Jacob Young scored a game-high 21 points Thursday night and Oregon controlled the second half to earn its first-ever win at Colorado, a 66-51 decision in Boulder.
Will Richardson added 13 for the Ducks (14-7, 7-3 Pac-12 Conference), which had lost all 10 previous meetings on the Buffaloes' floor. Oregon won for the eighth time in its past nine games overall.
Keeshawn Barthelemy led the Buffaloes (13-9, 5-7) with 16 points, all in the first half. Jabari Walker finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Evan Battey added 10 points, but it wasn't enough to keep Colorado from losing its third straight game.
The culprit for the hosts was a lack of ballhandling. The Buffaloes committed 20 turnovers and Oregon converted those mistakes into a whopping 25 points.
Colorado managed just 16 second-half points, going 6 of 22 from the field and missing 10 of its final 12 shots. The Buffaloes connected on only 38.8 percent of their field-goal attempts for the game.
The Ducks took charge with a 14-3 run that turned a tie game into a 54-43 contest after Eric Williams canned a 3-pointer with 10:24 remaining. The Buffaloes committed six turnovers in just over six minutes during that spurt.
The main pregame storyline was that Colorado played without head coach Tad Boyle, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Tuesday. Assistant coach Mike Rohn ran the club in Boyle's absence.
The teams worked their way through a dead-even first half that featured 10 lead changes and five ties. Neither team led by more than four points in the first 16 1/2 minutes.
The Buffaloes cracked through that barrier to grab a 32-27 edge when Barthelemy dunked in transition to cap his big first half. A layup by Nique Clifford with 2:32 left restored the five-point margin.
However, Oregon made its move just before intermission by going on a 7-1 burst. Young capped it by getting a second chance at a 3-pointer as time expired and swishing it, putting the Ducks ahead 36-35 at halftime.
--Field Level Media
Oregon | Colorado | |
Jacob Young 21 | Scoring | Keeshawn Barthelemy 16 |
Will Richardson 3 | Assists | Tristan Da Silva 3 |
Quincy Guerrier 9 | Rebounds | Jabari Walker 12 |
Jacob Young 3 | Free Throws Made | Keeshawn Barthelemy 2 |
Will Richardson 5 | Steals | Keeshawn Barthelemy 2 |
Quincy Guerrier 2 | Blocks | Evan Battey 2 |