Pressing Issue Faces Colorado Buffaloes After Loss To Stanford Cardinal

Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball suffered its third loss of the season, going cold in the desert and falling to the Stanford Cardinal. One key schematic adjustment needs to happen for Colorado to avoid letting this defeat carry into Big 12 play.

Feb 18, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle watches his team play the Iowa State Cyclones during the first half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

It's basketball's tax collector.

Teams not structured properly or caught out of sorts have feared zone defense since the sport's invention. The Colorado Buffaloes were no exception on Saturday, suffering their third loss of the season to the Stanford Cardinal by a score of 77-68.

Colorado faded in the second half in Phoenix, Arizona, to drop the Hall of Fame Series matchup against an old Pac-12 friend. Stanford's 2-3 zone nixed the Buffaloes, who shot just 4-of-18 to start the second half, and forced hard conversations on coach Tad Boyle with just one game remaining before Big 12 play.

Stanford's Zone Defense Stymies Buffs

Dec 6, 2025; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes guard Barrington Hargress (24) controls the ball as Colorado State Rams guard Jase Butler (4) guards in the second half at Moby Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

It was business as usual throughout the first half, as Colorado led Stanford by two with over half of its shots made. Forward Sebastian Rancik contributed nine points, six rebounds and three assists in the period, and the Buffs had seven turnovers.

However, just 2-for-6 shooting from 3-point range prompted the Cardinal to make a decisive adjustment. Stanford's zone forced Colorado to hurl five more 3s in the second half, but only two of the 11 went down.

Freshman guard Isaiah Johnson played by his usual routine, not scoring in the first half but leading the Buffaloes with 11 second-half points. Colorado was hard-pressed to find buckets outside of him, shooting a dismal 35 percent.

The Buffs also got careless with the basketball, turning the ball over 11 times in the final 20 minutes that ended in a season-high of 18. And to worsen matters, they committed 17 fouls. Guard Barrington Hargress and forward Bangot Dak contributed to nine of the turnovers, while Johnson and forward Alon Michaeli each tallied three.

But Colorado was forced to rely on those four, along with Rancik. Guard Felix Kossaras and center Elijah Malone faced foul trouble that resulted in 30 Cardinal free throws in the second half.

Dec 6, 2025; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; Colorado State Rams forward Augustinas Kiudulas (11) drives to the basket against Colorado Buffaloes forward Alon Michaeli (3) in the first half at Moby Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

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It was a tale of two halves that Colorado won't want to remember as conference play looms. Guard Barrington Hargress, one of the side's few upperclassmen, was the only Buff who both threaded the zone's needle and had a balanced game. He finished with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Beating zone means creating more mid-range opportunities and dominating the space that opposing teams surrender. However, the Buffaloes would squash any zone by simply cashing in on 3-point looks.

That's made difficult by the fact that Colorado doesn't have a high-volume, dead-eye shooter. Hargress leads the way at 62.5 percent, but he only takes one or two per game.

The same goes for Johnson and Michaeli. Colorado's standout freshmen each average over 40 percent from deep, but combine for at most five attempts a night.

Ebuka Okorie's Historic Night

Dec 7, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal guard Ebuka Okorie (1) dribbles upcourt against UNLV Runnin' Rebels guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (0) in the second half at Maples Pavilion. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

On the opposite end, Stanford's Ebuka Okorie historically won the battle of freshman guards on display. He dropped 32 points, a single-game freshman program record.

Having missed the prior two games due to injury, Okorie didn't show any lack of aggression. Eighteen of his points came from the 21 free-throw attempts he generated. He compiled 19 points as Stanford pulled away in the second half.

Colorado has a litany of gifted guards on its Big 12 schedule and will need to play with more conviction and discipline to prevent more performances like Okorie's.