Give credit to Colorado basketball coach Ricardo Patton: His postgame theory Saturday was original.

Asked how much of a factor fouls played in CU’s falling, 89-60, to Kansas University at Allen Fieldhouse, Patton had a reasoned response.

“I think the lighting must have been better on our end than it was on the other end,” Patton said of the 13 first-half fouls CU was whistled for, compared to seven for KU. “That’s what I asked the officials a couple of times.”

If the sun had been peering through the iconic windows on the south end of Allen Fieldhouse, Patton’s observation might have been valid. But Lawrence was covered by clouds Saturday, leaving the longtime CU coach incorrectly guessing why the Buffaloes were plagued from the opening tip by an abundance of fouls.

Whistles had a hand in hampering Colorado.

Five players picked up three or more fouls, and forward Andy Osborn was sent to the bench for much of the game despite looking solid while he was out there. He finished with eight points and four fouls in 12 minutes.

“I wasn’t able to play,” Osborn said. “I couldn’t get away with some of things I was getting away with in other games. I was trying to battle physically, and things were getting called.”

Overall, the horrid final 10 minutes played more of a factor in the Buffaloes’ loss than the 23 fouls called on them. After CU cut the KU lead to five at 51-46, the Jayhawks closed on a 38-14 run, including a 16-3 edge in the final 6:33.

“We didn’t play as hard as we did in the first half,” Osborn said. “We played 30 minutes hard and 10 minutes … we just got beat down pretty bad.”

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The Buffaloes (12-10 overall, 4-7 Big 12 Conference) felt they had a chance to steal a victory from inside the Big 12’s most hostile venue, especially when keeping it close midway through the second half.

But too many things tripped CU along the way: fouls, the KU runs and, maybe most of all, the mysterious disappearance of junior Chris Copeland, who had zero points Saturday despite averaging nearly 14 per game coming in.

Copeland missed all seven of his shots, turned the ball over twice and couldn’t use the fieldhouse lighting as an excuse for his play; he picked up just two fouls Saturday.

“Chris Copeland wasn’t mentally there today because he couldn’t make a shot,” Patton said. “During a couple of timeouts, I told him, ‘Look, when the shots aren’t falling, you’ve got to give us something on the other end. You’ve got to be able to do something other than shoot the ball.’ But he just wasn’t himself.”

CU now takes a Big 12 break by playing a home game Monday against South Dakota State. Saturday’s drubbing wasn’t exactly close — the 29-point contest nearly was the most lopsided game CU has lost this season — but Patton still wondered aloud afterward how things could’ve been different.

“If we could have played our normal guys the majority of the minutes and done the things that we are used to doing,” Patton said, “it would have gone better for us.”