Colorado 68, UNLV 64: Askia Booker scored a game-high 16 points as Colorado avoided a near second-half collapse to hold off the Runnin’ Rebels in the round of 64 in Albuquerque.

Austin Dufault finished with 14 points and Andre Roberson added 12 points and 16 rebounds for the 11th-seeded Buffaloes (24-11), who blew a 20-point lead in the final 13 minutes before hanging on down the stretch.

Colorado will advance to play No. 3 Baylor on Saturday.

No. 6 seed UNLV (26-9) trailed 36-25 at the half and fell behind by as many as 20 with 13:08 left. The Rebels, who shot 32 percent — including a 9-of-36 effort from 3-point range — misfired on eight of their first nine second-half shots, and couldn’t establish a rhythm.

But then they applied full-court pressure defensively, and the Buffaloes, who played a near flawless game to that point, began making mistakes. Colorado committed 10 turnovers in the next eight minutes, and UNLV used a 22-3 run to pull within 57-55 with 4:24 left.

A Roberson free throw extended the Colorado lead to 58-55, and Carlon Brown’s one-handed dunk extended the advantage to five moments later. UNLV got as close as 67-64 on Chace Stanbeck’s 3-pointer with eight seconds left, but Spencer Dinwiddie made 1 of 2 free throws to seal the victory.

Anthony Marshall finished with a team-high 15 points and Justin Hawkins added 11 for UNLV, which lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight time. Mike Moser and Oscar Bellfield each had 10.

Brown had 12 points and six rebounds for the Buffaloes, who have won five straight games, all in the postseason.

GAME NOTEBOOK: UNLV was held to its third-lowest first-half point total of the season. … The Rebels fell to 33-18 all-time in the NCAA tournament. … Colorado had 23 turnovers, compared to UNLV’s eight. … The Buffaloes won their first tournament game since defeating Indiana 80-62 in 1997. … UNLV was held without a field goal for more than three minutes on two separate occasions, including a drought in the first half that lasted more than six minutes. … Colorado held a 43-30 advantage in rebounds.