Oregon State star Jared Cunningham tried to erase everything about his last trip to Boulder from his memory.
Colorado drubbed the Beavers 83-57 on Dec. 4, 2010, in the final installment of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.
Cunningham scored 16 points that night but didn’t get a lot of help. Levi Knutson led four CU players in double figures with 22 points, making six 3-pointers in the game.
“They will add a lot of athleticism,” Cunningham said during an interview with the Daily Camera at the Pac-12 media day last October in Los Angeles on the subject of CU joining the conference. “They have one guy, I think his name is André, who is a very athletic guy.”
André Roberson and the Buffs provided Cunningham and the Beavers with a replay Thursday night.
The super sophomore scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in CU’s 82-60 victory over Oregon State before 7,858 at the Coors Events Center.
“André’s numbers are ridiculous in terms of the rebounding,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “And if you look at the rebounds per minute, it’s really staggering.”
Roberson has 246 rebounds in 641 minutes played this season. Senior forward Austin Dufault is second on the team with 101 rebounds in 578 minutes.
“I just try to be consistent,” said Roberson, who also had two blocks, two steals and an assist against the Beavers. “I felt like I had to go out there and play big tonight.”
Roberson, easily the Pac-12’s leading rebounder, notched his 14th double-double of the season.
CU senior guard Carlon Brown opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and Roberson capped a personal 6-0 run with an authoritative dunk to give the Buffs a 57-35 advantage.
A basket by freshman guard Askia Booker, who finished with 15 points off the bench, gave CU (15-7, 7-3 Pac-12) a 71-44 lead with 10:52 left as the home team shredded Oregon State’s 1-3-1 zone.
“There were a lot of open spots in the zone they were playing,” Booker said. “Coach told me to just be aggressive because I was quick enough to get to those spots. I just took advantage of that.”
Five Buffs scored in double figures. The Buffs are 5-0 this season when that happens (3-0 in the Pac-12).
CU led 46-31 at halftime after shooting 60.7 percent. Dufault was 5-for-5 from the field and had 11 points in 15 minutes at the break.
The Beavers fell to 14-8, 4-6.
“We weren’t ready to play,” Oregon State coach Craig Robinson said.
