MANHATTAN, Kan. >> So much for a March push.

Turnovers and an errant 3-point touch have been two of the most glaring issues among the many that have plagued the Colorado men’s basketball team all season. Sliding into a month synonymous with college basketball did nothing to rectify those problems for CU on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum, as Kansas State handed the Buffs a 65-56 in the first Big 12 Conference matchup between the longtime rivals in more than 14 years.

With the defeat, the Buffs officially clinched last-place in the 16-team Big 12. K-State played its third game without one of the most versatile players in the conference in wing Coleman Hawkins, yet the Wildcats still handled CU comfortably and never trailed while snapping a four-game losing streak.

The Buffs played the final 46-plus minutes without leading scorer Julian Hammond III, who exited late in the first half due to a back injury.

“I’m usually a coach who preaches defense and rebounding,” said CU head coach Tad Boyle, whose club outrebounded the Wildcats 36-35. “And our defense was good enough. We held them to 34%. So when our defense got set, it was good enough to win this game. The problem, and we knew this coming in, is we have to take care of the ball better. It’s just been who we are. We can’t take care of the ball.”

CU committed three turnovers in the game’s first 3 minutes, 20 seconds and finished with 15. Kansas State took advantage of most of those giveaways, recording a 20-5 advantage in points off turnovers. CU held an edge in paint points (36-26), fast break points (11-8) and bench points (17-12). But the Wildcats doubled up CU’s scoring total at the free throw line, and the Buffs’ .481 shooting percentage in the second half wasn’t nearly good enough to offset the turnovers and a 4-for-23 performance on 3-pointers.

The Buffs are shooting just .261 (48-for-184) from long range in Big 12 road games. Despite a total of 34 missed shots, the Buffs collected just six offensive rebounds, tying their third-lowest mark in Big 12 games.

“I feel like our ability to take care of the ball was a big part of it,” CU guard RJ Smith said. “I think our defense was good. We could’ve found different ways to affect the game, because our offense wasn’t efficient tonight. Offensive rebounding, we didn’t do that.

“It’s frustrating, because we know we’re capable of playing so much better. We see it in practices. We see it in stretches in games. But it has to be 40 minutes.”

Colorado missed six of its first seven shots and later in the first half endured a scoring drought of 4 minutes, 21 seconds as Kansas State pushed its lead to 16 points late in the first half. The Buffs scored the final five points of the opening period to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 33-22 at the break, and CU rallied to within nine shortly after halftime.

K-State soon responded, using a 7-0 run to push its lead back to 17 points. CU tried to rally late, with five straight points from Javon Ruffin cutting the Wildcats’ lead to eight points with 3 minutes to go, but the Buffs managed only two more points until the waning seconds.

Although CU’s final defensive numbers were solid, a glut of fouls early led to a 9-for-9 mark at the free throw line for the Wildcats in the first half.

“Part of it was they were getting out in transition because we were turning the ball over,” Boyle said of the early fouls. “They’re a good transition offense team, especially at home. Some of it was them getting downhill in transition and we foul them. And some of it was our inability to play disciplined basketball.”