Fast break Why the Buffs won: CU played much improved defense in the second half, went 9-for-16 on 3-pointers, and outrebounded No. 2 UConn 28-26. Three stars 1. Elijah Malone: The CU big man went 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-6 at the free throw line, sharing the team lead with 16 points. 2. Andrej Jakimovski: The Washington State transfer converted the winning bucket with 5.9 seconds remaining, capping his first double-double with the Buffs with 12 points and 10 rebounds. 3. Julian Hammond III: The senior guard’s long-range touch kept the Buffs close early, and he finished 4-for-5 from long range with 16 points. Up next: The Buffs await the winner of Tuesday night’s game between Iowa State and Dayton in the fifth-place game (12:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2). LAHAINA, Hawaii — After traveling a long way just to get beaten up and run out of the gym, the Colorado men’s basketball team had something to prove. And the Buffaloes’ head coach, Tad Boyle, believed in the aftermath he and the team’s fans would learn just what kind of mettle is lurking within this new-look club. And what did Boyle and the Buffs learn? If CU exerts maximum effort to fight and claw, the Buffs can hang with anyone in the country. On Tuesday, the Buffs did much more than just hang around with one of the top programs in the nation, as CU rallied from an 11-point deficit late in the first half to stun second-ranked, two-time defending champion UConn with a 73-72 victory in the second game of the Maui Invitational. Bouncing back from the trouncing CU received in its opening game against Michigan State, Andrej Jakimovski converted the winning points on a driving bucket with 5.9 seconds remaining, sparking a wild celebration at the Lahaina Civic Center. The victory tied the second-highest ranked win in CU’s program history. The Buffs twice previously have defeated a second-ranked team, but this was the first time it happened away from home. It was the first time the Buffs have defeated a reigning national champion since defeating Kansas on Jan. 20, 1953. “(Monday) I was sitting here questioning the fight of these guys. I said we’d find out a lot about our team in the next 18 to 24 hours,” Boyle said. “I think we found out about this team, the fight that they have and came back with. I wish we’d have played like that against Michigan State. I think Michigan State had a lot to do with it. “To beat a program like UConn, that’s not easy to do. They run their stuff so well. They’re hard to guard. These guys really battled all game long. Coming down the stretch, win or lose, I was going to be proud of this group. Everybody who played for us played well and contributed to this win. Couldn’t be more proud of this group.” CU (5-1) reversed all the key facets that went awry less than 24 hours earlier against Michigan State. After Michigan State outrebounded the Buffs by 13, CU outrebounded UConn 28-26 and surrendered only six offensive rebounds to the Huskies, a low by a Buffs’ opponent through the season’s first six games. CU went 4-for-19 from long range against the Spartans but went 9-for-16 against UConn, with senior Julian Hammond III leading the way with a 4-for-5 mark. And for the third consecutive game, the Buffs posted a season-low turnover total, finishing with 11. The Buffs might’ve had more breathing room down the stretch if not for a .643 mark at the free throw line, but CU enjoyed 28 attempts (making 18), with center Elijah Malone putting foul pressure on the Huskies. By the time the decisive final few minutes arrived, UConn’s two 6-foot-10 big men — Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr. — had fouled out. Malone, meanwhile, finished 6-for-10 and shared the team scoring lead with Hammond with 16 points. “(Monday) we went down 10, 11 and we folded. We started playing really individual basketball, and we played really apart,” Hammond said. “I thought today, we started to grind out possessions and make them work. They run a lot of action on offense, and we wanted to make them work as much as they were making us work. We just tried to wear them down. “We just couldn’t get beat up the same way that Michigan State beat us up.” UConn led 40-32 at halftime, but early in the second half the Buffs reeled off 11 consecutive points to take their first lead at 48-46. The score went back-and-forth the rest of the way, and the Huskies led 72-69 after a putback basket by Jaylin Stewart with 1 minute, 29 seconds remaining. Malone converted the last of his 16 points to get CU within 72-71, and after a huge defensive play by Javon Ruffin under the UConn basket got the ball back for the Buffs, Jakimovski was able to drive through the lane for the game-winner. UConn shot .560 in the first half with an 8-for-16 mark on 3-pointers, but the Buffs defense tightened after halftime, holding the Huskies to a .407 second-half shooting percentage with a 4-for-15 showing on 3-pointers. “For us, everything starts with defense,” Jakimovski said. “I think if we keep getting stops and rebound the ball, nobody can beat us. We were great there today.” Colorado 73, No. 2 UConn 72 UCONN (4-2) Karaban 1-8 3-4 6, McNeeley 6-9 4-4 20, Johnson 4-5 0-0 8, Ball 5-9 2-3 16, Diarra 4-7 0-0 11, Reed 1-1 1-2 3, Stewart 3-5 0-0 6, Nowell 1-3 0-0 2, Ross 0-3 0-0 0, Mahaney 0-1 0-0 0, Singare 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 10-13 72. COLORADO (5-1) Diop 0-1 5-6 5, Jakimovski 4-7 2-2 12, Malone 6-10 4-6 16, Hammond 6-11 0-0 16, Ruffin 1-4 3-5 6, Baskin 2-3 1-3 5, Smith 3-3 0-0 8, Dak 1-4 3-4 5, Rancik 0-1 0-0 0, Kossaras 0-1 0-0 0, Carrington 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 23-45 18-28 73. Halftime: UConn 40-32; 3-point field goals: UConn 12-31 (Ball 4-6, McNeeley 4-6, Diarra 3-4, Karaban 1-7, Mahaney 0-1, Nowell 0-2, Stewart 0-2, Ross 0-3), Colorado 9-16 (Hammond 4-5, Smith 2-2, Jakimovski 2-4, Ruffin 1-2, Rancik 0-1, Dak 0-2). Fouled out: Johnson, Reed. Rebounds: UConn 26 (Karaban, Reed 5); Colorado 28 (Jakimovski 10). Assists: UConn 17 (Diarra 6); Colorado 12 (Hammond, Smith 3). Turnovers: UConn 9 (McNeely, Diarra, Reed 2); Colorado 11 (Hammond 4). Total fouls: UConn 22, Colorado 14. A: 2,400.