BOULDER — As he watched his Colorado team demolish TCU in somewhat cathartic fashion, a thought crept into Tad Boyle’s mind.

“Where’s this team been?” Boyle said. “We hadn’t seen that Colorado Buffalo team in November, December or January, but we finally saw it on February 1. I told our team, ‘Better late than never.’”

Better late than never is right. The Buffaloes (13-9, 3-6 Big 12) snapped a six-game losing streak with a convincing, 87-61 win over the Horned Frogs (13-9, 3-6) on Sunday afternoon at the CU Events Center. The Buffs led by as many as 28 points, double their previous biggest lead in conference play (at Arizona State) and responded in the exact way Boyle wanted after a 30-point loss at Iowa State a few days earlier.

“I was really, really proud of the response we got from everyone involved tonight,” Boyle said. “TCU, they had Kansas beat in Allen Fieldhouse. The game was over with. They beat Florida earlier this year. These guys are legit. It just shows how good our team can be, but we gotta play with that energy and effort and toughness and we showed it tonight. The results speak for themselves.”

That 97-67 loss in Ames, Iowa, earlier this week prompted an over four-hour meeting for Boyle and his coaching staff. They talked about everything going wrong with this young CU team and decided it was time for a change. So, for just the second time all season, Boyle changed his starting lineup, putting four freshmen around junior point guard Barrington Hargress.

It worked — and in a big way, with the Buffs leading for over 35 minutes of Sunday’s game. 

A pair of young freshmen, Jalin Holland and Denver native Josiah Sanders, grew up and put up their best performances of the season, Boyle said. Standout freshman guard Isaiah Johnson continued to shine, scoring 16 points and dishing out five assists while also getting two steals. Big man Fawaz ‘Tacko’ Ifaola played well in his first career start, scoring six points and grabbing six rebounds. The usual starters who were benched, Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak, also responded appropriately with 31 points combined on 13-for-16 shooting with 10 rebounds between the two of them.

It was the type of collective effort on both ends of the floor that Boyle has been trying to pry out of this team because he has long believed it was inside of them. 

“This team is not about who starts. It’s not about who comes off the bench. It’s not about how many minutes they play or how many shots they get. This team has to rely on each other,” Boyle said. “We don’t have one guy that can carry us. We don’t need (one star), if we rely on each other.

“Better late than never. Let’s build on this.”

There’s no better time than now for this young Buffs team to go on a little bit of a run.

They have already matched last year’s win total in Big 12 play and they reached that mark with still half of the Big 12 schedule left to be played. Although road games at Texas Tech, BYU and Houston still await in February, CU has a pair of very winnable games this week, starting on Wednesday at Baylor and then at home on Saturday against Arizona State.

Maybe all it took was one performance like this one against TCU to show this Buffs team what’s possible.

“I’m hoping it gives them confidence and life and understanding of how good we can be when we play together and we play with energy and toughness,” Boyle said. “Hopefully, a light bulb went on (or) a switch clicked and they learned something. I’m really proud of everybody on this team.”

GAME RECAP

Colorado 87, TCU 61

What happened: The Buffaloes (13-9, 3-6 Big 12) snapped a six-game losing streak and grabbed arguably their most convincing win of the season with a dominant showing against the Horned Frogs (13-9, 3-6). The new-look starting lineup featuring four freshmen worked to perfection for Tad Boyle’s team as five different players scored in double figures while the Buffs also held TCU to the lowest point total by any opponent this season.

Star of the night: Denver native Josiah Sanders turned in the best performance of his freshman season with a career-best 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, including just his second made 3-pointer of the season. He also had six assists and grabbed three rebounds with two of them coming on the offensive end. 

Quotable: “We just needed a change — the way we were playing, our defense, everything, as a team. For me, (it was about) trying to step into the role of doing what I know I can do, doing what my teammates know I can do. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, more downs than I would’ve wanted, but (my teammates) have been with me the whole time.” — Sanders

Up next: The Buffs hit the road again for another winnable game in the Big 12 at Baylor. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (Peacock) on Wednesday in Waco, Texas.