Colorado Embarrassed By Utah, 79-51

Colorado nearly broke the Coors Events Center record for worst home loss in an embarrassing 79-51 defeat at the hands of the No. 13 Utah Utes.

"They took it to us in every way," said head coach Tad Boyle. "We weren't good enough offensively, we weren't good enough defensively. It was just a good, old-fashioned (butt) whooping."

CU fell behind 17-3 in the opening minutes, forcing Boyle to call a quick timeout. CU stayed afloat thanks to decent defense in stretches of the first half.

Josh Scott made his return to Sox Walseth Court, having missed home games dating back to December 13 matchup with Northern Colorado. Scott was a large reason why Colorado remained within shouting distance of the Utes in the first half. The big man from Monument had nine of Colorado's 23 first half points, and helped hold Utah's frontcourt in check.

While CU's bigs had a solid first half on the defensive end of the floor, Colorado's backcourt struggled. Utah stuck six three-pointers in the first half, including three from Brandon Taylor.

Remarkably, Utah opened up the second half hitting three straight open threes in under two minutes, extending their lead from 12 to 21.

Utah kept the foot on the gas, extending the lead to over 30 with plenty of time remaining. The final 6:31 was played in front of a largely empty Coors Events Center.

Colorado's worst home loss at the Coors Events Center history came in 1994 against Kansas. Utah threatened to break that record, leading by 36 with 6:03 to play.

CU continues its three-game homestand against California on Thursday night.

Notes

Dominique Collier led the Buffs in scoring for the first time this season with 11 points... Askia Booker missed his first game of the season (and the first since his freshman year) with a hip pointer... Utah shot 70 percent from beyond the arc in the second half, and 59.1 percent for the game...