AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—Tad Boyle had one way to describe Andre Roberson.
“He is a madman,” Boyle, Colorado’s coach, said about the sophomore guard, who has 57 rebounds for the Buffaloes in five games this season.
Askia Booker hit a 3-pointer and Roberson got a key block and layup in overtime to help Colorado to a 76-73 victory over Air Force on Wednesday night.
“I do what I can to win,” Roberson said. “I will get rebound when it is needed.”
Added Boyle: “I don’t know where his head was in the first 30 minutes of the game. But was there at the end when it mattered.”
Nate Tomlinson led Colorado (3-2) with 19 points on 4 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. Carl Brown added 16 points, and Roberson had 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Roberson went scoreless in the first half, missing his only shot. He had eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
Michael Lyons made 10 of 19 shots to finish with a career-high 31 points for Air Force (3-1). It was the most points by a Falcons player since Jarvis Croff scored 31 against Utah on March 9, 2000.
“It didn’t matter,” Lyons said. “I would have been happy with a couple of points and a win.”
The Falcons’ scrambling defense forced 18 turnovers, turning the mistakes into 27 points.
“We had some mental breakdowns defensively that we can’t have if we want to win these types of games,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “We didn’t contest two open (3-pointers), and then we did late in the game, and they got the offensive putback.”
Air Force committed a season-low six turnovers.
The Falcons led 72-69 in overtime after a layup by Taylor Stewart and Mike Fitzgerald’s 3-pointer. The Buffaloes then got Roberson’s layup off a rebound and went ahead 74-72 on Booker’s 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.
After Todd Fletcher made a free throw for Air Force, Roberson sealed the game with a basket. Fletcher missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
“Air Force is a tough team to defend,” Boyle said. “They either get layups or (3-pointers) against you.”
Colorado almost won the game in regulation after Roberson tipped in his own miss with 13 seconds remaining to make it 67-65. But Fitzgerald sank two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The Buffaloes began the second half by making only 1 of 9 shots. Shane Harris-Tunks put Colorado up 39-36 with a jumper before Air Force went on a 10-0 run, with six of the points coming from Lyons, who had two acrobatic layups.
Lyons gave the Falcons a 56-50 advantage with a 3-pointer, but Brown scored eight points in a two-minute span to put Colorado up 62-60.
