There have been plenty of near-misses for the Colorado men’s basketball team during a historic losing spell to begin Big 12 Conference play.

Another opportunity slipped through the Buffaloes’ grasp on Tuesday.

Despite a second-half surge and plenty of chances at crunch time that put the Buffs in position to finally pick up their first conference win, the result ultimately was a familiar one for CU, as Arizona State made the key plays late to hand the Buffs a 70-68 defeat at the CU Events Center.

With the loss, CU fell to 0-9 in the Big 12, the program’s worst start within conference play since starting 0-9 in the Big Eight in 1986-87.

ASU led throughout the first half and into the second half before the Buffs rallied. The game was tied 64-64 after a driving basket by CU’s freshman Sebastian Rancik with just under 2 minutes remaining, but ASU forward Basheer Jihad responded with a three-point play with 1:31 remaining.

Two free throws by CU’s Andrej Jakimovski brought CU within 67-66 with 55.4 seconds left, but a foul in the backcourt sent Jihad to the line, where he made two free throws to give the Sun Devils a 69-66 lead with 51.8 seconds left.

On CU’s next possession, Julian Hammond III and Trevor Baskin missed 3-pointers, but ASU’s Adam Miller missed a pair of free throws at the other end. Rancik then was fouled on a 3-point attempt, but he made only two of three attempts, pulling the Buffs within one point with 16.1 seconds left.

The Buffs had another chance after forcing an ASU turnover, but a 3-point chance by Rancik from the corner rattled in and out.

Baskin led the Buffs with 19 points, while Hammond and Bangot Dak finished with 13 points apiece.