STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Despite forcing 18 turnovers, the Stanford men's basketball team's second-half comeback came up short in a 56-55 setback to Colorado Sunday night at Maples Pavilion.
Colorado forward Josh Scott's driving layup with 41 seconds remaining proved to be the difference for the Buffaloes, who saw all but a point of a 16-point advantage evaporate.
"They pressured us in the second half and we didn't handle it," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "It's not taking care of the ball and missing free throws late. We escaped."
Scott's play came on the heels of a slam dunk on a putback from Michael Humphrey that energized the Cardinal and made it a one-point game.
Colorado successfully fended off several Stanford chances to take the lead in the final minute. Marcus Sheffield hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to make it 56-55.
The Buffaloes (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12) turned the ball over with six seconds left but the Cardinal had to settle for a desperation shot at the buzzer.
"Everything happened so fast, it was pandemonium on the floor," Colorado's Thomas Akyazili said of the final seconds. "We were surprised they got a shot off. We were a little lucky to win."
Sophomore Michael Humphrey led all players with 19 points to go with eight rebounds, two steals and a block for the Cardinal, who had a three-game winning streak end. Stanford had won six of its previous seven.
Freshman Marcus Sheffield scored nine points and collected five rebounds off the bench, while also dishing out three assists for the Cardinal.
Scott led Colorado with 14 points and 14 boards, while George King and Josh Fortune added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Colorado shot 41.2 percent from the field and held a 43-29 advantage on the glass.
"We can't start off the way we did," Humphrey said. "We have to play better."
Scott, one of two players to rank among the top 10 in the Pac-12 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and free throw percentage, recorded his 30th career double-double, and his sixth in the past 11 games.
Stanford held the advantage in points off turnovers, 22-5 but Colorado, which outrebounded the Cardinal by a 43-29 margin, had the edge in second-chance points at 17-6.
"They crashed the boards extra hard and we didn't do a good job boxing out," Humphrey said. "And they had a lot of late clock plays they made."
The Buffaloes opened the second half on a 7-1 run to take a 44-28 edge but the Cardinal chipped away and made a game of it.
Rosco Allen and Sheffield, who had a combined two points in the first half, scored 10 points during a run that helped Stanford draw within three points on a Humphrey jumper with 6:26 remaining.
Both teams had trouble scoring down the stretch. During a three-minute span with under 4:30 to play, they combined for eight missed shots and three missed free throws.
The Buffaloes opened with a 12-3 run, with Fortune and Tre'shaun Fletcher each contributing four points, and never looked back. The Cardinal missed 10 of their first 11 shots and was 9-of-32 (.281) for the half.
Stanford got within five on a pair of free throws from Christian Sanders with just under three minutes left in the half but Colorado eventually grabbed a 12-point lead before Humphrey hit a basket to help the Cardinal draw within 37-27 by halftime.
UP NEXT:
Stanford hits the road for the first time in more than a month when it travels to Corvallis, Oregon, to face Oregon State on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. PT on ESPNU.