BOULDER, Colo. – The intensity and furor that Kansas showed in the nonconference season and early Big 12 looked like a distant memory in the game’s first 30 minutes. A loss to, gasp, Colorado, seemed like a possibility.

Then, it all came back in a flash - athleticism, intensity and above all superiority. Sasha Kaun, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers all finished highlight-reel dunks to put Colorado away late 72-59 at the Coors Event Center on Saturday.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Colorado

A photo gallery of the Kansas men's basketball game at Colorado.

The second-half play of the guards helped make the difference. They made a difference in a bad way in the first half.

The thought that the game would be a walk-through like most recent Kansas, Colorado matchups vanished into the thin Rocky Mountain air in the first few minutes. Marcus Hall made two early three’s to stake Colorado to an early lead, and the Buffaloes stayed with the Jayhawks until the last few minutes of the game. For the first 30 minutes, Colorado outplayed KU on the offensive end.

Kansas’ defense just isn’t pressuring opponents like it used to. Earlier this season, guards Brandon Rush, Sherron Collins, Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers stole as easy as . Lately, they’ve had about as much success with theft as the clueless wet bandits from Home Alone.

KU’s defense only recorded three steals against Colorado. That was the same number the Jayhawks had in the loss at Kansas State last week.

But steals weren’t the only problem. KU’s defensive woes go far deeper than that. Colorado’s guards got almost any shot they wanted in the first half. Richard Roby made his first four shots, and Cory Higgins made all five of his in the first 20 minutes. They outplayed Rush, Robinson and Chalmers, who scored a combined 10 points on four of 11 field goals.

Chalmers blamed the altitude. Sherron Collins talked about overall flatness. Rush said the team just wasn’t focused. Whatever it was, Kansas coach Bill Self wasn’t happy.

Self said Colorado scored half of its points off plays the Jayhawks had scouted two days earlier at practice. He also told them about K-State losing to Missouri.

Rush and Chalmers said that helped them play better in the second half. Collins, Rush and Chalmers 22 points on eight of 13 shooting in the final 20 minutes. Roby and Higgins combined to get just 12, and all of them were Roby’s.

It’s a good thing Kansas found its stride in the second half. The Jayhawks will need to be playing at a high level tonight against the Tigers.

Monday’s game against Missouri could be far more challenging than it seemed a few days ago. Back then the Tigers were reeling from the suspensions of Stefhon Hannah Leo Lyons, Darryl Butterfield, Jason Horton and Marshall Brown for staying out past their midnight curfew at Columbia, Mo., bar and lost to Nebraska at home.

Missouri erased some of those bad memories on Saturday. The Tigers, who re-instated Brown and Lyons, beat Kansas State, becoming the first conference team to top the Wildcats. There’s no word on whether Butterfield or Horton will be able to play tonight. Hannah, who broke his jaw at the bar last week, will be definitely be out.

More to come later