Buffs Edged By No. 19 Texas, 69-67

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Richard Roby scored a team-high 18 points and Xavier Silas added 15, but the No. 19 Texas Longhorns came back in the second half to score a 69-67 victory over Colorado Saturday night.

Colorado (9-8, 1-2 Big 12), led the game 37-28 at half-time. The Buffs went 7-of-13 from the floor in the first half.

Roby's 18 points moved him into fourth place for Colorado all-time scoring. Cory Higgins grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and Dwight Thorne scored two 3-pointers, a personal best.

Texas (14-3, 1-1) struggled to score in the first half after wingman Damion James, the Longhorns most consistent scorer of late, went to the bench six minutes in with his second foul.

"The competitive spirit was there," said CU head coach Jeff Bzdelik on the AM-760 post-game show. "We need to rebound better and cash in when we have opportunities at the rim or free throw line. You can learn from wins and losses, we just need to get a little better. They really got into us and we got out of our offense a little bit."

D.J. Augustin scored 25 points for Texas and A.J. Abrams finished with 17 points and four 3-pointers.

Texas trailed 41-28 early in the second half before Abrams hit a 3-pointer, then converted a 3-point play. The Longhorns took the lead behind a 24-6 run.

Even with Texas' big rally, Colorado almost came back at the end. Texas nearly wasted the effort when the offense went into a late funk. Connor Atchley's 3-point play with 4:25 to play put Texas up 69-59 but it was the Longhorns' last basket of the game.

A jumper by Roby and a layup by Marcus Hall cut the lead to four. Colorado's last chance came when the Buffaloes forced a shot clock violation with 18 seconds left. Roby's tip-in at the buzzer closed the gap to two points.

Colorado will return home to host Kansas State on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.