National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Colorado 74, Grand Canyon 64
When: 11:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials: # Michael Irving, # Deron White, # Deidre Carr
Attendance: N/A

McKinley Wright IV had 21 points and seven rebounds, Evan Battey added 16 points and Colorado pulled away late to beat Grand Canyon 74-64 in the Far West Classic on Tuesday night at Las Vegas.

Jeriah Horne added 12 points for Colorado (6-1), which has won four in a row.

Jovan Blacksher Jr. led Grand Canyon with 17 points. Asbjorn Midtgaard chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Sean Miller-Moore added 12 points. The Antelopes (4-3) have dropped three in a row.

The Buffaloes went into halftime tied after failing to score in the final five minutes. After the break, Horne and D'Shawn Schwartz hit 3-pointers in a 12-4 run that gave Colorado a 39-31 lead.

Grand Canyon responded with a run of its own to cut the deficit to 43-41 on a 3-pointer by Miller-Moore. The Buffaloes answered with an 8-2 run to push the advantage to 57-48, their largest lead of the game to that point, with 8:02 left.

The Antelopes didn't go away. Midtgaard hit a jumper and Blacksher sank two free throws and a bucket to get Grand Canyon within three. Wright's three-point play broke the streak, but Blacksher hit a 3-pointer and Miller-Moore made a layup to slice the deficit to 60-59 and force a Colorado timeout with 5:16 left.

The Buffaloes came out strong out of the timeout while the Antelopes went cold. Horne drained a 3-pointer, Wright split a pair of free throws and then hit a jumper to give Colorado a 66-59 lead with 4:11 remaining. Grand Canyon then committed two turnovers that the Buffaloes turned into points and an 11-point lead.

Midtgaard's jumper got the deficit under double digits, but the Antelopes never got closer than nine in the final minutes.

Colorado led by six after Battey's 3-pointer with 5:16 left in the first half but went scoreless the rest of the way. The Antelopes were able to tie it on Alessandro Lever's two free throws to make it 27-27 at the break.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   Grand Canyon
McKinley Wright IV 21 Scoring Jovan Blacksher Jr. 17
McKinley Wright IV 7 Assists Sean Miller-Moore 5
Jeriah Horne 5 Rebounds Asbjorn Midtgaard 9
Evan Battey 7 Free Throws Made Jovan Blacksher Jr. 2
Dallas Walton 3 Steals Oscar Frayer 1
Eli Parquet 1 Blocks Oscar Frayer 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Colorado 74 50.0 8-17 18-21 10 19 2 7 7
Grand Canyon 64 50.9 5-20 5-8 15 27 1 2 17