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Colorado Buffaloes Drop To No. 24 After Weekend Loss In Kansas

(CBS4) - The CU Buffaloes men's basketball team has dropped to No. 24 in the AP Top 25 Poll after Saturday's 72-58 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks. Colorado lost for the first time this season and now have a record of 7-1. Kansas, which also is 7-1, stayed at No. 2.

Lucas Siewert
Lucas Siewert of the Colorado Buffaloes and Silvio De Sousa of the Kansas Jayhawks battle for a rebound at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 7, 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

CU also stayed at No. 23 in the CBSSports.com College Basketball Rankings.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/
Colorado coach Todd Boyle was brutally honest after their seven-game win streak ended.

"KU beat us tonight, I mean very soundly," Boyle said. "People are going to see that score, but it really wasn't even as close as the score indicated."

Ochai Agbaji scored 20 points and Devon Dotson added 18 points to lead Kansas. Ten days after claiming the Maui Invitational title, the Jayhawks built an early 6-0 lead over their former conference foes. David McCormack fueled the hot start, contributing six of the Jayhawks' opening eight points.

Holding leading scorer Tyler Bey scoreless from the field through the first half, Kansas used a 9-0 run to build a 19-9 lead. Colorado (7-1) shot 26.9% from the field in the first half and that allowed the Jayhawks to take a 34-22 lead at halftime.

"We got a lot of open looks that just didn't fall for us tonight," McKinley Wright said "I wouldn't take back our game plan and what we did. I don't think we did nothing necessarily wrong."

With Bey and D'Shawn Schwartz quieted, Evan Battey lead the way for the Buffaloes, scoring 14 points on a 5-for-8 shooting.

Schwartz picked up a technical foul on a dunk that temporarily quieted the raucous Kansas crowd, and Agbaji knocked down four 3-point baskets in the second half to keep the Buffaloes at a distance.

"I thought Ochai was by far our best performer today," Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Colorado forced 21 Kansas turnovers, but the Jayhawks shot 52.9% to outlast the Buffaloes.

"If we got a shot we were fairly efficient but obviously we've got to be better caretakers of the ball to play really good offensively," Self said.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: The size of the Jayhawks overpowered Colorado inside, especially with a two-big lineup, outscoring the Buffaloes 38-22 down low. The Jayhawks also found some late success from outside, shooting 85.7% from 3-point range in the second half after missing all six first-half attempts.

Colorado: With Bey contained by the swarming Kansas defense, the Buffaloes struggled to find any momentum offensively, turning the ball over 17 times and shooting 30% from the field.

QUICK COMPARE

Both Naismith and Wooden Award candidates, the matchup between McKinley Wright and Devon Dotson featured two of the most explosive point guards in the nation. Dotson boasted 18 points and six assists, while the Kansas defense limited Wright to eight points and two assists.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Hosts Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Colorado: Hosts Northern Iowa on Tuesday.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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