McKinley Wright IV had 18 points, a career-high 11 assists and seven rebounds, Tyler Bey finished with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds, and the Colorado Buffaloes used a hot second half to beat Colorado State 86-80 in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday.

Lucas Siewert finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Buffaloes (5-1), who hit 12 straight shots in the second half to take control but then had to stave off a late Rams rally for the win.

Kris Martin scored 21 points and Nico Carvacho had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Colorado State (4-4).

Siewert and Wright led a charge at the start of the second half to give Colorado the lead. Wright's jumper with 14:23 left gave the Buffaloes the lead for good and started a stretch where they hit 12 straight field goals. Siewert hit a jumper and a layup to give Colorado a 46-41 lead, its biggest of the game to that point.

After the Rams hit a basket, Wright fed Bey for a layup and an alley-oop to make it 50-43.

Colorado State didn't go away. Anthony Masinton-Bonner's 3-pointer got the Rams within 52-50 and a three-point play kept it a two-point game midway through the second half.

Wright helped stretch the lead back to seven with a three-point play and a bucket. Shane Gatling hit two of his trio of 3-pointers in a little over a minute to give the Buffaloes a 70-59 lead.

The Rams came roaring back with a 16-4 run to take a 75-74 lead on Masinton-Bonner's 3-pointer with 2:26 left. Evan Battey's three-point play gave the Buffaloes a two-point lead. Masinton-Bonner missed a 3-pointer with 44 seconds left, and Gatling's dunk gave Colorado a 79-75 lead.

The Rams got within two but Colorado hit 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to seal it.

The Rams hit 50 percent of their shots in the first half but led by just three despite holding Colorado to 33 percent shooting. The Buffaloes stayed in the game with eight offensive rebounds and winning the turnover battle (9-6).

--Field Level Media