MBB Moves To No. 20 In AP; Debuts At No. 24 In Coaches'

BOULDER – The University of Colorado men’s basketball team moved up one spot to No. 20 overall in the latest Associated Press Top-25, and made its debut in the Coaches' Poll at No. 24, released Monday.

The Buffaloes (10-1) are coming off an 80-63 home win over Elon last Friday in their lone game of the week. Spencer Dinwiddie scored a team-high 17 points with a career tying seven assists. Xavier Johnson grabbed a career best 17 rebounds with 12 points, and Josh Scott notched his team-high fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

It’s the second straight week that CU is ranked in the AP having entered at No. 21 last week.

The back-to-back weeks in at least one national poll matches what CU did last year making the Top-25 in weeks three and four as the No. 23 and No. 19 ranked school, respectively in the AP Poll.

Colorado is riding a 10-game winning streak and is idle until this Saturday, Dec. 21 when they play No. 7/7 Oklahoma State (10-1) at the MGM Grand Showcase in Las Vegas. The Buffaloes and Cowboys are playing for the first time against one another since the 2010-11 season when the two schools were part of the Big 12 Conference.

"We’re excited to play against a storied program, and certainly a Top-25 team like Oklahoma State,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said back in July when the match up was announced.  “It’s going to be a great opportunity for us."

The Cowboys were 24-9 last season and finished tied for third in the Big 12 Conference (13-5 record). OSU also made the NCAA Tournament last March (second round) and features All-American Marcus Smart (19.0 ppg this season).

CU/OSU played one another on a regular basis from 1948-2011 when both were members of the Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences. The Cowboys lead the all-time series, 60-48, however are 6-6 on neutral courts. The Buffs won the last game between the two programs on Jan. 15, 2011 in Boulder (75-71).

Colorado returns home after the Christmas holiday taking on Georgia (Saturday, Dec. 28) at 8 p.m. It will be CU’s last non-conference games before Pac-12 play begins the following week.

Fans can purchase a three-game holiday plan available at the Coors Events Center for Georgia, Oregon State (Jan. 2) and Oregon (Jan. 5) starting at $30 for youth and seniors, $45 for adults.