Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Colorado 76, UC Santa Barbara 68
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 21, 2013
Where: Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colorado
Officials: # Dick Cartmell, # Michael Irving, # Larry Spaulding
Attendance: 8488

Colorado 76, UC Santa Barbara 68: Spencer Dinwiddie scored a season-high 24 points as the host Buffaloes held off a late comeback by the hot-shooting Gauchos to win their fifth straight game.

Askia Booker scored 14 points and Wesley Gordon and Xavier Johnson each added nine points for Colorado (5-1). Dinwiddie finished 14-of-15 at the free throw line for the Buffaloes, which sank 28-of-36 foul shots compared to just 5-of-8 for the Gauchos.

Sophomore forward Taran Brown scored a career-high 23 points, including 7-of-10 3-pointers, to lead UC Santa Barbara (2-2), which connected on 11-of-28 3-point attempts while shooting 50 percent from the floor. Brown came into the game just 3-of-8 from 3-point range.

Brown hit five of his 3-pointers in the first half, including three in a 103-second span during a 12-2 run to give UC Santa Barbara a 30-25 lead. But Colorado ended the half with a 7-0 run of its own highlighted by a 3-pointer by Dinwiddie to take a 32-30 halftime lead.

Colorado extended the margin to 45-36 during the first eight minutes of the second half and led by 10 points, 70-60, with 1:24 to go after a pair of free throws by Booker. The Gauchos closed to within four, 71-67, on a 3-pointer by Michael Bryson with 34 seconds left before the Buffaloes sealed if by hitting 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Colorado improved to 14-0 at home at the Coors Events Center in November under fourth-year head coach Tad Boyle. ... UC Santa Barbara forward Alan Williams, a first team all-Big West pick last season who was averaging 24 points and 13 rebounds after two games, missed his second straight game because of back spasms. ... Colorado center Josh Scott, who came in averaging a team-best 14.6 points, finished with three points but also had seven rebounds and four steals.
Top Game Performances
 
UC Santa Barbara   Colorado
Taran Brown 23 Scoring Spencer Dinwiddie 24
Eric Childress 6 Assists Xavier Talton 4
Taran Brown 7 Rebounds Josh Scott 7
Sam Beeler 2 Free Throws Made Spencer Dinwiddie 14
Eric Childress 3 Steals Josh Scott 4
Sam Beeler 1 Blocks Spencer Dinwiddie 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
UC Santa Barbara 68 50.0 11-28 5-8 17 23 1 9 17
Colorado 76 44.0 4-18 28-36 12 34 1 12 13