3 takeaways from Colorado’s 61-58 loss to #16 USC

BOULDER — That one stings.

The Colorado Buffaloes lost 61-58 to the USC Trojans on Thursday at the CU Events Center. The loss drops Colorado’s record to 12-5 overall and 4-3 in Pac-12 play. It also snaps a seven-game winning streak against the Trojans.

Colorado lost the lead with under four minutes to go. The Buffs missed eight of their last nine shots.

Here’s what we learned on Thursday:

Kee struggles

Keeshawn Barthelemy is in the midst of a rollercoaster season.

After backing up McKinley Wright IV last year—and playing only the sparing minutes that come along with that role—Barthelemy became the starting point guard for the 2021-22 season.

Barthelemy opened the season hot and was easily CU’s best offensive player through three games. It wasn’t close. But since that start, he’s only had two games where he’s made half of his shots in the past 14. He came close a couple of times and was the leading scorer a few times.

But anytime Barthelemy has put together a nice performance, he hasn’t been able to turn it into positive momentum.

The sophomore guard came into Thursday’s contest fresh off a big win over Arizona State, in which he scored 16 points on nine field goal attempts. And, again, he couldn’t build momentum.

Barthelemy made three of his 11 field goal attempts and missed all three of his 3-point attempts. He only turned the ball over once, but the poor shooting and lack of passing left him without anything to hang his hat on.

When Colorado faced a two-point deficit and needed a bucket with less than 30 seconds to play and the shot clock turned off, Barthelemy took the ball in transition and air-balled a tough hook shot, which essentially ended the game.

Head coach Tad Boyle was not pleased.

“We got an absolutely awful shot,” Boyle said after the game. “That’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job, whether it’s having the right players in the game or being a little stricter about shot selection.”

Boyle may have alluded to an upcoming talk with his point guard.

“Some guys can finish, some guys can’t, and I think some guys are capable of finishing but they’re not doing it,” Boyle said. “At some point, you have to be realistic and say, ‘Okay, guess what, that may not be the shot that you can finish. You think you could finish it.’ But that’s where you’ve got to look at the numbers and be real. I’ve got to have some real conversations with some of our guys.

Evan Battey vents his frustrations

The biggest problem for CU on Thursday was the Buffs’ inability to make anything happen on the boards; USC won the rebounding battle 47-32.

Evan Battey said after the game that the rebounding effort starts with him and that he needs to do a better job. He also said that the other troubles CU faced are similar to the problems that have tanked CU in other losses.

“Points in the paint was 38-12. We had 16 turnovers and there’s no hidden answer,” Battey said. “Taking care of the ball, guarding, it’s been the same things that have been shooting us in the foot all season.”

For Battey, time is of the essence. He’s one of two seniors who are part of the rotation, which means he’s only got about 50 days of college basketball left.

“We don’t have many of these opportunities left, especially games at home,” Battey said. “I’m running out of time, personally. I’m just trying to enjoy it.”

Helping out the young guys, while important, is not Battey’s focus anymore.

“The good news is a lot of these guys are young, so they’re going to be set up with that knowledge, game experience for years to come,” he said. “I’m not worried about the future of Colorado basketball. I’m just worried about winning games right now.”

The sense of urgency is there for Battey, but the inability to fix the problems is frustrating.

“We haven’t fixed it yet but we’re going to try,” Battey said. “Coach is doing all he can, god bless him.”

Eli Parquet is absent

Colorado’s other senior, starting shooting guard Eli Parquet, wasn’t on the court for CU on Thursday. Instead, Parquet sat on the sideline with a big gray walking boot on his right foot.

After the game, head coach Tad Boyle said he had no timeline for Parquet’s return.

“A day, a week, two weeks, a month; I don’t know,” he said.

While Parquet’s elite defense and veteran presence on offense will be missed, sophomore guard Nique Clifford stepped up in the veteran’s absence.

Clifford only scored five points, but he also contributed seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in his first career start. He extended a six-game streak with a block. His defense was part of the reason CU was able to hold the trojans to 37% shooting from the field. It was the second-fewest points USC had scored this season.

And he contributed a bone-rattling dunk to boost the energy at the CU Events Center, too.

A long-term absence from CU’s top defensive option would be concerning, but the silver lining—at least tonight—was that Clifford showed he was capable of handling an expanded role.