The struggles from long range were nothing new by the time Colorado reached crunch time during a loss earlier this week at Kansas State. But one late sequence typified the Buffaloes’ errant touch this year from 3-point range.

The Buffs had managed to cut what had been a 17-point Kansas State lead down to eight with about 3 minutes remaining. CU subsequently had a couple good looks from the arc. Looks that had head coach Tad Boyle ready to call a timeout and plot out the next step in a frenetic comeback if they had fallen.

But, as has been the case throughout a season that saw the Buffs take a 2-16 Big 12 Conference record into Wednesday night’s challenge at No. 9 Texas Tech, those key chances didn’t fall.

“Of the 23 threes we took (at Kansas State), 20 of them were, to me, wide open,” Boyle said. “We had three of them there at the end, I tell the official if we score I want to call a timeout. We’ll get a timeout and set up our press. But we couldn’t make a shot to stop the clock and get a timeout. That’s frustrating. I know our players are frustrated with it.

“All I know is you get in the gym, you keep working on it, and just keep going back to what it is you need to do. At some point they’ve got to start falling. If they don’t, we know what our offseason game plan is for a lot of these guys.”

Senior guard Julian Hammond III, whose status at Texas Tech was uncertain after getting sidelined by a back injury at K-State, has been fairly consistent from long range, posting a .382 mark overall and a .351 percentage in Big 12 play.

After Hammond, though, the long range struggles have been a collective effort.

Guard RJ Smith has cooled dramatically after a hot start. Andrej Jakimovski shot .343 on 3-pointers in four seasons at Washington State but is shooting just .317. Elijah Malone shot .394 from the arc in four seasons at NAIA Grace College but is just 3-for-13 in his first season at CU. Trevor Baskin was a .365 3-point shooter last year at Division II Colorado Mesa but is just 5-for-23 (.217) this season.

Last year, the Buffs set a program record by shooting .391 from the arc, a pace led by KJ Simpson’s .434 percentage (fourth-best in team history) and a .394 mark from Tristan da Silva. But CU was able to post the team record because of strong efforts from complementary shooters like J’Vonne Hadley (.417), Cody Williams (.415), Luke O’Brien (.376) and Hammond (.400).

This year, in addition to the aforementioned players, some of CU’s other complementary shooters have posted 3-point marks like .293 (Bangot Dak), .291 (Sebastian Rancik) and .174 (Assane Diop).

“We’ve just gotta have the confidence and put it in if we get open looks,” Smith said. “We’re getting a lot of reps at practice. It’s just coming to play and making them when the time comes.”

Healthy campaign

Javon Ruffin and Hammond are the two four-year CU players who will go through senior day ceremonies as part of Saturday’s regular season finale against TCU at the Events Center (2 p.m., ESPN+).

Ruffin redshirted as a true freshman due to a knee injury he suffered before arriving at CU, and the recurring knee issue limited his first active season to 24 games in 2022-23. Ruffin originally was ruled out for the entire 2023-24 season after undergoing additional knee surgery, but he returned early to play 18 games off the bench, though he played a limited role in the Buffs’ run to the Pac-12 title game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ruffin certainly wishes his final season at CU has gone a different way, both personally and for the team. But playing in 27 of 29 games going into the date at Texas Tech checked one of Ruffin’s primary goals off his to-do list.

“That was really my main goal,” Ruffin said. “I had a lot, obviously, but my main goal was to be able to perform physically. Just be able to show up for practice and play every game. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do to keep myself on the court this season.”

For full coverage of the Buffs’ game against the Red Raiders, visit BuffZone.com.