KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> The slumped shoulders and sullen expressions told the story even more clearly than the scoreboard. Yet Andrej Jakimovski will always be able to say he went out not just fighting, but with arguably the best game of his career.

Like the Bu?s in general, it was an up-and-down year for Jakimovski in his one season at Colorado following a solid four seasons at Washington State. Jakimovski scored a career-high 25 points Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to keep CU’s season alive as No. 2 Houston eliminated the Bu?s, 77-68, in the Big 12 quarterfinals at the T-Mobile Center.

“It feels good, but I was just trying to win the game. Just trying to help the team live another day,” Jakimovski said. “It feels good, but I’m very sad because I feel like these three days I played my best basketball of the season. I just wanted to help the team and we fell short. But credit Houston. They’re the No. 2 team in the country for a reason.”

Jakimovski hit four 3-pointers against Houston, and his late surge allowed the fifth-year senior to avoid the lowest 3-point mark of his collegiate career. Jakimovski went 9-for-23 (.391) in CU’s three games at the conference tournament, nudging his season 3-point percentage to .323. That’s a few percentage points better than the .320 mark he posted as a freshman at Washington State.

Jakimovski also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds against Houston, and despite the midseason struggles he credited the move to CU for expanding his game. Jakimovski went 5-for-5 at the free-throw line, improving his season percentage to .776. He was a .628 free-throw shooter in four seasons at WSU.

“I think it’s a special group. This is probably the best group that I’ve been around,” Jakimovski said. “We’ve been through a lot. We struggled throughout the season. But I’m proud of us because we stayed together. We stick together no matter what. We were working hard and we knew our time was going to come.”

Hammond farewell

It was a less memorable finale for senior guard Julian Hammond III, who went 2-for-13 against the teeth of the standout Houston defense.

Still, the four-year player out of Cherry Creek High School etched his name into the program’s history book. With three steals and three assists, Hammond finished his career ranked 19th in assists (251) and tied for 24th in steals (98). Hammond went 0-for-4 from long range but ranks 19th all-time in made 3-pointers (122).

Hammond went 5-for-5 at the free-throw line against Houston, giving him a lofty .907 mark for the season (99-for-108).

“I learned something di?erent every season,” Hammond said. “I played in di?erent roles every year. What I can take from this year is it doesn’t matter what your record is. It’s just coming to work every day, fight every day, try to get better no matter how that is.

“It’s great being here for four years, putting myself in di?erent positions and stu? like that so I feel comfortable however I’m playing.”

Winter doldrums

The Bu?s probably played above expectations during the nonconference schedule, and CU managed to end the campaign on a positive note. The space between, however, is why the Bu?s posted just the eighth 20-loss season in program history.

“I’m really disappointed with our performance in January,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “I thought that was what really hurt us. But we overcame it and got better. And for that, I’m proud. But in terms of the body of work for the season, obviously I point to January as a point where we really didn’t answer the bell as a group. And I probably didn’t do as good a job as a coach as I needed to.”

Notable

Freshman forward Sebastian Rancik left the game late in the first half due to an apparent left knee injury, but Boyle said afterward the extent of the injury won’t be determined until after the team returns to Boulder. … CU went 17-for-20 on free throws against Houston and posted an .803 mark (53-for-66) in its three Big 12 tournament games. That push left the Bu?s with a season free throw mark of .754, which ranks sixth in program history. Four of the last five CU teams have landed in the top six. … Bangot Dak didn’t record any blocked shots against Houston, but he finished his first season as a regular rotation player with 45, the 16th-best season mark in team history. … CU finished 1-8 against ranked foes.