The fight was there Wednesday night for Utah when the Runnin’ Utes took on Colorado at the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado.
The finish wasn’t, though.
It’s been an issue all year for Utah in its first year under head coach Alex Jensen.
The latest example of this came in an 87-75 loss to the Buffaloes.
“The big thing is that we didn’t finish possessions down the last four minutes,” Utah assistant coach Raphael Chillious said in a postgame interview on ESPN 700 AM.
The Utes, after a disastrous 11-1 start to the game, fought their way back into the matchup and even briefly grabbed a first-half lead.
After Colorado built its lead back up late in the first half and into double-digits in the second half, the Utes made headway and trimmed their deficit to two twice in the final seven-plus minutes.
The last time came with 3:58 to play, when Keanu Dawes hit a jumper to make it 69-67.
What happened next will be scrutinized by Utah coaches, though, as Colorado (12-3, 2-0 Big 12) outscored the Utes 16-6 the rest of the way. That included an 8-0 run that all but put the game away.
Though the Utes had more offensive rebounds (14-13) and second-chance points (15-11), the Buffaloes’ next points came on a putback, when Bangot Dak grabbed his fourth offensive rebound of the game and dunked home two points.
Utah (8-7, 0-2 Big 12) had only seven turnovers in the game, one off its season low, but two of those turnovers came at critical moments.
First, with the Buffaloes holding onto that 71-67 lead, Utah had a chance to make it a one-possession game again, but Terrence Brown lost the ball with three minutes to play, and it resulted in two Isaiah Johnson free throws on a fastbreak opportunity to extend the lead to six.
On the Utes’ next possession, Don McHenry’s only turnover of the night spoiled another opportunity and Colorado capitalized with a score inside from Barrington Hargress.
At that point, the damage was done.
Colorado’s 11-1 run to begin the game came after No. 1 Arizona had a similar start against the Utes in the Big 12 opener — in that contest, the Wildcats stormed out to a 14-2 lead.
The Buffaloes made their first four field goals of the night before Utah had much time to breathe, and it caused Utah to call timeout to regroup.
Take out the first two and a half minutes of the game and the final four minutes, and Utah outscored the Buffaloes 68-60.
That’s not how it works, though — the Utes are still searching on how to play a full 40 minutes.
“We’re coming together as a team,” Chillious said of a group with 12 newcomers that’s been joined by a midyear addition and walk-on in recent weeks. “It takes a while to build it, but we show them those four minutes on each side of it, and say, ‘Look, if we clean up (the first) four minutes, last four minutes, we’re going to be in a lot of games.’
“I think our guys do their best to execute the game plan, and then, like you said, we get to that middle portion, we’re pretty good. We still (need to) learn how to finish. Gotta learn how to start.”
This all came despite Utah’s Big 3 — Dawes, Brown and McHenry — leading the way again for the Utes.
McHenry scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and he added seven rebounds and an assist.
Dawes added 16 points and seven rebounds, to go with two assists and a steal.
Brown tossed in 16 points, though that came on 5 of 17 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line. He accounted for nearly half (three) of Utah’s turnovers.
A troubling trend for Utah’s starting guard lineup happened again against Colorado. After McHenry and Brown combined to shoot 11 of 19 in the first half, they struggled from the field after the half. This time, it came to the tune of shooting a combined 3 of 20.
“They made some adjustments,” Chillious said of Colorado. “I think (McHenry and Brown) missed some shots they normally make. You know, that’s the nature of the beast. We tried to get Don a couple more quick rests to try to back going. But sometimes you have it going, sometimes you don’t.”
Colorado’s balance — and depth — was superior, too.
The Buffaloes had four players in double-figures, and their bench outscored Utah’s 33-8.
Dak put up a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, as Colorado outrebounded the Utes 41-35. He also had three blocks, two assists and a steal.
Sebastian Rancik made contributions in a variety of ways as well, with a team-high 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks, while Johnson (12) and Alon Michaeli (10) scored in double-figures, too.
Utah will get another shot at Colorado later this season, when the Utes host the Buffaloes on March 3.
By then, will some of those finishes start to turn around?
For now, it all adds up to a third straight loss for Utah as it heads into another particularly difficult portion of its schedule — the Utes host their rivals, No. 9 BYU, at the Huntsman Center on Saturday, before hitting the road next Wednesday against No. 14 Texas Tech.
“I think we’ve gotta get on the bus, watch the film and flush this one, and then we know what’s coming in. I mean, it’s BYU Saturday. It could be it could be Kansas on Saturday. It’s the Big 12, you know,” Chillious said. “We have to prepare for the game like, yes, BYU is a monster — so is everyone else in this league.
“We got to get our guys back quickly. Get focused on BYU. First of all, execute the game plan and hopefully come out with a better start and see what happens.”