The four shot clock violations Colorado suffered in just one half at TCU on Sunday were not a result of the floor-bench dynamic. Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle wanted to be clear on that.

Still, Boyle believes those violations, all during the first half at TCU, exemplified yet another shortcoming with his team in regard to the Buffs’ lack of communication.

Yes, teams at this level shouldn’t have to rely on the bench to let them know when the shot clock is running low. Yet the fact the Buffs don’t communicate well on the floor as a general rule magnified the shot clock problem at TCU.

“It’s hard to communicate with your team offensively when the action’s at the other end of the floor,” said Boyle, referring to how teams shoot at the hoop opposite the team bench in the first halves of college games. “So what do we have to rely on? We have to rely on our players talking, communicating, letting each other know.

“It’s sub-par,” Boyle added about his team’s communication skills. “It’s sub-par defensively. It’s sub-par offensively.”

In terms of the turnover issue that has cost the Buffs games — most glaringly against TCU and a month ago at Central Florida — Sunday’s defeat showcased another deficiency for CU. Not only have the turnovers been a team-wide problem, and not something fewer minutes for one or two specific players might address, but they’ve piled up the giveaways from all sorts of sources.

For instance, without the four shot clock violations and two offensive fouls on illegal screens, the Buffs would’ve had just five turnovers in the first half at TCU and 13 total. The latter figure isn’t necessarily a great total, but it’s more than three under the Buffs’ average in Big 12 play as they entered Wednesday night’s date at Utah.

“Sixty to sixty-five percent (of the turnovers) are passing,” Boyle said. “We chart every one. But you’ve got illegal screens in there. You’ve got traveling calls, which is footwork, something we work on. Some of those are going to happen. That’s why I tell our guys I’m not expecting perfection. I just want to be at 11 (turnovers) or less. That is do-able. TCU’s not one of the best teams in the country, but they’re good enough defensively, good enough rebounders and they take care of the ball. So guess what? They’re in a lot of games.

“We’ve been in games and we haven’t taken care of the ball. Central Florida is a great example. Twenty-two turnovers and we lose by one on the road. How are we in that?”