Lucas Siewert Goes Off But Colorado Loses Second Game in a Row

Northern Iowa kept hitting 3s

Lucas Siewert had the game of his life, but when it came to the last possession his potential game-tying 3 missed pretty much everything, and No. 24 Colorado 7-2) lost its second game in a row.

That serves as a good summary of where things are for CU, which lost to Northern Iowa (9-1) Tuesday in Boulder in a game coach Tad Boyle said as loudly as he could was a total trap game. I wrote here the Panthers were a very bad matchup for Colorado. 

The thing was, though, Colorado didn’t look flat or unprepared, it just didn’t look any better than Northern Iowa, which is a fluky finish against West Virginia from being 10-0.

The Panthers should replace CU in the Top 25 next week. They had an answer for every Colorado run, drilling 3 after 3 and turning the hand hit good on a steal and layup from Spencer Haldermsn with less than a minute left.

Colorado has two chances to tie or go to overtime but that depended on a pair of 3-point attempts, so it didn’t work out.

Saturday's game at No. 2 Kansas was one thing, but Tuesday's loss at home to UNI was more of a dose of reality. Everybody loses at Kansas. Tuesday's game was a case where the other team finally wasn't all that bothered by Colorado's defense. Tad Boyle warned everyone that Northern Iowa was the second-best team CU had played all year, and you could see on Tuesday that was accurate. 

The good news was, Siewert was a revelation. He went 7-for-11 off the bench to score a career-high 21 points. That included five of Colorado's 10 3-pointers.

Granted, the Panthers aren't the biggest or strongest team Colorado is going to face this year, but he put it on those guys in every way imaginable. When he went to the bench with nine minutes left in the first half, he'd scored 13 straight for Colorado and got a special ovation (was it standing? Didn't seem like that, exactly).

Boyle has an interesting decision to make going forward, because Siewert gives him something neither of his starting big men do: outside shooting. Evan Battey didn't score until deep into the second half, and Tyler Bey wasn't on the floor for CU's final possession. 

On the one hand, those guys are reliable interior scorers, rebounders on both ends, and defenders. On the other ... things sure look different when the 4-man can stroke it. 

Colorado's problems are not mysterious, but they aren't going away, either. Without finding some more reliable offense, Colorado is going to be stuck about where it is.