Andrej Jakimovski converted an off-balance layup with 8 seconds left, and Colorado handed No. 2 UConn its second loss in two days at the Maui Invitational, beating the two-time defending national champion 73-72 on Tuesday.
A day after a 99-97 overtime loss to Memphis that left Huskies coach Dan Hurley livid about the officiating, UConn (4-2) couldn’t shake the unranked Buffaloes (5-1), who shot 62.5% in the second half.
With Colorado trailing 72-71 in the closing seconds, Jakimovski drove to his right and absorbed contact from UConn’s Liam McNeeley. He tossed the ball toward the glass and the shot was good as he fell to the floor. Hassan Diarra missed a 3-pointer just ahead of the buzzer for UConn.
Elijah Malone and Julian Hammond III scored 16 points each for Colorado, and Jakimovski had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Huskies led 40-32 at halftime and by nine points early in the second half, but Colorado quickly closed that gap. McNeeley led UConn with 20 points.
Takeaways
UConn: Hurley’s squad is facing its first adversity in quite a while. The Huskies arrived on Maui with a 17-game winning streak that dated to February.
Colorado: The Buffaloes were held to season lows in points (56) and field goal percentage (37%) in a 16-point loss to Michigan State on Monday but shot 51.1% overall and 56.3% (9 of 16) from 3-point range against the Huskies.
Key moment
Hurley called timeout to set up the Huskies’ final possession, but the Buffs forced them to take a contested 3.
Key stat
Colorado had a 28-26 rebounding advantage after being out-rebounded 42-29 by Michigan State.
Up next
Colorado will play the Iowa-Dayton winner in the fifth-place game on Wednesday. UConn will play the loser of that matchup in the seventh-place game.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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