BOULDER, Colo. -- The Dons knew it would take two solid halves if they were to have any hopes of knocking off Colorado on the Buffaloes home court. Unfortunately, USF fell one half short and suffered a 72-55 defeat before 9,025 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.
 
Six first half 3-pointers helped USF to a 34-32 lead at halftime but the Buffaloes shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half and pulled away en route to the 17-point victory. USF (4-3) also made 18 turnovers in the game which led to 29 Colorado points.
 
Mark Tollefsen took team-high scoring honors for the Dons, finishing with 12 points while Matt Christiansen scored a season-high 10 points in a 23 minute playing stint off the bench. Chris Adams made 3-of-5 three-point attempts and finished with nine points.
 
The Buffaloes held Kruize Pinkins in check, as USF's leading scorer finished with just nine points in 30 minutes.
 
Askia Booker scored a game-high 21 points for Colorado, which improved to 5-1 on the season with its 23^rd consecutive non-conference win at the Coors Event Center. Josh Scott was the only other Buffaloe in double figures with 12 points.
 
After spotting the Buffaloes the first seven points of the game, the Dons built as much as a 10-point lead at 21-11 with 9:37 left on the strength of seven three-pointers, including three by Adams. However, the Buffaloes answered the Dons run to cut the lead down to just two at the break, 34-32.
 
Colorado continued its momentum into the second half, going on an 18-8 run to open a 10-point lead at 50-40 with 12:11 left. USF trailed by nine points at 62-53 with 5:32 left when the Buffaloes iced the game by scoring 10 straight points to take a 72-53 lead with 1:28 left.
 
USF will return home to Memorial Gymnasium Sunday afternoon to face the Houston Baptist Cougars. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
 
Rex Walters' Post-Game Comments
 
"I just thought we did a better job of taking care of the basketball. [CU head coach] Tad [Boyle] made some good adjustments in the second half. I thought (Askia) Booker really got going offensively. But, 18 turnovers in the first half – it was assists for buckets – but in the second half, it was turnovers for buckets. We have to keep them out of transition as much as possible.
 
"We didn't do a great job of that. It's really hard to get transition defense when you turn the ball over. We've got some tough physical guys and we do pursue the basketball. They also shot a better percentage so they didn't have as many opportunities. But, we had chances. We definitely had chances. I just thought our inability to take care of the basketball and make the easy play ended up being the difference in the game."
 
"I think they came out a little more focused, made some adjustments. At the 16 minute mark I said, 'Guys, it's been four minutes and we have three turnovers.' That's the difference in the game. We never really got better over the course of the second half. I think it was a lot self-induced. I tip my hat to Colorado. They play hard, they're physical, they're tough. But, it's also hard to win a game when you shoot yourselves in the foot."
 
"I expected to win. I expected to take care of the basketball and get paint touches and ball reversals. We needed to do a better job on [Askia] Booker. I thought he hurt us. He really stepped up. We were going to make other guys besides [Josh] Scott beat us. When you lose [Xavier] Johnson, that's one big piece of their puzzle. When we weren't able to keep Booker contained, it really hurt us.
 
"We didn't do a good job on our ball screen defense with him (Booker). We got some good looks. Our rotation out of some penetration wasn't good and Booker got off. With a guy like [Xavier] Johnson out, you need someone to step up and he definitely did that."