BOULDER, Colo.—Andre Roberson came up big again, but two freshmen helped Colorado keep its non-conference home win streak alive.
Roberson had 15 points and 15 rebounds, freshman Spencer Dinwiddie scored 16 points and Colorado beat Georgia 70-68 on Monday night.
Askia Booker, also a freshman, scored 14 points and Carlon Brown had 10 points for the Buffaloes (4-2), who have won 26 straight non-league games in Boulder.
Colorado needed big games from its freshmen to keep the streak going.
“We knew it was a matter of time with Spencer,” Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said. “The thing I love about both of those guys is they have such a belief in themselves. I loved how Spencer came out aggressively tonight. That’s the Spencer Dinwiddie we knew when we recruited him.”
Roberson tied his career high in rebounds while notching the ninth double-double of his career.
“Andre Roberson had some unbelievable rebounds,” Boyle said. “The kid’s incredible.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 points and Gerald Robinson 14 for the Bulldogs (4-3), who have lost three of their last four.
Colorado came out aggressive to start the second half, hitting five of their first six shots to take a 45-39 lead with 15:57 remaining.
The Bulldogs were cold to start the second half and missed their first 11 shots. They didn’t get their first bucket until Nemanja Djurisic hit a 3-pointer with 12:34 left to cut the deficit to 45-42.
“We picked it up on our defensive end, and it motivated our offense,” Roberson said. “We picked it up in the second half.”
The game was tied at 45-45 when Colorado pulled away. Booker scored seven points in 52 seconds to help the Buffaloes take a 52-47 lead.
“It’s my role to come off the bench and spark the team,” Booker said.
Roberson converted a three-point play, Nate Tomlinson hit a 3-pointer and Shane Harris-Tunks made a layup to give the Buffaloes a 62-52 lead with 3:52 left.
The Bulldogs rallied late to cut the lead to three with 4.5 seconds left, but a free throw by Booker sealed the win.
The Buffaloes were just 22 for 37 from the line, but Dinwiddie and Booker combined to go 13 for 16 from the stripe.
“As freshmen, they’ve got an unbelievable belief in themselves,” Boyle said.
Georgia grabbed a 12-point lead in the first half on the strength of its hot outside shooting. The Bulldogs hit six of their first eight shots from behind the 3-point line to go up 26-14 with 8:30 left before intermission.
The hot shooting didn’t last.
“We’re just very inexperienced offensively and we have some droughts,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “Unfortunately, we started the second half with one.”
After a timeout, Colorado began to chip away at the deficit. Dinwiddie led the charge, scoring nine points in the first half and helping the Buffaloes go on a 16-4 run to tie it at 30-30 on Brown’s 3-pointer with 3:10 left.
Robinson scored six of his 11 first-half points in the final 2:58 to lift Georgia to a 38-34 lead at the break.
