Houston began its Big 12 tournament run with a 77-68 win over No. 16 seed Colorado on Thursday afternoon.
The Cougars were sloppy in this game, particularly in the first half, taking just a five-point lead into the break. However, their consistent pressure and overall talent ended up helping them pull away late, bringing Colorado’s surprising run in Kansas City to an end.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the game and what it means for both of them going forward.
Coogs Prevail, But It Wasn’t Pretty
Houston got the job done in the first-ever meeting between a one-seed and 16-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, but it certainly wasn’t the game that Kelvin Sampson had in mind for his group. In fact, LJ Cryer revealed that Sampson didn’t have any adjustments for his team at halftime—he simply left the locker room and let his team deal with things.
Sure, the Cougars never trailed after their first basket of the game, but we’re talking about a team that just went 19-1 in Big 12 play, while their opponent was 3-17 in the same conference. It was clear that Houston was a bit rusty after getting a few days off, and Colorado was in a groove coming into the game. The Cougars had 12 turnovers in the game, which Colorado turned into 18 points, and also had just six assists as a team.
If Colorado had been any better from beyond the arc—they were 5-of-20 (25%)—this game might’ve been a lot more interesting than it already was. Thankfully for the Coogs, that didn’t happen, and now they’ll have around 24 hours to regroup and get ready for BYU.
Buffs Shouldn’t Hang Their Heads
The 2024-25 season wasn’t what Colorado had in mind, especially after their run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. Tad Boyle has certainly had better teams during his tenure in Boulder, but there’s plenty of reason to be excited about the near future, especially after how they closed out this season.
Boyle recently confirmed he’ll be back in 2025-26, and he’ll have plenty of promising pieces to work with when he does. Key pieces like Bangot Dak, RJ Smith, Julian Hammond, and Javon Ruffin should return, plus the Buffs added an impressive signing class that should help them immediately.
After winning their regular-season finale and a couple of games in Kansas City, Colorado basketball has some momentum to build on in the offseason, and that’s more than they could claim just a few weeks ago.
What’s Next?
Houston will be back in action on Friday night against a red-hot BYU team that just defeated Iowa State in a 96-92 barnburner. BYU made a Big 12 tournament record 18 threes in the contest and has now won five straight games.
Kelvin Sampson’s group has done enough at this point to secure a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament, but winning the Big 12 tournament after the way they went out last season would certainly be a feather in their cap.
Colorado, on the other hand, is headed back to Boulder and will be done for the season after their 20th loss of the season. Their 3-1 finish to the season is something to build upon, but there’s a lot of work that will need to be done before the Buffs can compete for a Big 12 title.
