BOULDER, Colo. (AP) Evan Battey scored 20 points, hitting a career-high 10 of 11 free throws, and Colorado pulled away in the second half to beat Prairie View A&M 83-64 on Thursday night.
D’Shawn Schwartz added 13 points, all in the second half. Tyler Bey also had 13 and McKinley Wright had 11 for Colorado (9-2), which has won two in a row since dropping consecutive games after a 7-0 start.
Gerard Andrus scored 12 points to lead Prairie View (3-8), which has lost its last three. Devonte Patterson added 11 points. It was only the second meeting between the schools and the first in 11 years. The Panthers also lost their first encounter with Colorado 72-47 in 2008.
After Ellis Chancellor hit a jumper to pull the Panthers to within 56-49 with 7:49 remaining, the Buffaloes put together a 10-0 run that included successive 3-pointers by Schwartz and a pair of free throws by Battey to go in front by 17 points with 6:03 remaining.
By the time Schwartz connected on a third 3-pointer in the second half, Colorado had gone in front 73-52 with 4:17 left to play. A dunk by Tyler Bey stretched Colorado’s advantage to 77-53 with just over three minutes remaining and the Buffaloes freely substitued the rest of the way.
Wright scored nine of his points in the first half, helping Colorado take a 35-28 lead. The Buffaloes finished the period by scoring eight of 12 points over the last two minutes of the period.
BIG PICTURE
Prairie View A&M: The Panthers, nearing the end of an 11-game road trip, kept it close for much of the game before their off-target shooting seeemed to catch up with them. They were outshot from the field 50% to 36.8% and the Panthers were only 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
Colorado: The Buffaloes had their inside and outside game going, hitting an array of jumpers with Battey leading a low-post game that banked on layups and short jumpers en route to a season high in points. On defense, they consistently contested shots and improved to 5-0 this season when holding an opponent to below 40% shooting.
UP NEXT
Prairie View A&M: Finish up 11-game road trip at Seton Hall on Sunday.
Colorado: Head to Chicago to play Dayton on Saturday night in the Chicago Legends tournament.
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