first half. He only had six points, but his shots were in rhythm and he should strengthen the Buffs' depth going forward.

Things the Buffaloes struggled with:

A team will likely never win a game if they score nine points in the second half. Through 10 minutes of the second half, they had five points and through 30 minutes of the game, they had than 29 points. It was just sloppy and unaware basketball. Colorado had 52 possessions, averaging .63 points per possession, and just let Wyoming dictate the pace of the game. In the two previous games, the Buffs had 68 and 71 possessions.

They finished the game with 12 made field goals, shot 27 percent from the field, went 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and had just six offensive rebounds. Colorado also allowed Wyoming to space the floor very well which led to a 9-of-22 shooting performance from three. The Cowboys penetrated the defense and got a variety of dunks inside and finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field.

Josh Scott, along with the whole team, had problems inside and couldn't score on Wyoming's bigs. Doubles were thrown at Scott and he couldn't do much else but pass out of them. He finished with six points and seven rebounds. Askia Booker seems to still be going through a shooting funk and went 2-of-9 from the field and scored eight points.

This was obviously Colorado's poorest performance of the season. Scoring 33 points in 40 minutes is just flat out bad. But it's still one game. The trip up to Laramie has never been an easy one for the Buffs and Wyoming and their fans definitely put more stock and preparation into it than Colorado. And under Tad Boyle, the Buffs have never been a team that goes into a relatively hostile environment and comes away with a win. However, they're still one of the most talented teams in the Pac-12 and not much overreacting should be done because of one awful game.

Up Next:

Colorado has a stretch of three home games against Air Force, Lipscomb and USF. First up is Air Force on Tuesday, November 25th at 7 p.m. There won't be as many students there because of the fall break, but the crowd really shouldn't matter much. This is a very winnable game for the Buffs, along with the other two, and it'd be surprising if Colorado wasn't 5-1 the next time they leave Boulder.