Associated Press
BOULDER – Josh Scott had 22 points and 10 rebounds, George King scored a team-high 23 points and Colorado held on to beat BYU 92-83 on Saturday.
The Buffaloes (8-1) watched a 25-point lead dwindle to as few as six in the second half before holding on for their eighth straight victory.
After a dominant first half, Colorado went on a 13-0 run that lasted the first 4:25 of the second half. Josh Fortune converted a 3-point play and George King capped off the burst with a 3 and a pair of free throws to push the lead to 61-36 with 15:46 remaining.
The Cougars responded with an 18-3 run and cut the lead to 10 with 11 minutes remaining. Later, back-to-back 3s by Zac Seljaas and Nick Emery made it 85-77 with less than 3 minutes left and Kyle Collinsworth hit 1 of 2 from the line to cut it to 89-83 with 21 seconds remaining.
The Buffaloes, however, went onto hit 3 of 4 from the line to preserve the win.
Wesley Gordon and Dominique Collier each added nine points for Colorado.
Emery had 23 points and Seljaas added 18 for BYU (6-3).
Colorado, which has already had to overcome a double-digit deficit in three of its wins this season, didn’t have that problem against the Cougars.
In the first half, the Buffaloes shot 53 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range. Scott led the way, scoring six quick points as part of a 12-2 run to put the Buffs up 27-17. Xavier Talton added a pair of 3s and Fortune had another as the lead grew to as big as 46-29 with 2:46 left in the half.
Emery and Seljaas connected on successive 3s in the final two minutes to help cut the deficit to 48-36 at the break. Prior to that, the Cougars had missed seven of their first eight 3-point shots to start the game.
TIP-INS
BYU: Collinsworth struggled from the field on Saturday, making 6 of 18 from the field. He also only had six assists after reaching double figures in the last two games.
Colorado: With 92 points on Saturday, the Buffaloes have scored 80 points or more in a school-record eight consecutive games.
UP NEXT
BYU: hosts Central Michigan on Friday.
Colorado: hosts Nicholls State in the first round of the Las Vegas Classic.
