Led by junior guard Spencer Dinwiddie, the men’s basketball team pulled out a 67-62 win over in-state rival Colorado State University Tuesday night in Fort Collins.
Dinwiddie scored a personal-high 28 points in the game and reached a milestone 1,000 points for his career and led the Buffs with 28 points. His game total was the highest of any player on the team this season and more than twice his season average of 13.8 points per game. Dinwiddie made all 11 of his free throw attempts and eight of his 14 field goal attempts.
With the win, the Buffs extend their winning streak to eight games, their longest since the 2005-06 season when they won nine games straight. It also marks the first time that Colorado has beaten all three “Front Range” schools — University of Wyoming, U.S. Air Force Academy and CSU — in the same season. It was the first time the Buffs have beaten CSU in the Rams’ home arena since 2007.
The Buffs were trailing the Rams with 7:30 remaining when freshman forward Jaron Hopkins got in the driver’s seat for the Buffs, scoring the next eight points. Starting his run with a dunk off of a steal, Hopkins followed with back-to-back three-pointers to give Colorado a 58-57 lead with 3:39 left. He finished the game with 10 points.
The Rams were led by junior forward J.J. Avila, who posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Avila also had five turnovers, a problem for the Rams who ended the game with 18.
It was a physical contest, with each team posting 21 personal fouls. The Rams managed to outshoot the Buffs from the free throw line, making 21 of their 27 attempts, while the Buffs made only 18 of their 24 free throw attempts.
The Buffs return to the Coors Events Center at 1 p.m. Saturday to take on No. 6 University of Kansas.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Sam Routhier at Samuel.routhier@colorado.edu.
