Colorado drops to 0-2 in Pac-12 play after four days in Arizona

Colorado didn't appear to suffer any hangover Sunday night at Arizona State from its crushing and controversial loss three days earlier at Arizona.

The Buffaloes looked like they might run away with a victory in opening minutes. They established a 20-7 lead against the Sun Devils and appeared to have put Thursday's overtime loss to the Wildcats behind them.

But then they went cold on the perimeter and couldn't find a solution for 7-foot-2 Arizona State center Jordan Bachynski, who contributed nine blocks to the Sun Devils' season best of 13 blocks as a team. Colorado lost 65-56.

The Buffs fell to 0-2 in Pac-12 Conference play and 1-4 in true road games this season because they shot so poorly and that was partly due to the defense played by Arizona State.

Colorado made just two of 19 3-point attempts and actually attempted 21 more field goals than Arizona State. The Buffs settled for too many jump shots, in part, because of Bachynski. That led to a huge disparity in foul shots. ASU went to the free throw line 33 times compared with the Buffs shooting eight free throws. Colorado coach Tad Boyle thought his team lost its second consecutive game for the first time this season because of its poor defense.

"We're on the road to being 0-18 (in Pac-12 play)," Boyle told the Boulder Daily Camera. "If we don't guard, it doesn't matter if you're home or on the road. It better be a wake-up call. I thought maybe the game at Arizona was a wake-up call."

Colorado had a win over Arizona wiped away Thursday by officials who ruled that a banked in 3-pointer by senior Sabatino Chen did not count because it didn't leave Chen's fingertips in time. Video replays and still photos appeared to show the shot should have counted and the mistake became national news.

Boyle talked to his team for nearly 72 hours about not allowing the call to beat it twice and players seemed to respond well against the Sun Devils. Now the Buffaloes must get back on track with a pair of home games this week against USC and UCLA.

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