The ball that left Dominique Coleman's hand with eight seconds remaining Sunday felt a lot like countless others the Colorado guard has shot from the 3-point line.

Except this one didn't end up the same as the ones that went through the net. This one glanced off the rim to end a thrilling second half of basketball and leave CU 2-3 for the first time since 1988.

The Buffs never could gain firm control late against Wyoming at the Coors Events Center and fell 76-73 to split a week of close games against Mountain West teams. The Buffs beat Utah, 60-59, in Salt Lake City on Tuesday and were a shot away from going to overtime against the Pokes.

"It was a good shot. I didn't realize how much time was left when I took it. I guess I could have settled a little more and took a better shot," said Coleman, who pulled up halfway between the top of they key and the baseline. "That's a shot I make in practice and I should have made it now. It just didn't fall tonight."

Coleman's shot culminated a frenetic ending to the game. The most the teams were separated by in the final six minutes was five points. Wyoming had at least a one-point lead during that span until the last 30 seconds. The Pokes' biggest lead in that span was five with 2:24 left after Wyoming's Brad Jones made one of two free throws.

But Colorado scored four straight to bring the deficit to 68-67 with 1:55 left. Then Wyoming's Brandon Ewing drilled a big shot in an afternoon of big shots by the sophomore from Chicago.

Ewing had two Buffs in his face at the top of the key and still hit a fallaway 3-pointer to make it 71-67 with 1:33 remaining. Ewing finished with a

game-high 29 points and was 6-for-11 from the 3-point line.

"I think if you look across the country at any team you're best players have to perform," CU coach Ricardo Patton said about Ewing.

The coach could have easily been talking about his best player. Richard Roby had 16 points, but he was 5-for-16 from the floor and only 1-for-6 from 3-point range. For most players, 16 points would be a decent game. But Roby had only point in the first half. And Colorado will need more than 16 points from its preseason All-Big 12 player if it's going to be successful.

The Pokes (4-1) ran two guys at Roby any time he touched the ball on the perimeter and he began to take the ball in the lane in the second half. That led to more trips to the free-throw line, which still wasn't enough for Roby.

"I'm thinking a lot too much lately instead of just going out and playing the game," he said.

Coleman had a solid game despite the missed shot at the end. He scored a team-high 18 points and made several hustle plays at the end of the game to keep it close. He was an efficient 8-for-11 from the floor and had five assists. When asked after the game who would have to be the team's second scoring option, Roby said that would probably be Coleman.

Jermyl Jackson-Wilson played a big role for CU for the second consecutive game. He made the free throw to beat Utah and had 16 points and 14 rebounds against Wyoming. He also took a charge with 57.3 seconds left that gave the ball back to Colorado. That turned into a bucket from Roby that tied the game at 71-71.

Then Coleman made a tough layup for a 73-71 lead with 31 seconds left. After that the crowd of 2,288 was as loud as it had been. It was quickly quieted when Wyoming's Daaron Brown was fouled as he made a shot underneath. He made the free throw and Colorado failed to score on the next possession, when it had two timeouts and didn't call one.

That forced CU to foul on the other end. Roby grabbed the jersey of Jones and he was called for an intentional foul. That meant Wyoming got the ball back after Jones made one of two. The Pokes made one more free throw before Coleman took his shot. Colorado still had two timeouts at that point, but Patton declined to take a timeout because he thought his team could get a good shot without it, he said.

The Buffs did get a good shot. That shot just didn't fall, and Patton's young team learned another lesson from a late-game situation.

"With this schedule we've kind of thrown them in the fire early," Patton said. "But I gotta believe it has to pay dividends."

Wyoming 76, Colorado 73