BOULDER — Three seniors started for the Colorado men’s basketball team Friday night in a season-opening 85-57 victory over Fort Lewis. But don’t be surprised if this becomes Andre Roberson’s team.
Looking comfortable in his new role as a leader, the 6-foot-7 sophomore forward threw down several jams and also stuffed the stat sheet.
Last season on a team dominated by Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, Roberson came off the bench and controlled the boards. This year, Roberson appears ready to take command of a game. Roberson almost reached a double-double before halftime and finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Colorado must replace its four top scorers off last year’s 24-14 team that just missed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
“It was weird not having those guys on the floor,” Roberson said. “A lot of guys have to step up this year. I worked on my shot a lot over the summer, and I want to carry that over to the game.”
That’s not to discount the play of CU’s seniors. Each came through just as coach Tad Boyle had hoped.
Austin Dufault, more confident and aggressive than in the past, hit 8-for-10 from the field and also notched a double- double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, point guard Nate Tomlinson directed traffic and led everybody with four assists and Carlon Brown, a transfer from Utah and perhaps the best athlete on the team, scored 13 points.
“You always want to get off to a good start, and our team definitely did that tonight,” Dufault said.
Granted, the level of competition will improve greatly at next week’s tournament in Puerto Rico. But Fort Lewis (0-1), under former CU player and coach Bobby Hofman, didn’t give up many easy points.
Fort Lewis was led by guard Matt Billups with 23 points.
Colorado started freshman guard Spencer Dinwiddie (seven points), and another newcomer from Los Angeles, Askia Booker, added nine.
“I was pleased with how many new guys we played,” Boyle said.
FORT LEWIS (0-1)
Udall 3-5 2-8 8, Morris 0-3 2-2 2, Billups 8-14 4-9 23, Matthews 3-6 1-2 9, Weissl 0-4 0-0 0, Mazarei 5-10 0-1 10, Ayala 0-2 0-0 0, LaBate 0-1 0-0 0, Cassaday 0-3 0-0 0, Marquez 1-2 0-0 2, Fraser 0-1 0-0 0, Herrera 1-5 1-4 3. Totals 21-56 10-26 57.
COLORADO (1-0)
Roberson 4-9 4-5 13, Dufault 8-10 1-2 18, Tomlinson 1-4 2-2 5, Dinwiddie 2-9 3-4 7, Brown 4-7 4-6 13, Booker 3-8 3-3 9, Sharpe 1-2 0-1 2, Webb 0-0 0-0 0, Harris-Tunks 2-4 0-1 4, Chen 4-6 2-2 10, Mills 1-2 0-1 2, Eckloff 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 31-63 19-27 85.
Halftime — Colorado 41-29. 3-point goals — Fort Lewis 5-19 (Billups 3-5, Matthews 2-4, Ayala 0-1, LaBate 0-1, Udall 0-1, Mazarei 0-3, Weissl 0-4), Colorado 4-9 (Brown 1-1, Dufault 1-1, Tomlinson 1-3, Roberson 1-3, Dinwiddie 0-1). Fouled out — Dinwiddie, Herrera. Rebounds — Fort Lewis 31 (Morris 8), Colorado 48 (Roberson 15). Assists — Fort Lewis 8 (Mazarei, Morris 3), Colorado 15 (Tomlinson 4). Total fouls — Fort Lewis 22, Colorado 23. Technical fouls — Fort Lewis Bench, Harris-Tunks, Mills. A — 7,925.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
