Ignited by consecutive jumpers from senior Tory Miller-Stewart, the Colorado men’s basketball team outscored Colorado School of Mines 18-3 over the final 8-1/2 minutes to pull away for a 78-52 preseason exhibition game victory in front of a sparse crowd at Coors Event Center.

The Buffs held the Orediggers scoreless over the final 6:26 and scored the final 10 points of the contest.

George King, the lone Buffs scorer in double figures, led Colorado’s balanced scoring attack with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while freshman McKinley Wright and Miller-Stewart added 9 points apiece.

The Buffs shot 53.2 percent from the floor (33-62) and collected 19 assists on their 33 baskets, while holding CSM to 37.7 percent shooting (20-53). Play was ragged at times as the two teams combined for 38 turnovers, 24 by the Orediggers.

The Buffs committed 10 turnovers in the second half after taking care of the basketball pretty well (4 turnovers) in the opening 20 minutes.

“It was a little ugly out there, especially in the first half,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “But in the second half, things began to come together and we wore them down a little bit. There wasn’t much flow to the game. But it’s an exhibition on October 30th, so I certainly wasn’t expecting a masterpiece. And we didn’t get one.”

Thirteen players saw action for the Buffs, which officially opens the 2017-18 season Nov. 10 against Northern Colorado at home.

“We competed and made plays when we had to,” Boyle said. “We were very unselfish. Nineteen assists on 33 baskets is a number we can all live with. We shared the ball offensively. But there is a lot of room for improvement.”

The three glaring negatives for CU: they outrebounded CSM by just one (35-34), the 10 second half turnovers and post defense.

“That was a team we should have dominated on the boards,” Boyle said. “They had 12 offensive rebounds. That can’t happen against a team that is not as long or as athletic or as big as we are. We lost 22 rebounds from last year’s lineup due to graduation and somebody asked me how we would replace that. I said I wasn’t sure. Well, I’m still not sure. That’s something we have to do a better job at. It’s something we talk about a lot.”

Boyle described CU’s post defense as “really poor.”

“They had some good post players,” Boyle said. “They could take us down and score over us.”

The Buffs trotted out a starting lineup featuring three seniors (Tory Miller-Stewart, Dominique Collier and George King) and two freshman (McKinley Wright, Alexander Strating).

With so many new players, Boyle was just looking for the Buffs to develop some chemistry and give the young players some experience before the regular season starts playing under the lights in front of an actual crowd.

However, even Boyle acknowledged trying to get 13 players an adequate number of minutes is challenging.

“It was an opportunity for our young guys to play under the lights,” Boyle said. “Colorado School of Mines won 30 games last year and went to the Elite Eight. They won their league. They have some good players. For us, you can’t play 13 guys. There was no flow. I wanted to give everybody a chance to show what they could do. We’ll have to get our rotation whittled down a little bit. Right now, that’s hard to do because nobody stood out except for a couple of guys.”

Playing just 7 minutes, King led the Buffs with 8 points and 3 rebounds in the first half. Wright, possible Colorado’s most dynamic freshman, led the Buffs in minutes (16), connecting on 1-of-4 shots for 2 points and dishing out 2 assists.

Collier capped a 7-0 run or Colorado to start the game with a 3-pointer, the first of two triples for CU in the first half. However, CSM fought back by scoring six of the next 8 points.

Another spurt by the Buffs gave them a 14-6 lead. Dallas Walton’s 3-pointer, the second triple of the first half, restored the 8-point lead. But the Buff scored just 2 points over the next 5 minutes and took an 18-12 lead on a jumper by Miller-Stewart with 8:54 left in the half.

CU’s lead grew to 20-12 on a dunk by Walton before a 7-0 run by CSM cut the lead to a single point at 20-19. The Orediggers managed to even the score twice (22-22, 26-26) before the Buffs took a 32-29 lead intoi halftime.

The final basket of the first half by CU was a layup by Lucas Siewart. Twelve (12) different players saw action in the first half for the Buffs. They shot 43.8 percent (14-32), 2-for-9 from 3-point range and committed four turnovers.

“I like this team,” Boyle said. “We have some pieces. But we have a long way to go and a short time to get there.”