BOULDER, Colo.—Cory Higgins enjoys scoring. But the Colorado junior guard takes more satisfaction in shutting down an opponent.
“Defense is something we pride ourselves on,” Higgins said. “If we stop people, we can get on a run, and that’s been a big part of our offense this year.”
Higgins scored 22 points, leading Colorado to a 78-54 victory over struggling San Francisco on Tuesday night.
Alec Burks added 12 for Colorado (5-2). Dwight Thorne and Marcus Relphorde scored 10 points each for the Buffaloes, winners of all four home games.
Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik grudgingly gave his team’s defensive effort its due.
“We defended well, but we could be better,” Bzdelik said. “We have to be better, and that’s just me. No, we did a good job.”
Michael Williams had 12 points to lead San Francisco (2-5), which has lost five in a row. Dior Lowhorn was held to six points, 14 below his 20-point average.
“We kind of kept Lowhorn bottled up,” Bzdelik said. “We knew (Kwame) Vaughn and Lowhorn took almost 50 percent of their shots and concentrated on them.”
Vaughn scored 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting.
“They scored 12 points in the first half on missed shot transition,” San Francisco coach Rex Walters said. “You’ve got to be able to sprint back in front of the ball and stop paint touches. We’ve got to do a better job at execution.”
Colorado shot 62 percent in the first half and didn’t let up, extending its 42-32 halftime lead to 54-32 less than 4 minutes into the second half. The Dons didn’t score until Dontae Bryant sank 1 of 2 free throws with 16:13 to go.
San Francisco got as close as 54-34 after a free throw by Perris Blackwell with 15:39 remaining. Burks converted a rebound basket and hit a 3-pointer to put the Buffaloes up 59-34, and the Dons never got closer than 22 points the rest of the way.
Lowhorn shot just 1 for 7 for the game and played only 3 minutes in the second half.
“He was complaining about some things, and I didn’t want to risk playing when he didn’t feel right,” Walters said. “At that point I made the decision not to play him, and I pulled him out.”
Higgins had 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting by halftime as Colorado built a 10-point lead. Williams’ 3-pointer gave the Dons their last lead at 18-16.
The Dons shot 34 percent and scored a season-low 54 points.
San Francisco, 2-1 in the series, won the previous meeting, which was March 19, 1955, in the semifinals.
Lowhorn’s limited playing time was a serious blow for the Dons.
“He is our power and strength inside,” Williams said of Lowhorn. “He’s the biggest guy we have on our team and our star. Without him, it’s really hard competing when we don’t have our backbone.”
