No. 3 Colorado upset by No. 10 NC State 78-60 in Paradise Jam finale

Buffaloes suffer the first loss of the season on the road

CU Buffs

After cruising to wins over Cincinnati and Kentucky on Thursday and Friday, No. 3 Colorado fell to No. 10 NC State 78-60 at the Paradise Jam on Saturday. It was the Buffaloes (6-1) first loss of the season.

A slow start and cold offense doomed Colorado. The Buffaloes were held to 3-17 shooting and trailed 22-6 at the end of the first quarter. After a back-and-forth second quarter, JR Payne’s squad was behind 41-26 at halftime. The Wolfpack (7-0) pushed even further ahead in the third quarter and never looked back. “I thought their transition offense was a lot better than our transition defense today,” Colorado head coach JR Payne said following the game. “That's what they do. That's their superpower. It [the game] opened up really quickly because of that.”

Colorado, who entered the game averaging 52.7 percent from the field, finished 20-61 (32.8 pct.) against NC State. The Wolfpack scored 22 points off 18 Colorado turnovers and dominated the inside game. Led by River Baldwin’s game-high 24 points, NC State outscored Colorado 36-14 in the paint. Colorado was led by Jaylon Sherrod’s 20 points. The senior guard finished three games with a combined 41 points and 12 assists to capture all-tournament honors.

Paradise Jam All-Tournament: Jaylyn Sherrod 🏝️🦬#GoBuffs / #ParadiseJam pic.twitter.com/SYJ5IGEi2c

— Colorado Women's Basketball 🦬 (@CUBuffsWBB) November 26, 2023

“We'll face a lot of really good teams this year.” Payne said about the loss. “This is an important lesson to learn early in the season." Next up for Colorado is a matchup against Boston University at the CU Events Center on Tuesday, November 28. Game time is set for 6 pm MT.