Minutes after his team suffered its third consecutive loss, Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle discussed a recurring theme with his club. Fight? The Buffaloes have plenty of it, as has been on display in three consecutive stirring comebacks that have fallen short. Toughness, however? The Bu ffs aren’t up to par. The latest example was in the spotlight Saturday, as CU was handed a 72-61 defeat at West Virginia. Much like the previous two defeats, in which the Buffs rallied from deficits of 20-plus points to make runs at comeback wins, they rallied from a 12-point deficit against the Mountaineers before the hosts pulled away late. That rally once again showed the Buffs’ fight. However, CU was crushed on the boards, surrendering a 38-22 rebounding advantage to West Virginia. The Mountaineers recorded 17 second-chance points, the most by a Buffs foe this season. Since a loss against Stanford on Dec. 20, when the Buffs were outrebounded for the first time this season, CU has been outrebounded in four of seven games, with the average deficit in those four games at minus-8.8. “Our guys, we don’t give up. Our fight is there. We’ve got to keep that,” Boyle said. “Now, there’s a difference between fight and toughness. Fight means you’re going to fight and scratch and claw to get back in the game however you can. Toughness is getting beat by 16 on the glass over a 40-minute period of time. There’s a difference. I think a lot of people think they’re the same thing. I don’t think they are. They were tougher than us. “At halftime (at West Virginia) we had one offensive rebound, and it was by Tacko Ifaola who plays 2 1/2 minutes a game. They had six offensive rebounds. Tacko got one and the rest of our team got zero. That ties a dead man. They had six offensive rebounds and had five different guys that had offensive rebounds.” Boyle attempted to ignite a spark in his club by inserting freshman guard and leading scorer Isaiah Johnson into the starting lineup. If CU’s head coach makes further alterations for Tuesday’s home date against Kansas (9 p.m., ESPN), it might be at the center spot. Starter Elijah Malone fouled out at West Virginia in just 8 minutes, 33 seconds of action, with the 6-foot-10 post player committing several unnecessary fouls along the perimeter. Unlike Johnson, though, the backup isn’t exactly forcing the issue. Related Articles Jaylyn Sherrod excelled at hoops while at CU. She was also an academic star. Isaiah Johnson grew up around NBA greats. Now, the breakout freshman is putting his studies to use as CU’s leading scorer AP men’s college basketball poll, Week 5: Michigan up to No. 3, undefeated Colorado receives vote Brihanna Crittendon, Colorado’s top girls basketball prospect, commits to Texas Longhorns Time2Grind men’s basketball league showcases high-level ballers while giving back to the next generation While reserve forward Alon Michaeli led the Buffs (12-6, 2-3 Big 12) with seven rebounds at West Virginia, he finished 2-for-8 overall and 1-for-5 on 3-pointers. Despite ranking sixth on the team in average minutes, Michaeli leads the Buffs in shots per minute by a wide margin. Michaeli is averaging .401 shots per minute. Next among CU’s regulars is Bangot Dak at .339. That was fine when Michaeli was shooting over 50% through the bulk of the nonconference schedule, but over his past six games Michaeli has shot just .304 (14-for-46). In five Big 12 games, Michaeli has gone 4-for-18 on 3-pointers. “Elijah’s playing hard, I’ll give him that. And I know he’s frustrated,” Boyle said. “They run a ball-screen for (Honor) Huff, we’re double-teaming him, he doesn’t have to body-up to him. All he’s got to do is contain him. Elijah’s 6-11. (West Virginia’s) Honor Huff is 5-10 on a good day. So he’s got to use his size and length. If he dribbles around him, he dribbles around him. Just corral him and get the ball out of his hands. That was the whole game plan. Just corral him, get the ball out of his hands. We weren’t able to do that.” “It was frustrating I’m sure for Elijah. A few of those fouls were silly fouls. But it happens.” Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams. ...read more read less