KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> The Colorado men’s basketball team returned to the Big 12 Conference tournament for the first time in 14 years with something to prove.

The Bu?aloes did just that. But Houston is trying to prove it’s the best team in the nation, and CU learned why.

After becoming just the second last-place team in the 29-year history of the Big 12-era of the conference to win a pair of games at the league tournament, the Bu?s battled but couldn’t keep pace with the second-ranked Cougars, who ended CU’s season with a 77-68 decision in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center.

Despite the commendable finish in Kansas City, the Bu?s end the campaign at 14-20 for the eighth 20-loss season in program history.

“They’re the second-best team by rankings in the country for a reason,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Our guys battled. I have no problem with our fight and our competitiveness. We came here with a new season in mind, and we played like it. I’m proud of these guys for it.

“These guys really took on the new season challenge and mentality. And obviously it showed the first two games here. And I think it showed today. These guys played their hearts out.”

CU scored the game’s first basket, but Houston never trailed afterward. Yet the Cougars never truly shook o? the Bu?s until late in the second half.

Houston set the pace defensively in Big 12 games this season, leading the league in scoring defense, defensive field goal percentage and defensive 3-point percentage. That defense put the clamps on the Bu?s, who finished with a .404 shooting percentage while going 5-for-20 on 3-pointers.

Andrej Jakimovski enjoyed a big performance in what turned into his final collegiate game, scoring a career-high 25 points while almost single-handedly keeping CU in the battle. But the rest of the Bu?s struggled to convert chances, shooting .357 (15-for-42) with a 1-for-11 mark from long range.

Emanuel Sharp, who didn’t play during the Cougars’ win in Boulder on Feb. 8 due to an injury, hit four 3-pointers and led Houston with 19 points.“Every game they bring a lot of pressure,” CU senior guard Julian Hammond III said. “They’re always putting pressure in the gaps. They rebound the ball on o?ense and defense very well. It was real tough to keep on getting in the paint, getting shots inside-out, because they rotate so well. We turned the ball over 13 times. That’s a few too many. And when we did turn it over, they were out in transition.”

Houston led by 14 points in the first half before CU rallied, cutting the deficit to 38-33 at halftime. The top-seeded Cougars again extended the lead to 14 in the second half, but the Bu?s got within eight after an inside bucket by Elijah Malone. Houston responded with a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers from Milos Uzan, which once again gave the Cougars a 14-point lead with less than 4 minutes remaining.

CU was outrebounded 35-30.

Now the attention turns to the o?season, as the Bu?s are set to lose Hammond, Jakimovski, Javon Ru?n and Trevor Baskin while adding five freshmen signed in November. Boyle said he will begin his year-end, one-on-one meetings with the underclassmen immediately upon the return home to determine who plans to return.

“I was proud of Tad and his kids. They played hard,” said Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, the Big 12’s coach of the year. “Third game in three days. Finished the year on a good note. That tells you a lot about what a great coach Tad Boyle is, and what high-character kids that he has. I think that was apparent by how hard they played (Thursday).”