LAS VEGAS — Colorado senior guard Askia Booker almost single-handedly made sure his college basketball career was extended Wednesday night — and that the Buffaloes would live to see another day in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Booker knocked down a trio of 3-pointers within a span of two minutes midway through the second half to finally give 10-seed Colorado some separation as the Buffaloes claimed a 78-71 victory over No. 7 seed Oregon State at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The only scholarship senior on CU’s roster, Booker missed his first seven shots before heating up. And did he ever. Booker scored 14 of his game-best 20 points in the second half, including 11 points during a spurt that included the three 3-pointers.
“My teammates said, ‘Ski, just play,’ ” Booker said of his hot spurt. “From then on, it was just confidence. It’s all in my head. In the first half, I just wasn’t ready to play.”
Colorado (15-16), bagging its third win in four games, will face No. 2 seed Oregon (23-8) Thursday night in a quarterfinal. Oregon earned a first-round bye.
“We found a way,” CU coach Tad Boyle said.
Oregon State (17-14) started strong, leading by as many as seven points (31-24). But the Beavers cooled off from outside in the second half.
In the teams’ only regular-season meeting, Colorado scored just 12 points in the first half against Oregon State’s signature 2-3 zone and lost 72-58 to the host Beavers. The Buffs already had 38 points by halftime Wednesday night, although the early defensive effort of both teams couldn’t have pleased their coaches.
Colorado took control in the second half, getting a boost from its bench. Tre’Shaun Fletcher scored a career-best 12 points and another sophomore, Dustin Thomas, produced 10 points.
Getting 13 points from Malcolm Duvivier, Oregon State took a 40-38 lead into halftime.
Colorado clamped down on the sophomore guard and limited him to just two points in the second half.
“I give all the credit to my teammates, because they kept it close in the first half,” Booker said.
Oregon State had nobody strong enough to match up with Colorado’s 6-foot-10 center Josh Scott, who was coming off a career-best 32 points in an overtime loss at Washington State to complete the regular season. The junior post player, with his lower back feeling better than it had since early January, scored 12 points in the first half.
With Colorado finding more success from the perimeter, Scott added just four points in the second half but contributed 14 rebounds for a double-double.
Colorado extended its string of having won its first game in three previous Pac-12 Tournament appearances. That included the Buffs’ tournament championship in 2012, when CU won four games in four days to claim the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
“This (Pac-12 Tournament) is a new opportunity for us,” Scott said. “We feel this is our time.”
