BOULDER – D’Shawn Schwartz and Evan Battey each scored 14 points as Colorado routed South Dakota 82-58 on Tuesday night for its fourth win in a row.
Tyler Bey added 13 points for the Buffaloes (6-1), who never trailed en route to earning win No. 1,300 in program history. They’re 1,300-1,198 over their 116 seasons.
Colorado experimented with some different looks against the Coyotes (4-4) out of the Summit League. The Buffaloes used Shane Gatling as a ball handler, ran plays around Battey in the post and showed some different wrinkles within their motion offense.
It all went right to help Colorado build a lead that stretched to as many as 29 points late in the second half.
Tyler Peterson led South Dakota with 15 points, while Trey Burch-Manning chipped in 12.
Battey frequently drew quite a crowd in the paint, leading to pass after pass back out to the perimeter. He finished with four assists and four rebounds as he steadily rounds back into form. An academic redshirt last season, Battey was playing pickup basketball with his friends last December when he suffered a stroke. He’s regained the feeling on his right side.
The Coyotes were plagued by foul trouble as Stanley Umude fouled out with 15:17 remaining. Burch-Manning and Peterson played a good portion of the second half with four fouls.
South Dakota was already short-handed with starters Tyler Hagedorn and Cody Kelley sidelined by injuries. Hagedorn has yet to play this season after averaging 13 points a game in 2017-18. Kelley’s missed the last four contests.
It was a sloppy first half with Colorado and South Dakota nearly combining for almost as many turnovers (18) as field goals (20).
The Buffs improved to 82-27 in nonconference regular season games under coach Tad Boyle. The team will host Illinois-Chicago out of the Horizon League on Saturday.
