Turnovers, Vols’ Chandler doom Buffs
Colorado’s upset bid wasn’t spoiled by Tennessee. The Buffaloes kicked this opportunity away all by themselves.
CU couldn’t get out of its own way during a showdown against the 13th-ranked Volunteers on Saturday afternoon, committing far too many turnovers in the first half then failing to get key stops at critical junctures in the second half. The end result was Tennessee 69, CU 54.
It was CU’S second loss against a top-15 foe in four days. The defeat also ended the Buffs’ sixgame winning streak against ranked teams at home.
CU began the week believing a strong showing at fifth-ranked UCLA and against the Vols might put the Buffs ahead of the curve for eventual NCAA Tournament projections.
Instead, CU head coach Tad Boyle described his team as “average at best” after the beatdown. The Buffs will attempt to regroup ahead of home games next week against Eastern Washington and Milwaukee.
“Opportunity lost for the Buffs today. And it was right there to be had,” Boyle said. “I felt like we could’ve beat Tennessee if we play close to the level of our ability and skill. But we didn’t. We were not good enough offensively. We were not good enough defensively.
“Tennessee is a good team. They expose your weaknesses. And obviously our high-ball defense was pathetic.”
That almost nonexistent highball defense Boyle referred to led to a monster game for Tennessee freshman Kennedy Chandler, who showed the season-high Events Center crowd of 8,688 why he was one of the best point guard recruits in the 2021 class.
Chandler repeatedly broke down the CU defense to get to the rim and finished 13-for-20 from the field to score a season-high 27 points.
It was another disappointing game for the Buffs defensively, as Tennessee finished with a .475 shooting percentage despite shooting 6-for-24 on 3-pointers. Offensively, the Buffs weren’t much better. CU committed 12 of its 15 turnovers in the first half, leading to a telling 21-8 edge for the Volunteers on points off turnovers. CU hit its first two 3-point attempts of the game but went 2for-15 the rest of the way. The Buffs’ overall shooting mark of .345 was a season-low.
“We tried everything (on defense),” CU senior forward Evan Battey said. “We tried going under. We tried switching. We tried blocking. We’ve just got to do a better job. I’ve got to do a better
job in making sure my team knows all the coverages, making sure we’re gapped up. It’s all internal for me.”
Tennessee led 34-24 at halftime and pushed the advantage to 11 points early in the second half before the Buffs began chipping away. On three occasions CU cut the Tennessee lead to five points, including once on a drive down the lane by KJ Simpson that the
freshman guard finished with a resounding dunk in traffic.
Each time, however, the Volunteers responded. Tennessee answered that final five-point deficit with eight consecutive points, forcing the Buffs into scramble mode the rest of the way.