Sebastian Rancik scored 13 points, Javon Ruffin and Trevor Baskin had 12 points each, and the Colorado Buffaloes overcame a slow start to beat the Eastern Washington Eagles 76-56 in Boulder, Colo., on Monday night.
Andrej Jakimovski added 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Colorado, which trailed by as much as 17 in the first half in the season opener for both teams.
Nic McClain had a game-high 16 points and Vice Zanki contributed 12 points for the Eagles.
The Buffaloes opened the second half with six straight points — part of a 12-0 run bridging halftime — to tie the game at 31. Eastern Washington put up six straight to go back in front, but Colorado rallied to tie it again at 46 with 10:28 left in the game.
Tyler Powell split a pair of free throws for the Eagles, who then went cold and the started to take over.
Ruffin made a layup, Julian Hammond III hit from long range and Assane Diop scored to put Colorado ahead 53-47 with 8:30 left. As the Eagles’ drought continued, Rancik hit another 3-pointer and Baskin scored off a turnover to push the Buffaloes’ lead to 11 with 5:55 left.
Powell’s layup ended a streak of 5:13 without a field goal for the Eagles, but Jakimovski answered with a layup and RJ Smith drained another 3-pointer to give Colorado a 63-49 lead entering the final media timeout.
Baskin scored off another turnover to push the advantage to 16 and the Buffaloes closed it out.
Colorado had eight turnovers in the first 8:28 and was only 2-for-8 from the field, and Eastern Washington built a 27-10 lead with 6:44 left in the first half.
The Buffaloes got their offense going after that. Hammond scored off a miss, Ruffin converted a turnover into a layup and Rancik hit a 3-pointer during a 9-2 run that got Colorado within 29-19.
After McClain hit a layup, the Buffaloes closed the half with six straight points to cut the deficit to 31-25 at intermission.
–Field Level Media
