Sophomore swingman Tyler Bey had 14 points, 11 rebounds and matched his career best of five blocked shots to help Colorado post a 78-75 victory over New Mexico on Tuesday night at Albuquerque, N.M.
Junior forward Lucas Siewert contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore guard McKinley Wright IV added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Buffaloes (8-1). Freshman forward Evan Battey had 10 points and nine rebounds as Colorado recovered from a 17-point, first-half deficit to win its sixth straight game.
Senior guard Anthony Mathis tied his season best of 23 points and matched his career high of seven 3-pointers for New Mexico (4-4), which lost its third consecutive contest. Senior guard Dane Kuiper scored 11 points, and sophomore forward Vance Jackson added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Lobos.
Jackson missed a 3-point attempt as time expired.
Colorado held a 46-33 rebounding advantage and shot 41.9 percent from the field, including 5 of 19 from 3-point range. New Mexico shot 41.4 percent and 10 of 25 from long range.
Colorado trailed by 14 four-plus minutes into the second half and eventually moved ahead at 66-64 on Wright's basket with 4:36 remaining.
Siewert hit two free throws to give the Buffaloes a 72-67 advantage with 1:58 left, and junior guard Deleon Brown split a pair 23 seconds later to cap a 14-3 surge.
New Mexico scored five of the next six points, with Jackson connecting on a 3-pointer with 41.6 seconds remaining to cut Colorado's lead to 74-72.
Wright drove for a hoop to make it a four-point margin with 16.1 seconds. Mathis answered with his seventh 3-pointer to bring the Lobos within 76-75 with 7.2 seconds left.
Siewert hit two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining prior to Jackson's game-ending miss.
Mathis hit a 3-pointer during a 7-0 run that saw New Mexico take a 52-38 lead with 15:55 left.
Colorado responded with 10 straight points, with Wright's jumper capping the spurt and trimming the deficit to 52-48.
Two-plus minutes later, Bey drained a 3-pointer to pull the Buffaloes within 58-57 with 8:52 left.
Mathis drilled his sixth 3-pointer to increase the Lobos' lead to four, but Colorado finally caught New Mexico at 64 when senior guard Namon Wright split two free throws with 5:09 remaining.
Mathis was 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the first half while scoring 14 points as the Lobos took a 43-34 lead.
Junior forward Karim Ezzeddine capped a 17-3 run with a layup to make it 32-15 with 7:06 left in the half.
--Field Level Media
Colorado | New Mexico | |
Tyler Bey 16 | Scoring | Anthony Mathis 23 |
McKinley Wright IV 3 | Assists | Drue Drinnon 6 |
Tyler Bey 11 | Rebounds | Vance Jackson 8 |
Tyler Bey 5 | Free Throws Made | Dane Kuiper 3 |
Tyler Bey 2 | Steals | Drue Drinnon 2 |
Tyler Bey 5 | Blocks | Karim Ezzeddine 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Colorado | 78 | 41.9 | 5-19 | 21-32 | 10 | 46 | 6 | 5 | 13 |
New Mexico | 75 | 42.0 | 10-24 | 7-14 | 14 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 9 |