Turning point: CU led by nine with 10 minutes, 21 seconds remaining, but UCLA scored the next 17 points while compiling a 24-3 run.

Buff of the game: KJ Simpson. It wasn’t a great game for the sophomore point guard, who went 5-for-15 with four turnovers while having three of his shots blocked. Yet he scored a team-high 17 points, adding five rebounds and three assists.

What’s next?: The Buffs will attempt to regroup at home when they host Washington on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPNU).

LOS ANGELES — It was by no means a picturesque upset bid. Yet it was one the Colorado men’s basketball team still had well within its grasp.

At least until the seventh-ranked UCLA Bruins came out of hibernation to bury the Buffaloes in a hurry.

Thwarted once again by their own turnovers, CU was dominated by the Bruins over the final 10 minutes, as UCLA handed the Buffs a 68-54 defeat in a Pac-12 Conference battle at Pauley Pavilion. It was UCLA’s 13th consecutive victory and its sixth in the past seven games against Colorado. It was CU’s 16th consecutive loss against a ranked foe in true road games.

Two days after committing 22 turnovers at USC, the Buffs recorded 23 at UCLA, leading to a 25-6 advantage for the Bruins in points off turnovers. Much like the USC loss, the Buffs’ defense and rebounding were good enough to win on the road, but the giveaways were far too much to overcome.

It marked the first time in seven years the Buffs have committed at least 20 turnovers in consecutive games.

“The tougher team won. UCLA was the tougher team, especially the last 10 minutes of the game,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “When you get ready to play UCLA, you know you’re in for a fistfight. And they absolutely abused us on the boards in the second half. Our defense was good enough to win tonight. But our rebounding wasn’t good enough and obviously 23 turnovers, another season-high after setting a season-high against SC the other night. They were the tougher team.”

The Buffs led throughout an almost 20-minute stretch from late in the first half until the midway point of the second half, taking a nine-point lead on a 3-point play from KJ Simpson with 10 minutes, 21 seconds remaining. Yet CU only connected on one more field goal the rest of the way, and that didn’t arrive until more than nine minutes later after the Bruins asserted control.

UCLA responded to Simpson’s 3-point play by scoring 17 consecutive points in what turned into a 24-3 run for the Bruins. UCLA grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, the most by a CU foe this season, and turned those extra chances into a 14-1 edge in second chance points despite 14 offensive rebounds for the Buffs. The Bruins also recorded 11 blocked shots after USC blocked nine of CU’s shots on Thursday.

UCLA entered the game as the Pac-12’s top 3-point shooting team but missed its first 15 attempts from long range. Yet the Bruins recovered when it mattered, going 4-for-4 down the stretch. The Bruins outrebounded CU 22-16 in the second half.

CU finished with a season-low shooting percentage of .306 and had a season-low eight assists.

“When we got our defense set, I thought it was pretty dang good,” Boyle said. “I thought we battled and competed. But early in the second half it was evident they wanted to more than we did on the glass. They just beasted us. We weren’t tough enough to finish possessions with rebounds in the second half, and that was the difference in the game. That, and the turnovers.”

In large part due to the turnovers, the Buffs didn’t have anyone to rely on offensively. Simpson finished with a team-high 17 points, but went 5-for-15 with four turnovers. J’Vonne Hadley matched a season-high with 10 rebounds, but he finished 1-for-8 and had four of his shot attempts blocked. Tristan da Silva’s road struggles continued (2-for-6, 10 points, three turnovers with no assists), and Nique Clifford scored only five points without a rebound in 18 minutes.

“It was just turnovers and offensive rebounds for them,” Simpson said. “The numbers don’t lie. The statistics don’t lie. We had 23 turnovers. It’s hard to win when you have those kinds of stats.”

No. 7 UCLA 68, Colorado 54

COLORADO (11-8, 3-5 Pac-12)

da Silva 2-6 4-4 10, Lovering 1-1 1-1 3, Clifford 2-5 1-2 5, Hadley 1-8 1-2 3, Simpson 5-15 6-7 17, O’Brien 2-4 0-0 5, Ruffin 2-7 7-7 11, Hammond 0-1 0-0 0, Wright 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-49 20-23 54.

UCLA (16-2, 7-0)

Bona 2-4 5-7 9, Campbell 4-15 2-2 11, Clark 5-10 6-9 18, Singleton 2-9 3-4 7, Jaquez 11-23 0-1 23, McClendon 0-0 0-0 0, Andrews 0-2 0-1 0, Nwuba 0-0 0-0 0, Etienne 0-0 0-0 0, Canka 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 16-24 68.

Halftime — Colorado 31-28. 3-point goals — Colorado 4-14 (da Silva 2-4, O’Brien 1-1, Simpson 1-4, Hammond 0-1, Wright 0-1, Ruffin 0-3), UCLA 4-19 (Clark 2-4, Jaquez 1-2, Campbell 1-6, Andrews 0-1, Singleton 0-6). Rebounds — Colorado 39 (Hadley 10), UCLA 39 (Jaquez 13). Assists — Colorado 8 (Simpson 3), UCLA 10 (Clark 4). Total Fouls — Colorado 16, UCLA 20. A — 8,106.