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Evan Battey scored a season-high 20 points to help Colorado escape with a 83-64 win over Prairie View A&M on Thursday night.
The Buffs (9-2) went 26-of-52 (50.0%) from the field, despite shooting 5-of-20 (25.0 %) from 3-point range to take down the Panthers (3-8). Battey led all scorers and was one rebound shy of a double-double on the night. Four of the five CU starters finished in double-figures. Tyler Bey and D’Shawn Schwartz had 13 points each, along with Mckinley Wright IV, who finished with 11 points first half points.
Prairie View kept CU’s lead to a single-digits throughout the first half and was reduced to four with Gerard Andrus’ layup at the 3:40 mark before halftime. The Buffaloes took a 35-28 lead over the Panthers going into the intermission. After being up by eight or more for a majority of the first ten minutes in the second half, Colorado’s lead was cut back down to five points, 52-47, with 8:47 remaining. A 23-5 run ignited by back-to-back three pointers from Schwartz allowed the Buffs to pull away from the Panthers being up by 23 with 3:40 left.
Another outstanding defensive effort from Tad Boyle’s team. As a whole, the Buffs contested shots with a total of eight blocks and didn’t allow many second chance points with 35 rebounds on the defensive side of the glass. The fifth time Colorado has held an opponent below 40% shooting this season, all resulting in wins. The Buffaloes are currently 24th in the nation in scoring defense at 61.6 points per game.
Colorado is 47-14 (.770) in non-conference regular season games since the beginning of the 2014-15 season under Boyle. The second meeting between Colorado and Prairie View A&M. The Buffaloes won the only previous meeting by a score of 72-47 on Dec. 19, 2008. CU improves to 13-0 all-time against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
UP NEXT:
Colorado heads to Chicago for a meeting with 13th-ranked Dayton on Saturday (4:30 p.m./ TV: CBSSN). The Flyers are 9-1 on the season with their only lost coming against then 4th-ranked Kansas in overtime, 90-84, in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27.
Prairie View A&M has dropped three straight and plays a 12th road game at Seton Hall.