WSU men’s basketball knew they would have a tough two-game road trip, but no one expected them to perform like they did Thursday night in Boulder as they fell 92-60 to Colorado.

The Cougars (7-8, 0-2) were without leading scorer Robert Franks against the Buffaloes (10-5, 1-2). The senior forward decided to stay in Pullman to rehabilitate his injured hip, forcing WSU Head Coach Ernie Kent to look toward other players.

WSU continued its woes of late at the start of the game as the Cougars looked inconsistent in the offensive zone. The team shot a rocky 37.5 percent in the first half, with the only three pointer coming from junior point guard Ahmed Ali.

Defensively, things were even worse for the Cougars in the first 20 minutes. WSU gave up wide open three-point against a Colorado team that failed to score over 70 points in its previous five games.

By the time first-half buzzer sounded, the Cougars were down 41-25 with WSU searching for answers to slow down Colorado.

Kent made some changes at halftime. His team seemed to take his words to heart as they buttoned up defensively in the second half after letting Colorado shoot 51.6 percent in the first half.

Ali led the Cougars in the second half, getting a huge block right under the basket before moving the ball up court and hitting a deep three-pointer as part of a 7-0 run by WSU. The team even picked up their play offensively, highlighted by an alley-oop from junior power forward Isaiah Wade to sophomore small forward Marvin Cannon.

However, that would be the lone offensive highlight for the Cougars as they struggled. Going into the night, WSU was averaging about 81 points and 10 three-point field goals per game. WSU was held to only 60 points and two three-pointers in the 32-point loss to the Buffaloes.

The Buffs were led by sophomore guard Tyler Bey who scored a career-high 26 points. Cannon and Wade finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

WSU will travel to Salt Lake City to take on Utah 5 p.m. Saturday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center looking to end a five-game losing streak. The game can also be seen on Pac-12 Networks.