COLORADO TOPS CALIFORNIA, 78-60

Saturday, December 6

Boulder, Colo.

7:00 p.m.

Colorado

California

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

December 06, 2003 | Men's Basketball

By: CUBuffs.com

BOULDER, Colo. ? Freshman point guard Marcus Hall turned in a career-best 22 point performance to lead the Colorado Buffaloes to a 78-60 victory over California (2-3) on Saturday night at the Coors Events Conference Center.

The Buffs (4-1) extended their home winning streak to 14 games dating back to last season.

“This was a good win, and a good team effort,” head coach Ricardo Patton said. “We came into this game with good focus and we were able to give a good effort. We beat a good California team tonight. They were picked to finish third in the Pac-10, so we feel that this is a great win for us. I was extremely pleased with our attitude; we were unconcerned with who scored, just that we put the ball in the hole. We moved the ball around well and showed a lot of unselfishness.”

The Buffs took the lead on the opening tip with forward Lamar Harris netting baskets on the Buffs' first two possessions. Colorado would trail for only 12 seconds the entire game ? falling behind by two just five minutes into the game.

After a tight first half ? in which two of Colorado's top three scorers, Blair Wilson and Michel Morandais, failed to net a basket ? the teams would head into the halftime break with the Buffs leading 35-28 on the strength of Hall's 14 points.

Colorado was quick to take control of the game with the beginning of the second half. The Buffs would open with the half's first eight points, and a 13-6 run overall, forcing the Bears to take a time-out in an effort to slow the Colorado offense.

The Buffs turned in some clutch three-point shooting, finishing 10-of-20 on the night with five players netting scores from beyond the arc.

Center David Harrison was the second leading scorer for the Buffs with 18 points, while forward Michel Morandais had 10 and Harris finished with six points and 12 rebounds, 11 defensive, both of which were career highs.

For the Bears, Amit Tamie led the way with 21 points while Leon Powe finished with 11.

Colorado returns to the court with a road game at 7 p.m. Dec. 10 against in-state rival Colorado State in Fort Collins.