The Colorado Buffaloes fell short of a victory inside the walls of Troy on Wednesday, losing 79-72. The heartbreaking loss had fans up in arms, throwing blame around like a hot potato. It’s understandable, a loss like that can shake you to the bones, but we bring good news — the sky is still in a good place and so are the Buffaloes.

Closer than expected

Yes, Colorado blew a 15 point lead in the final minutes. Yes, they really stunk, making only one field goal in the final several minutes of the game. Yes, it would’ve been a huge win. But the loss isn’t a killer to the Buffs resume or standing in the Pac-12.

They weren’t supposed to beat USC on the road, they weren’t even supposed to come close, yet they led for a majority of the game. Sure, at the end of the day, a loss is still an “L” but it shows CU’s potential that they could go out on the road and really take a game by the horns. Colorado hasn’t had a road effort in 2016 like they showed during the first 33 minutes at the Galen Center.

Even with their deficiencies, the Buffs competed with a legitimate NCCA Tournament team on their home court. The win would’ve said a lot but this game could be a preview and a quiz for the test CU will face in March and playing these close games can only help keep Colorado cool for next time.

Josh Scott hobbled, but humongous

The senior big man came off the bench for only the third time in his career, this was because of a nagging ankle injury in which he suffered at Oregon State. The injury also kept him out of the Washington State and Washington games. When the news came out that he would be coming off the bench, concerns about his effectiveness were raised, worry came about as to whether the big man could be effective for Colorado. In 23 minutes the star big had 17 points (6-of-8), three rebounds and one steal.

Showing em what the old man can do in this league of high risers https://t.co/QmUckq6CUF

— Jake Shapiro, but festive 🎁 (@Shapalicious) February 18, 2016

Safe to say Scott is going to be just fine as he was up to his old tricks in the post.

Turnovers

After targeting it in practice this week as an area of an improvement, the nasty turnovers that have plagued the Buffs this year reappeared. Colorado had 20 turnovers and USC scored 22 points off of those giveaways. This week in practice it was specifically stated by Tad Boyle that they couldn’t let the Trojans get out in translation. The Buffaloes failed at their coaches’ assignment and it cost them the game.

Dominique Collier and George King had six turnovers, convoluting the Colorado offense and sparking the offense from the men of Troy.

The lack of improvement in ball handling is very much concerning for a team attempting to make a run in March. Right now it looks ugly, but if the Buffs can get this very simple issue figured out it could catapult them towards a big run.