There was more bad than good in the Colorado Buffaloes’ 69-54 loss to No. 13 Tennessee. Coming off a pair of mostly encouraging performances against Stanford and No. 5 UCLA, a harsh reality check hit the Buffs on Saturday.
We’ll get to the positives, and there were a few, but those were overshadowed by a number of debilitating problems. First and foremost, turnovers were by far the biggest issue, at least in the first half. It wasn’t exactly one player in particular, but rather a team effort of sloppy passes and dribbling. The Buffs turned the ball over 15 times, albeit just three times in the second half.
But when they began to clean things up in the turnover game, the Buffs, who nearly set the NCAA record in free throw shooting last year, missed six give me’s from the stripe in the second half.
The play of starting point guard Keeshawn Barthelemy was another concern. His strong start to the season has fizzled out quickly with a 2-for-13 afternoon from the field. As for fellow guards K.J. Simpson and Julian Hammond III, I honestly don’t think you can ask much more from two freshmen coming off the bench.
Buffs guards: zero plan, just vibes
— Jake Shapiro, but dreidel dreidel dreidel (@Shapalicious) December 4, 2021
Tad Boyle, though, was clear in saying he wants his guards to help their forwards get some better opportunities.
Defensively, Boyle believed the Buffs weren’t terrible overall but struggled with Tennesse’s high ball screens, which helped Vols freshman Kennedy Chandler go absolutely ballistic.
No matter how motivated the Buffaloes played in the second half, Tennessee always had an answer. “We played good in stretches, but I need us to play good in all 40 minutes,” Battey said.
Colorado does have a few things to smile at, though. Outrebounding the Vols 37-34 was great and the Buffs certainly aren’t afraid on offense. The next step there is just playing aggressive AND smart.
After facing a pair of top-15 teams this week, the Buffs will have Eastern Washington and Milwaukee up next.
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