Buffs down Dayton in Charleston
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) Askia Booker scored 16 points and Colorado used a 13-0 run in the second half to hold off Dayton, 67-57, to start the Charleston Classic on Thursday.
"There is a toughness, there is a resolve about this team," Buffs head coach Tad Boyle said during his post-game interview on KKZN radio. "I think it starts with the guys who were here last year. They know how to win in these kind of games. It was a great team victory."
The Buffaloes (2-0) trailed 37-30 with 14 minutes left when Xavier Johnson got the surge started with 3-point shot. Spencer Dinwiddie put Colorado ahead with a 3-pointer. Johnson added a pair of foul shots and Andre Roberson made a basket for a 43-37 lead.
The Buffaloes (2-0) trailed 37-30 with 14 minutes left when Xavier Johnson got the surge started with 3-point shot. Spencer Dinwiddie put Colorado ahead with a 3-pointer. Johnson added a pair of foul shots and Andre Roberson made a basket for a 43-37 lead.
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Johnson finished with 15 points, Josh Scott 13 and Dinwiddie 12 for Colorado. Roberson, third in the country in rebounds last season, had 14 boards to go with six points.
Vee Sanford led Dayton (1-1) with 13 points. Last year's leading scorer for the Flyers, Kevin Dillard, scored all of his 10 points in the second half.
Dayton rallied one final time, tying it 47-all on Dillard's driving bucket. Like last time, Colorado used its long-range shooting touch to respond. Booker hit his second of three 3-pointers to regain the lead and Scott followed with a pair of foul shots.
The Flyers closed to 52-50 on Dyshawn Pierre's free throw with 4:59 remaining, but that was as close as they would come down the stretch. Booker's final 3-pointer with 1:25 remaining gave Colorado a 62-54 lead.
The teams, part of the eight-team tournament, hadn't played since 1987.
Dayton was looking to show off its early season form. The Flyers won the Old Spice Classic in 2011 and Chicago Invitational Challenge in 2008. Dayton defeated Wake Forest, Fairfield and Minnesota on the way to last year's Old Spice title and was seeking to knock off another BCS conference program in the Buffaloes.
Colorado won the Pac-12 Conference tournament last year and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Buffaloes brought back all-Pac 12 first-team pick Roberson, who averaged 11 rebounds and recorded 20 double-doubles last season.
Roberson was solid off the glass again early with eight rebounds, but he and his teammates struggled to make shots in the first half. Colorado was 1 of 7 from three-point range. Still, things were tied 23-all with less than three minutes left in the opening half when Dayton moved in front on Josh Benson's foul shot and Matt Derenbecker's 3-pointer with 1:15 to go.
Dayton led 27-23 at the half, and Khari Price hit both his first-half 3s to lead Dayton's scoring in the period.
"It is so much better when you learn from a win than learning from a loss," Boyle said. "We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half and we didn't make our free throws in the second half. We made it harder on ourselves than it needed to be but you have to find different ways to win."
Colorado will face Baylor in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic on Friday.
Colorado will face Baylor in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic on Friday.
"We are going to let our guys get hydrated and get some rest," Boyle said. "It is going to be a quick turnaround."
Attendance: 1,381
Dayton (1-1)
Players
Min
FG
3P
FT
Rebounds
PF
A
TO
B
S
Pts
V. Sanford
36
4-11
1-6
4-4
1
3
4
4
2
2
0
0
13
J. Benson
34
4-12
0-0
2-4
3
4
7
1
0
3
2
1
10
D. Oliver
28
1-8
0-3
0-0
3
9
12
5
1
2
1
1
2
J. Robinson
24
1-6
0-0
1-2
1
3
4
2
1
0
1
1
3
K. Dillard
23
4-12
0-3
2-2
0
1
1
3
3
2
0
0
10
D. Pierre
15
1-5
1-4
1-2
0
4
4
4
1
0
0
0
4
K. Price
14
2-3
2-2
0-0
1
2
3
0
0
4
0
2
6
M. Derenbecker
9
1-3
1-3
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
3
A. Gavrilovic
9
2-2
0-0
0-0
0
1
1
3
0
0
0
0
4
D. Scott
8
1-2
0-0
0-0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
2
Team Rebounds
3
Totals
Shooting Pct.
200
21-64
32.8
5-21
23.8
10-14
71.4
13
27
43
23
9
14
4
5
57
Colorado (2-0)
Players
Min
FG
3P
FT
Rebounds
PF
A
TO
B
S
Pts
A. Booker
38
6-11
3-5
1-2
0
4
4
0
4
1
0
1
16
A. Roberson
34
2-7
0-1
2-7
0
14
14
3
4
6
2
4
6
J. Scott
31
5-10
0-0
3-3
4
1
5
1
0
3
1
0
13
S. Dinwiddie
29
3-8
1-1
5-8
0
5
5
3
1
1
2
2
12
X. Johnson
26
5-9
2-4
3-4
0
3
3
5
1
1
2
1
15
S. Chen
19
1-3
0-2
0-0
0
1
1
0
3
0
0
1
2
S. Harris-Tunks
10
0-1
0-0
0-0
0
2
2
2
0
1
0
0
0
E. Stalzer
10
1-2
1-2
0-0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
3
X. Talton
3
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Team Rebounds
4
Totals
Shooting Pct.
200
23-51
45.1
7-15
46.7
14-24
58.3
5
33
42
15
13
14
7
9
67
Officials:
John Cahill, Ted Hillary, John Hampton