BOULDER, Colo. – Nationally-ranked Colorado opened the game with a big scoring run and the Milwaukee men's basketball team spent the remainder of the contest playing from behind in falling Tuesday night at the CU Events Center.
 
The Panthers (1-2) could not overcome the hot shooting by the No. 25 Buffaloes (3-0), who were still connecting on over 70 percent from the floor as a team with 10 minutes left in regulation before cooling off down the stretch after the outcome had been decided.
 
"I'm disappointed in my group," head coach Bart Lundy said postgame. "We didn't guard at all for much of the game. Once we got through to some guys, we did a little better toward the end, but obviously, it was way over by that point. I think Colorado is a really good team. They are as good a passing team as I've seen in a long, long time. They shared the ball. They have so many guys that can make shots and they understand who they are. That's a really, really good basketball team."
 
Zach Howell led the way for MKE, scoring 15 points on a great night from long distance, connecting on 5-of-7 from three-point range – all in the second half. Markeith Browning II finished with 11 and Elijah Jamison joined them in double-figures with 10 points. BJ Freeman was in foul trouble in the first half and wrapped up the night with nine points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
 
Erik Pratt also had nine and both Langston Wilson and Aaron Franklin each added identical 6 point/4 rebound efforts.
 
The Buffs had six players finish in double-figures, led by 23 points and six assists from KJ Simpson. Eddie Lumpkin added a double-double of 14 points/12 rebounds and the team shot 65 percent (13-of-20) from deep, the third-highest percentage for an opponent in a game in school history in claiming the 106-79 decision.
 
"They just made us pay for everything," Lundy said. "Shot after shot after shot. We are a pretty good defensive team and they shredded us. It was frustrating and I think it was frustrating for our guys. Offensively, we got impatient because they were scoring, so it was really a tilted floor for us. We try to tilt the floor the other way and they tilted the floor on us, so we were playing fast, unproductive basketball and they were playing productive basketball."
 
Down 9-4 out of the gates, a Lundy timeout could not stem the tide, eventually reaching 17-4 before a solid pushback by the Panthers. A nice run followed and Milwaukee was back within eight at 23-15 on a Pratt dunk.
 
CU followed with seven straight, eventually capping a run at 14-2 to take the 37-17 advantage.
 
In the second half, the Panthers again came out strong and cut the deficit back to 18 at 59-41 on a Jamison three, but a 12-2 spurt by the home team sealed the decision and put the Buffs ahead 71-43, at which time they were still over 70 percent from the field as a team with 10 minutes remaining.
 
Milwaukee is back home Friday for its Homecoming contest, welcoming Luther College downtown for a 7 p.m. start. The game will be carried on the radio on 94.5 ESPN Milwaukee with Scott Warras on the call, due to other sporting event obligations on 101.7 FM The Truth.