Two takeaways from the Buffs' 72-58 loss against Kansas

The No. 20 Colorado Buffaloes lost to the No. 2 Kansas Jayhakws 72-58 Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.

Colorado entered the night after taking care of business against some lesser opponents, but there were still plenty of question marks. The team struggled to maximize its possessions in previous outings and took advantage of not playing any ranked opponents.

After a tough loss against a great Kansas team, the Buffs are still somewhat unproven but have some reasons to be hopeful moving forward.

Here’s what we saw on Saturday night:

Some stats can be extremely deceiving, others extremely telling

If I told you that a team in this game had more offensive rebounds and steals with fewer turnovers, it would be safe to assume that they came away victorious because of how many extra chances they received.

Unfortunately, Colorado did all this and still managed to lose by 14. This loss can be attributed to a variety of factors, but very simply it came down to an inability to get the ball in the hoop. The Buffs shot just 30% from the field with 18 makes on 60 attempts and they also jacked up 34 threes and converted just seven.

What does a combination of bad shooting and more possessions tell you about this team? Colorado is struggling on offense as they have a variety of playmakers but lack a true shot creator. Kansas had extreme size on the block, so the Buffs felt forced to shoot perimeter shots to avoid the inside. The shots that they were taking were not always bad looks, but the shots themselves were striking everywhere around the rim except inside.

It could be easy to attribute this loss to an off-night shooting, but considering this was the biggest test of the season, it is not unreasonable to let some doubt creep in. The positive takeaway from all this is that Colorado lost by just 14 points even though they made nine fewer shots on more attempts.

In simple terms, if they are able to convert just a few more shots, this game is much closer and looked at in a much better way.

Colorado has no identity on offense

The Buffs had so many empty possessions because of their inability to show Kansas new looks. The offense is basic and fans do not have much to point to as a leader on that side of the ball.

Sure, Tyler Bey is almost averaging a double-double and they have not had a lot of issues scoring the basketball this season. But an identity on offense is more than scoring points, as silly as that might sound.

To this point, Colorado’s guards have benefitted by the strong play of their forwards, with their rebounding leading to faster possessions and more open looks. Bey and Battey have been impressive to this point this season, and this is largely where their success comes from. But in a game where they are undersized and lack the presence in the post on offense, we saw this team resort to shooting 3-pointers.

The Buffs were passing the ball around the arc looking for ways to penetrate, and when it ultimately failed, they made a quick move and chucked up a shot. This type of offense cannot be sustainable when you shot 21% from the arc, a troubling sign against a strong, tournament-caliber team.

There are only a few more contests before Pac-12 play begins on Jan. 3, and Colorado is running out of time to find themselves against quality opponents before hosting Oregon.

Looking ahead

Colorado returns home on Tuesday to take on a red-hot Northern Iowa squad that is 8-1. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.