Fast break Why the Buffs lost: UCF shot .611, the highest mark buy a CU foe this season, and also outrebounded the Buffs 32-23. Three stars 1. UCF’s Riley Kugel. Despite limited playing time in the first half due to foul trouble, Kugel finished 6-for-8 on 3-pointers and led the Knights with 22 poi nts. 2. UCF’s Themus Fulks. Knights’ point guard went 6-for-10, finishing with 19 points and eight assists. 3 CU’s Isaiah Johnson. Scored 13 of his 20 points after halftime and also matched a season-high with six assists. Up next: The Buffs will be challenged to end their five-game losing streak in a road date at No. 9 Iowa State on Thursday (5 p.m. MT, Fox Sports 1). Colorado scored 86 points, shot 52% overall, went 11-for-20 on 3-pointers and kept the turnovers to single digits. It was the sort of offensive performance that typcially translates to victory. Yet a team that has preached defense throughout 16 seasons under head coach Tad Boyle has gone completely AWOL at the defensive end of the floor. Unable to slow the Knights while once again getting beat up on the glass, the CU men’s basketball team suffered its fifth consecutive defeat Saturday afternoon, dropping a 95-86 decision against Central Florida at the CU Events Center. It was the second time this season the Buffs topped 80 points at home and still lost. The Buffs entered the contest having allowed the opposition to shoot at least 60% in a half just twice through 19 games, but the Knights did it in both halves Saturday. “Central Florida played their tail off,” Boyle said. “We didn’t do anything to slow them down or shut them down by any means. We’ve got to get better.” UCF finished with a .611 shooting percentage, the highest by a Colorado foe this season and highest mark by any opponent since Marquette shot .618 in a CU loss in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. It was the first time an opponent shot at least .600 at the Events Center since Arizona put up a .603 mark in Boulder on Feb. 22, 2014. (Eastern Washington topped 60% in regulation in the second game of this season at the Events Center, but dipped under that mark by the end of a CU overtime win). The Knights also finished 15-for-24 on 3-pointers, going 10-for-13 in the first half. UCF’s 15 made 3-pointers was the second-most by a Buffs foe this season. The Buffs have allowed seven of their 20 opponents to shoot at least 50%. “We’re doing what we need to do offensively. But we’re just not good enough defensively,” Boyle said. “The whole game plan was we needed to get really sound ball-screen defense. We got none of that. We tried three different ball-screen coverages. None of them worked. The other key was to keep the ball in front of us. We couldn’t do that. So we don’t keep the ball in front of us, our ball-screen defense wasn’t good enough, and they make 15 threes.” CU led 31-23 with a little less than 8 1/2 minutes remaining in the first half, but the Knights outscored the Buffs 26-16 the rest of the way to take a 49-47 lead at halftime. UCF leading scorer Riley Kugel was limited in the first half due to foul trouble, but he hit five of his six 3-pointers after halftime, including a pair during a 10-2 burst by the Knights that extended their lead to 13 points. Related Articles Grading The Week: Nuggets’ Peyton Watson looks like money player. But can Kroenkes pay up? Colorado moving on from controversial calls, look to end losing streak against UCF Slumping CU Buffs look to shed slide against UCF CU Buffs look to regroup, overcome tough breaks ahead of visit from UCF Coach Bill Self doesn’t travel with No. 19 Kansas to CU after going to the hospital, school says A 3-pointer by CU freshman Isaiah Johnson kept the Buffs within 86-80 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds remaining, yet for the third consecutive game Colorado was snakebit by an improbable banked 3-pointer. With just 0.6 on the shot clock, UCF inbounded the ball to Kugel, whose heave at the buzzer banked in. Instead of getting the ball back with 2:14 remaining trailing by just six, the Buffs fell behind by nine and didn’t threaten the Knights the rest of the way. “We gave them hope, and then just room to breathe,” said CU point guard Barrington Hargress, one of three players who shared the team lead with 20 points. “It allowed them to slow the game down and play at their pace and play where they were comfortable at. And then we were just playing catch-up from there.” UCF 95, Colorado 86 UCF (15-4, 4-3 Big 12) Burks 2-6 2-2 7, Stillwell 6-10 3-5 15, Bol 1-1 0-2 2, Fulks 6-10 6-9 19, Kugel 7-12 2-2 22, Cambridge 4-6 1-1 11, Pacheco 3-3 0-0 9, C.Johnson 4-6 0-0 10. Totals 33-54 14-21 95. COLORADO (12-8, 2-5) Dak 4-9 3-4 11, Rancik 7-12 3-3 20, Malone 0-0 0-0 0, Hargress 6-8 5-6 20, I.Johnson 7-13 3-3 20, Holland 2-4 3-5 9, Michaeli 3-8 0-1 6, Kossaras 0-2 0-0 0, Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Inman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-56 17-22 86. Halftime: UCF 49-47. 3-point field goals: UCF 15-24 (Kugel 6-8, Pacheco 3-3, C.Johnson 2-3, Cambridge 2-4, Fulks 1-2, Burks 1-4); Colorado 11-20 (Hargress 3-3, Rancik 3-6, I.Johnson 3-7, Holland 2-3, Kossaras 0-1). Rebounds: UCF 32 (Bol 10); Colorado 23 (Dak 9). Assists: UCF 18 (Fulks 8); Colorado 17 (I. Johnson 6). Turnovers: UCF 12 (Burks 3); Colorado 9 (I. Johnson, Michaeli, Sanders 2). Total fouls: UCF 15, Colorado 18; A: 6,528. ...read more read less