McKinley Wright IV had 17 points and eight assists, Jabari Walker scored 15 and added nine rebounds, and the host Colorado Buffaloes beat the Omaha Mavericks 91-49 in Boulder on Wednesday.
Dallas Walton had 14 points and D'Shawn Schwartz scored 11, all in the first half, for the Buffaloes (4-1). Evan Battey had nine points and eight rebounds.
Schwartz missed Colorado's first two games after testing positive for COVID-19 on the morning of the team's opener against South Dakota in the Little Apple Classic. Schwartz returned against Tennessee on Dec. 8 but didn't score and had just three points in a win over Northern Colorado on Monday night.
La'Mel Robinson scored 11 points and Matt Pile added 11 rebounds and six points for Omaha (2-6), which has now lost two straight games by more than 40 points.
The Buffaloes never trailed in winning their second straight game, pulling away early in the first half. Leading 5-4, Schwartz and Wright had 3-pointers during a 10-0 run for Colorado. Wanjang Tut had a layup to keep the Mavericks within nine but the Buffaloes quickly built a double-digit lead.
Walker had a three-point play and hit a 3-pointer, Maddox Daniels and Walton also drained baskets from behind the arc in a stretch when Colorado scored 14 straight points to go ahead 32-9.
Robinson converted a three-point play and Jadin Booth hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark an Omaha run to get within 38-20 with 4:42 left in the first half but Colorado stretched the advantage to 47-25 at intermission.
The Buffaloes scored the first basket of the second half before the Mavericks got within 20 on Sam'i Roe's 3-pointer, but Colorado responded with a big run to put the game out of reach.
A dunk, two layups and Jeriah Horne's 3-pointer pushed the lead to 61-30 with 13:08 left. Colorado continued to increase the advantage, leading by 35. Nique Clifford's two free throws gave the Buffaloes an 88-47 lead with 1:31 left in the game.
--Field Level Media
Nebraska Omaha | Colorado | |
La'Mel Robinson 11 | Scoring | McKinley Wright IV 17 |
Ayo Akinwole 5 | Assists | McKinley Wright IV 8 |
Matt Pile 11 | Rebounds | Jabari Walker 9 |
La'Mel Robinson 5 | Free Throws Made | Jabari Walker 6 |
Ayo Akinwole 1 | Steals | Jeriah Horne 1 |
Dylan Brougham 1 | Blocks | Keeshawn Barthelemy 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Nebraska Omaha | 49 | 31.1 | 5-17 | 6-9 | 14 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
Colorado | 91 | 50.0 | 11-26 | 18-22 | 18 | 42 | 2 | 4 | 9 |