BOULDER, Colo.—Levi Knutson made the most of a rare start for Colorado.
Knutson scored a career-high 22 points, Alec Burks had 15 points and the Buffaloes used a strong first half to beat Oregon State 83-57 on Saturday night.
The junior guard hit six 3-pointers, a career high, to help Colorado avenge a 74-69 loss to the Beavers last season and extend its home winning streak to seven.
“I love to be out there, I love to play, but whether I come off the bench or start it doesn’t really matter to me,” Knutson said.
Jared Cunningham scored 16 points and Lathen Wallace 14 for the Beavers (3-4).
“Real tough,” Wallace said. “How much did we lose by—23, 24? Something like that. It wasn’t good.”
The win was Colorado’s first in four games of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. The Buffaloes move to the Pac-10 next year, and this loss will be on the Beavers’ minds when they play again.
“You remember this,” Wallace said.
Playing in front of alumnus and current Denver Nuggets star Chauncey Billups, Colorado (4-3) took control early in the first half sparked by freshman Andre Roberson. He hit a layup and then had a steal and a fast-break layup to make it 16-9.
On the Beavers’ next possession, Burks picked the pocket of Cunningham and went in for an easy layup to finish an 11-0 run that gave Colorado the lead for good.
A free throw by Wallace broke a nearly 8-minute scoring drought for Oregon State, but soon after Colorado pulled away with a 17-4 run to finish the first half.
Cory Higgins hit a 3-pointer to give the Buffaloes a 25-14 lead with 4:33 left in the half, and Roberson’s three-point play made it 28-16.
Knutson’s second 3-pointer made it 33-16, and when Austin Dufault hit a layup at the buzzer, Colorado was ahead 37-18.
“I wish I would have known we were going to play this well before the game started,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “I could have saved myself a lot of angst.”
Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said he wanted to stop Burks and Higgins but that Knutson made him pay for that game plan.
“Those guys are playing to be draft picks,” Robinson said. “It’s my strategy to stop those two from getting their averages and hope the other guys cannot beat you. He beat us.”
Any hope for an Oregon State comeback ended early in the second half. Knutson drilled a 3 and Burks and Marcus Relphorde had consecutive dunks to give Colorado a 48-24 lead with 16:08 left.
Burks’ baseline drive and dunk with 12:34 left gave Colorado a 57-32 lead.
Knutson’s 3-pointer put Colorado ahead 79-52, and his layup with 3:07 left made it 81-53.
Colorado shot 58.6 percent for the game.
“We shot 71 in the second half,” Boyle said. “You should win the game going away.”
