PHOENIX — The Colorado men’s basketball team will have something to stew about during its holiday hiatus.
The Buffaloes’ worst turnover game of the season and an ice-cold second half were too much to overcome, as CU suffered a 77-68 defeat against Stanford in the Naismith Hall of Fame Series on Saturday night.
The Buffs had won the final seven matchups against the Cardinal before the programs left the Pac-12 Conference, but it was Stanford that prevailed in the teams’ first neutral-floor matchup in 74 years.
CU (10-2) finished with a season-high 18 turnovers and was outrebounded for the first time this season, with the Cardinal posting a 35-28 edge on the boards. Stanford enjoyed a lopsided 23-6 advantage on points off turnovers.
The Buffs used a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead in the latter stages of the first half. But Stanford answered with its own 9-2 run to pull even before a Barrington Hargress-to-Felix Kossaras bucket gave the Buffs a 35-33 lead at the break.
The second half, though, was all Stanford. The Cardinal put together separate runs of 9-0 and 10-0 to gradually pull away from CU, which shot .429 in the second half while going 2-for-11 on 3-pointers.
Despite comments this week from Stanford coach Kyle Smith indicating star freshman Ebuka Okorie wouldn’t return from an injury absence until after Christmas, Okorie was in the starting lineup for the Cardinal after missing the previous two games. Okorie made the Buffs pay, hitting a pair of early 3-pointers and finishing 18-for-21 on free throws while finishing with a game-high 32 points. That total was the most by a CU foe this season.
Point guard Barrington Hargress was the only bright spot offensively for the Buffs, going 6-for-8 with 16 points and six assists. CU finished just 4-for-17 on 3-pointers.
The Buffs will break for a few days for the holidays before reconvening in Boulder on Christmas to begin preparations for the nonconference finale against Northern Colorado on Dec. 28.
Stanford 77, Colorado 68
STANFORD (10-2)
Okpara 3-12 4-10 11, Rohosy 2-3 0-2 4, Agarwal 1-6 0-0 3, Gealer 3-7 4-4 13, Okorie 6-13 18-21 32, Cammann 1-2 2-4 4, Giltay 4-4 0-0 8, Dent-Smith 1-5 0-0 2, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 28-41 77.
COLORADO (10-2)
Dak 2-6 4-4 8, Rancik 4-11 4-4 14, Malone 2-4 0-0 4, Hargress 7-10 1-1 16, Kossaras 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 4-6 2-3 11, Michaeli 3-9 0-0 6, Holland 3-5 1-1 7, Sanders 0-2 0-0 0, Ifaola 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 12-13 68.
Halftime: Colorado 35-33; 3-Point Goals: Stanford 7-21 (Gealer 3-5, Okorie 2-5, Agarwal 1-3, Okpara 1-5, Dent-Smith 0-3), Colorado 4-17 (Rancik 2-4, Hargress 1-2, Johnson 1-2, Kossaras 0-1, Malone 0-1, Sanders 0-1, Dak 0-2, Holland 0-2, Michaeli 0-2); Rebounds: Stanford 32 (Okpara, Rohosy, Agarwal, Giltay 5), Colorado 28 (Rancik 8); Assists: Stanford 11 (Dent-Smith 3), Colorado 15 (Hargress 6); Total Fouls: Stanford 19, Colorado 24.