Tristan da Silva delivered his first career double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday as Colorado pulled off an 86-78 victory over visiting Southern Utah at Boulder, Colo., to give Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle the record for most victories in program history.
KJ Simpson added 21 points and Nique Clifford had 14, while Boyle earned his 262nd win at Colorado, moving out of a tie for the top spot with Russell “Sox” Walseth. Boyle earned the accomplishment in 13 seasons while also guiding the Buffaloes through the transition from the Big 12 to the Pac-12.
Colorado (8-5) ended the nonconference portion of its schedule on a four-game winning streak and have won five consecutive nonconference games overall, but also lost their first two Pac-12 games within that stretch.
Harrison Butler scored 18 points with 11 rebounds for Southern Utah (8-5), which led as late as 10:58 remaining in the game. The Thunderbirds saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Tevian Jones scored 14 points for Southern Utah, while Maizen Fausett had 13 and Cameron Healy added 15. Jason Spurgin had 11 rebounds.
Colorado led by as many as 12 points in the first half but Southern Utah closed the opening 20 minutes on an 8-0 run to pull within 38-34 at the break.
A 3-pointer by Fausett gave the Thunderbirds a 57-55 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining. The Buffaloes took charge from there, going on a 18-2 run to take a 73-59 lead with 6:04 remaining.
Julian Hammond (11 points) scored the first five points in the decisive Colorado run, while da Silva added seven points in the stretch.
Colorado was without center Lawson Lovering for the first time this season because of an undisclosed injury. Guard Luke O’Brien also was out with an injury.
While Colorado now returns to Pac-12 play with a visit to Stanford on Dec. 29, Southern Utah will make its WAC debut on Dec. 28 against New Mexico State. The Thunderbirds played the last 10 seasons in the Big Sky.
–Field Level Media