Kansas may have been missing two of its rotation players on Wednesday night, but Colorado coach Ricardo Patton hardly thought the Jayhawks were vulnerable.

“Kansas didn’t have Gooden, but neither did we,” Patton said light-heartedly following the Buffaloes’ 91-79 loss in Allen Fieldhouse. “If Gooden had played for us, it WOULD have made a difference. Kansas is still able to rotate six or seven guys.”

Actually, only six KU players logged double digits in minutes while the Buffs had nine players in that category. So Colorado’s players may have been fresher, but they also were shorter.

“They’re a huge team, and we had trouble matching up,” CU freshman Blair Wilson said. “There’s not much we could do about that.”

Echoed Patton: “They made 56 points in the paint, but that’s what they do. Their guards are so good, it’s tough to double-down inside.”

At 6-foot-11, sophomore Richard Fox was the only Buffalo who could match the Jayhawks’ size. But Fox played just 14 minutes because of foul trouble.

“They definitely wear on you,” Fox said about the Jayhawks’ inside game. “But we definitely didn’t back down. There was no fear factor.”

Patton, now 0-13 against Kansas since taking over at Colorado, couldn’t find much to dislike in the wake of CU’s 24th straight loss to Kansas.

“I’m as proud of our guys as I’ve been all year,” he said. “We were focused. We shot 95 percent at the free-throw line (21 of 22). That’s focus.”

With 17 minutes left, Kansas had fashioned a commanding 16-point lead (52-36), but with about 11 minutes remaining, the Jayhawks’ lead shrank to four (63-59) after a three-point goal by Wilson. With six minutes left, Kansas led by only six (76-70).

However, D.J. Harrison, the Buffs’ leading scorer (15.8), fouled out with 4:40 to go.

“That really hurt us,” Patton said. “That took our firepower away.”

Then with just under two minutes remaining, Nick Mohr, one of CU’s best three-point shooters, hurt his right hand its seriousness hadn’t been determined after the game and didn’t return.

“I don’t think I couldn’t be satisfied with the effort,” Patton said. “I believe Colorado gave Kansas all they wanted.”

Stephane Pelle, a 6-8 sophomore, gave the Jayhawks all they wanted with 15 points and 16 rebounds before he, too, fouled out in the closing seconds.

“He’s doing what we expected when we recruited him,” Patton said of Pelle. “But he’s still a small post player. He’s not a 7-footer. Our guys still give up a lot of height.”

Patton was also referring to his other starting front-liners 6-8 Jamahl Mosley, who scored 20 points, and the 6-7 Harrison, who finished with 15.

So the beat went on for the Buffs, who haven’t defeated Kansas in a decade and have won only twice in the last 38 meetings.

“You need to stay with them,” Fox said, “and we haven’t found a way to do that yet.”