National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Colorado 78, Oregon St. 71
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Where: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials: # Verne Harris, # Tony Padilla, # Deron White
Attendance: N/A

Colorado 78, Oregon State 71: Askia Booker overcame a slow start and scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Buffaloes past the Beavers in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

Josh Scott collected 16 points and 14 rebounds while Tre'Shaun Fletcher added 12 points for No. 10 seed Colorado (15-16), which faces second-seeded Oregon in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Booker scored 13 points during a key 15-4 run midway through the second half as the Buffaloes moved ahead 65-56 and never trailed again.

Malcolm Duvivier and Gary Payton II led seventh-seeded Oregon State (17-14) with 17 points apiece. Olaf Schaftenaar scored 16 on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range and Jarmal Reid had nine points and four assists for the Beavers, who were outrebounded 39-26 and fell to 2-11 away from home this season.

Oregon State, which came in as the league’s lowest scoring team at 60.5 points per game, led 40-38 at the half after making seven 3-pointers and shooting 45.5 percent. Booker missed his first seven shots before draining back-to-back treys to give Colorado a 58-54 lead with 10:16 left before adding five straight points to extend the lead to nine with just under nine minutes remaining.

Schaftenaar’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 67-63 with 6:05 left, but Payton was called for a flagrant foul seconds later after setting a hard screen and the Buffaloes regained control with an 8-2 run. Booker was 9-of-10 from the foul line for the Buffaloes, who shot 50 percent from the field and made 24 of their 26 free-throw attempts.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Colorado, which lost 73-60 at Oregon on Feb. 18, has advanced past the first round in every Pac-12 tournament since joining the league four years ago. … Daniel Gomis had six points and six rebounds for Oregon State, which closed by losing seven of its final eight games. … The Beavers entered the game ranked second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense at 58.5 points per game.
Top Game Performances
 
Colorado   Oregon St.
Askia Booker 20 Scoring Malcolm Duvivier 17
Askia Booker 3 Assists Jarmal Reid 4
Josh Scott 14 Rebounds Daniel Gomis 6
Askia Booker 9 Free Throws Made Jarmal Reid 5
Xavier Talton 2 Steals Malcolm Duvivier 3
Josh Scott 2 Blocks Cheikh N'diaye 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Colorado 78 50.0 6-16 24-26 11 37 3 3 18
Oregon St. 71 41.4 9-23 14-22 11 23 2 11 8