BOULDER, Colo. ? Michel Morandais led all scorers with 21 points driving Colorado (3-1) to an 81-66 victory over Oregon State (2-2) in the Buffaloes home opener, Monday night at the Coors Events Center.
Center David Harrison had 18 points and 16 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the season and 15th of his career. It was Harrison's first game with more than 15 boards this year, and fifth overall.
The teams played a sloppy first half, with Colorado turning the ball over 11 times, 21 for the game, and the Beavers shooting just 34 percent from the floor. Going into the break, it was Oregon State with the 33-32 lead.
Colorado came out strong in the second half, steadily building a lead after sinking the go-ahead bucket at the 16:27 mark. Freshman Marcus Hall (eight assists) took a steal and drove down the court for a lay-up from the left side to put the Buffs in front for good.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” CU head coach Ricardo Patton said. “I thought when we went to our zone (defense) it changed the tempo and slowed them down a bit. I think we showed in the first half that we weren't any better on offense than Oregon State. We had to do it on defense in the second half. They shot the ball better than I had seen on film.”
Oregon State guard Chris Stephens led the Beavers with 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers.
The win was the 13th consecutive for Colorado on its home court, with the Buffs lone home loss coming during last year's non-conference slate to Georgia.
“It's no secret what happened here last season,” Harrison said. “We beat four ranked teams and had an almost perfect record here. We only lost one on a lucky shot. Teams know that they have to come in and play hard to win here. In the second half (OSU) was flat and passive and we had to take the game to them.”
The Buffs will look to continue that home court advantage Saturday Dec. 6 with a 7 p.m. tip against California.
With tonight's win, the Buffs opened a 41-day stretch in which they will play all nine of their games in the state of Colorado. The lone match-up away from their home court will come on Dec. 10 against Colorado State in Fort Collins.
