BOULDER — The first time it happened was bad enough. The second was more than frustrating for Tad Boyle. But the third? The Colorado coach is out of words.

For the third straight game, Boyle’s Buffaloes were battling late in a tight Big 12 game. For the third straight game, an opposing player banked in a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to essentially ice the game.

First, it was West Virginia’s Honor Huff. Earlier this week, it was Kansas’ Darryn Peterson. On Saturday at the CU Events Center it was UCF’s Riley Kugel who sealed a 95-86 win for the Knights that handed the Buffs (12-8, 2-5 Big 12) a fifth-straight defeat.

“Central Florida played their tail off tonight,” Boyle said. “We didn’t do anything to slow them down or shut them down, by any means. A team comes into your building and shoots 61% and outrebounds you by nine and you miss 27 shots and you only get four offensive rebounds… we got to get better.”

But why does CU keep having to battle back in these Big 12 games?

Boyle will tell you point-blank: defense.

“Disappointing. This was a winnable game for us,” Boyle said. “We played well enough offensively to win. We’re just not good enough defensively, and we’re not tough enough on the glass.”

It’s the third time this season the Buffs have allowed over 90 points in a game. They’re 1-2 in those games and in both losses, Saturday against UCF and last month at Colorado State, they scored 86 points in each of them.

The 1-3-1 zone that the Knights switched to late in the first half disrupted CU’s offensive flow at times, but Boyle isn’t going to complain about any offensive performance where his team scores 86 points (led by 20 points each from Barrington Hargress, Isaiah Johnson and Sebastian Rancik), shoots 52% from the field, makes 11 3-pointers and gets to the free throw line 22 times with fewer than 10 turnovers.

Defense and rebounding are what Boyle has tried to hang his hat on for all 16th season he’s been in charge. It hasn’t always worked. There have been CU teams that were not good defensively, but the ones that were often found a way to have a pretty successful season.

If this young Buffs team doesn’t figure it out quickly, they, too, could be on a path toward a disappointing 3-17 season in Big 12 play like last year’s squad. 

“Sometimes I feel like it means more to me than it does to them on that end of the floor,” Boyle said. “I know these guys want to play good on offense. Offensively, these guys, I’ve got no issues with them. As long as we’re sharing the ball, moving the ball, getting great shots, that’s all you can ask for. But we can’t stop anybody.”

Until they do, the losses might just keep mounting in Big 12 play. No. 9 Iowa State looms next week in Ames. Even though it’s a very young Buffs squad, this season was supposed to be different from last year’s dead-last finish in the conference. So far, it’s a lot of the same. 

“Winning matters, I know that. I wasn’t born yesterday,” Boyle said. “Man, I got to try to figure out a way to help this team more than I’m helping them right now. I’m not gonna stop trying, I promise you that. Now, we’re staring at an Iowa State team that just beat this (UCF) team by 30. It doesn’t get any easier.”

No, not in this Big 12 it doesn’t.

GAME RECAP

Central Florida 95, Colorado 86

What happened: The Buffaloes (12-8, 2-5 Big 12) dropped their fifth-straight game, which makes their two-game winning streak to begin conference play feel like a distant memory. The Knights (15-4, 4-3) used an explosive offensive performance, shooting over 61% as a team from the field and 55% from 3-point range.

Star of the night: Riley Kugel, who played against the Buffs in the NCAA Tournament two years ago as a member of Florida, clearly remembered the loss from his last game against CU and made them pay. The veteran guard scored a game-high 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, including 6-for-8 from 3-point range.

Quotable: “We’re just a good stretch of basketball away from really finding where we’re supposed to be and really starting to win these games. In this league, you can feel like you’re far but still be close.”  — CU junior point guard Barrington Hargress.

Up next: The Buffs have a few days off before hitting the road for a difficult test at No. 9 Iowa State on Thursday (5 p.m. FS1).