Outside the Coors Events Center in Boulder, the temperature was below zero on Wednesday night. But that was downright tropical compared to the Utes’ play inside, as Colorado blew out Utah 76-52.
Sophomore star Richard Roby led the Buffaloes (5-1) with 19 points and hauled down 10 rebounds while nailing four 3-pointers. Also chipping in for Colorado was forward Chris Copeland, who had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Bryant Markson led the Utes with 13 points, four below his season average. Senior center Chris Jackson was the only other big contributor, finishing with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
After hitting just eight field goals while shooting 33.3 percent in the first half, the Utes found themselves trailing 33-16.
But at the beginning of the half, it looked like Utah finally started to come alive.
Keyed by five points from Johnnie Bryant and four from Markson, the Utes started on a 15-5 run, cutting the Buffalo lead to 38-31 five minutes into the half.
But the surge would not last.
Colorado caught fire again, going on a 9-0 run and extending the lead to 16. The Utes could not recover as the Buffaloes pulled away to win their fifth game and exact some revenge on Utah for an 80-48 beat-down at the Huntsman Center last season.
A big reason for the blowout was the Utes’ inability to clean the defensive glass. Colorado hauled in 18 offensive rebounds, compared with the Utes’ nine. A big reason for that was the Buffaloes shooting 37 3-pointers, 12 of which they connected on.
At the outset of the game it looked like Utah had a good chance at winning their third straight in the series. After Luke Nevill dunked in two points nine minutes into the game, the Utes held a 10-3 lead.
Then the Utes slammed into a wall.
Colorado woke up, closing the half on a 30-6 run, as the Utes finished with a paltry 16 points in the first half.
Utah returns home Saturday to host Southern Utah at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center.