KJ Simpson scored 22 points, Tristan Da Silva added 15 and the Colorado Buffaloes used a strong second half to beat the Towson Tigers 75-57 in Boulder, Colo., Monday night.
J’Vonne Hadley finished with 13 points for the Buffaloes.
Dylan Williamson scored 15 points, and Charles Thompson chipped in with 13 points for Towson.
Colorado led 24-11 after a layup by Eddie Lampkin with 6:40 remaining in the first half, but the Tigers rallied the rest of the period.
Williamson hit a 3-pointer, and Tyler Tejada converted a three-point play to quickly make it 24-17. Tomiwa Sulaiman and Cody Williams traded jumpers; Messiah Jones scored off of an offensive rebound to make it 26-22.
Simpson sank a pair of free throws before Thompson’s layup made it 28-24 at the half.
The Buffaloes started the second half strong to take a double-digit lead. Simpson drained a 3-pointer, Thompson turned it over and Da Silva hit from deep to start the rally.
Thompson missed on the other end, and Simpson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, Luke O’Brien hit another Colorado 3-pointer and Da Silva followed with a second-chance 3-pointer to cap a 15-0 run that gave the Buffaloes a 43-27 lead.
Towson missed six shots and turned it over twice before finally breaking the second-half drought with a 3-pointer by Williamson.
Colorado surged again, with Da Silva draining a jumper and Simpson hitting from behind the arc to make it a 21-point game. The Tigers hit three free throws to get the deficit down to 48-30, but Da Silva scored five straight points to put the Buffaloes in front 53-30.
Jones scored Towson’s next five points, including a three-point play, to try to keep the Tigers within range. Hadley slammed home an alley-oop and split a pair of free throws to put Colorado ahead by 22 with 9:26 left.
Following a putback by Thompson, the Buffaloes went on an 8-0 run to put it away.
–Field Level Media