Utes limp into Pac-12 tourney with 5th straight loss as Utah falls to Colorado

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah got some good news ahead of its regular season finale against Colorado: starting guards Rollie Worster and Gabe Madsen would be available to play Saturday afternoon.

But the good news didn't last long as Colorado used a 13-2 run in the first half to take a double-digit lead that it never gave up, and the Buffaloes went on to beat the Utes 69-60.

"They made a lot of plays tonight," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "They got us off attack on the offensive end."

With the loss, Utah (17-14, 10-10 Pac-12) will finish the season seventh in the Pac-12 standings — an improvement from its projected 10th-place finish at the beginning of the season — but on a five-game losing skid to limp into the postseason.

As such, Utah will be the No. 7 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas next week; Colorado (16-15, 8-12 Pac-12) will be the No. 9 seed.

Though Utah got two of its starters back in the lineup — Worster was out two games and Madsen was out for five weeks with an ankle injury — the team struggled to make shots for much of the first half and shot 28% from the field and 13% from 3-point range. On the other end, Utah's transition defense failed to limit Colorado's surging attack.

"They were in attack mode," Smith said. "They played very, very confident. ... They get out in transition and made us pay getting 20 points in transition. We needed to tighten that up better."

The second half was a bit better for the Utes, who finished the game shooting 33% from the field and 30% from 3-point range, but Colorado had an answer on senior night for every attempt Utah made. Even Madsen getting hot midway through the second half, where he hit three consecutive 3-pointers, couldn't cut into Colorado's lead for too long.

Colorado led by as much as 16 points in the game, even without its starting point guard KJ Simpson available, and outscored Utah 20-3 in fast break points, and outrebounded Utah 39-33. It was a game where Colorado dictated the tempo and never relinquished its command of the game.

"I thought we really settled for some quick shots and tough shots, and we just have to be better to beat good teams, specifically on the road," Smith said. "We know they're a very, very good home team; their crowd is outstanding, and they feed off of that. They got off to a good start and they never stopped or never wavered."

The Buffaloes were led in scoring by Tristan Da Silva, who came off the bench on Saturday after sustaining an ankle injury last week and finished with 15 points, including going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Julian Hammond III added 15 points, five assists and three rebounds, and Nique Clifford finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Worster led Utah with 15 points, four assists and three rebounds, and was one of the only Utes players to find the bottom of the net in the first half. Senior center Branden Carlson added 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

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