Buffs Rattle Florida A&M, 83-59
The sophomore guard was 8-of-11 from the floor and scored 18 points in the first half as the Buffaloes (1-1) opened up a huge lead early and were never seriously threatened. Silas also had a career-best five assists.
Silas' jumper with 10:28 left in the first half gave Colorado a 25-7 lead.
The Rattlers (1-1), the defending Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference tournament champions, could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Jermyl Jackson-Wilson scored 11 points, while Cory Higgins, Richard Roby and Levi Knutson each added 10 for the Buffaloes.
Marcus Hall added nine points, four rebounds and his four assists, bring his career total to 303. He also collected three steals.
Akini Akini paced Florida A&M with 21 points. The 6-foot-10 senior forward scored eight points during a 20-10 Rattler spurt that cut Colorado's lead to 35-27 just before halftime.
The Buffaloes used an 8-0 run early in the second half to stretch their advantage to 50-33, and the lead remained in double digits.
CU's victory tonight is the first win on a neutral court outside the state of Colorado in the regular season since Dec. 29, 2002 against the University of Loyola-Chicago at the Pepsi Classic (Charlotte, N.C.).
It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools, who are both breaking in new coaches: Eugene Harris at Florida A&M, and former Denver Nuggets head coach Jeff Bzdelik at Colorado.
Colorado will face the Savannah State Tigers at 3:30 p.m.(MST). on Friday and then wrap up the America's Youth Classic against the University of Wisconsin Badgers at 6 p.m. (MST), Saturday. The CU-Wisconsin game will be broadcast on The Big Ten Network.