The Colorado men’s basketball team rolled to a 75-54 victory over conference foe Stanford University Thursday evening at Coors Events Center in Boulder.
Having lost both match-ups against Stanford last year, and no win against them since joining the Pac-12, Askia Booker was ready for the Cardinals.
“Revenge was without a doubt on our minds,” Booker said after the game.
His aggressive mindset was seen early and often as Colorado dominated Stanford in points, rebounds, and scoring efficiency.
Forward Josh Scott defends Stanford’s Dwight Powell. The Buffs defeated the Cardinals 75-54. (Amy Leder/CU Independent)
Andre Roberson and Josh Scott led the Buffs to a 44-29 first half lead, initially fueled by Scott’s 3-for-3 start from the field. Stanford’s scoring leader this season, Dwight Powell, was held off the first half as he shot 2 for 8 from the field.
Colorado started the second half by extending their lead to 18 points and for the most part the Buffs never looked back. Stanford did manage to cut the lead down to 8 at one point, largely due to a 4-minute scoring drought from Colorado. However, Booker caught fire and scored 8 straight points to end the drought, extending the lead back to double digits.
Booker dealt with foul trouble early in the second half.
“Coach told me when I get back to make something happen,” Booker said. That something ended the Buffs’ temporary struggles and essentially sealed Colorado’s victory.
The Buffs’ defense was on cue Thursday night. Smothering guard play was aggressive around the perimeter and Roberson and Scott defended down low. Stanford shot an abysmal 31 percent from the floor and the team’s scoring leaders, Powell and Chasson Randle, were held to a combined 10-34 from the floor.
The Buffs led in rebounds 45-29, and Roberson dominated 20. Head Coach Tad Boyle voiced approval Roberson’s performance after the game.
“Andre was a beast, you can tell when he’s dialed in,” Boyle said.
Roberson indeed “dialed in” 12 points, 20 boards, 3 blocks and 3 steals, marking yet another double-double for the star forward.
Askia Booker took home 13 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 12, Josh Scott had 12, and Xavier Johnson scored 11.
Rounding the evening out was Johnson’s energetic performance.
“Johnson is our x-factor,” Roberson said. “We need his energy off the bench.”
Johnson went 5-8 from the field, including three highlight reel dunks, which got the 11,212 people packed into Coors Event Center roaring to their full potential.
Following the Stanford win, Colorado will host the California Golden Bears, 3-3 in the conference and 11-7 overall, at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
“It’s just one game, we’ll take it and move on and turn our attention to Cal,” Boyle said.
The Buffs improve to 3-4 within the conference and 13-6 overall, advancing them to 8th place within the PAC 12 standings.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Grayson O’Roark at Grayson.oroark@colorado.edu.
