MBB Defeats Colorado Christian, 78-58

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Marcus Hall scored 21 points and Richard Roby added 18, leading Colorado to a 78-58 victory over Colorado Christian Tuesday night.

"Slowly and surely we are getting better," Colorado head coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We are reacting to situations a little better and becoming more instinctive. If we could finish around the rim we would be a little better, and we are still taking a few possessions of defensively. We just need to keep getting better."

Hall was 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. Roby scored 11 of his points in the second half when Colorado (3-2) blew open the game.

The Buffaloes played without Xavier Silas, who missed the game with a lower left leg contusion. Caleb Patterson and Levi Knutson made their first collegiate starts.

Rory Morgan and Brian Stamer led Colorado Christian (1-2), a Division II program in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, with 13 points. The Cougars have back-to-back road losses.

Colorado Christian made a game of it for about 13 minutes and held a 12-10 lead with 12:43 left in the first half after three straight baskets by Morgan. The game was tied at 22 after a free throw by Stamer with 6:55 left.

Colorado took control to close the first half with a 15-5 run. Knutson buried a 3-pointer with 6:21 left and Hall's layup off a steal put the Buffaloes ahead by five. Colorado scored the last six points of the half, four coming from Cory Higgins, to take a 37-27 lead into intermission.

The Buffaloes shot 56.4 percent from the field and made 31 field goals, their highest since making 59.6 percent of their shots at Texas Tech last season (also made 31 FGs).

CCU got as close as seven points twice in the second half, the last coming when Jordan Long's 3-pointer made it 41-34 with 16:10 left. Roby's trey seconds later increased Colorado's lead by 10 points and began a 13-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Hall to put the Buffaloes ahead 54-36.

Hall's fourth 3-pointer of the game with 4:31 remaining gave Colorado its biggest lead, 68-47. Colorado Christian never got closer than 16 points the rest of the game.

"It's always good just to get a win and we need to get a winning attitude," Hall said. "I think if we get in a winning mode we will get an edge. A lot of times when you start winning, you get an edge."

Dwight Thorne scored a pair of career-highs with 13 points and five assists.

Up next for Colorado will be a pair of back-to-back road games against the University of Denver on Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. (FSN Rocky Mountain) and against the United States Air Force Academy, Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m., which will be broadcast on The Mountain.