Colorado defeats Hartford 80-52; Scott scores 21

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Josh Scott scored a career-best 21 points, Askia Booker had 19, and Colorado led handily from start to finish in beating Hartford 80-52 on Saturday.

Andre Roberson added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 11 points and six assists for Colorado (10-2), off to its best start since also opening 10-2 in 2005-06.

Evan Cooper had 14 points to lead Hartford (7-6). No other player scored in double figures for the Hawks (7-6), who remained winless in five games against members of the Pac-12 Conference over the last 28 years. Two of those losses are against Colorado.

Up by 24 points at the break, Colorado stretched its lead to 56-23 with an 11-2 burst to start the second half. Dinwiddie helped fuel the run with a three-point play, and Scott capped it by sinking a jumper. The only score by Hartford in that span came on a layup by Jamie Schneck with 19:21 left in the second half, Hartford's first points in the paint of the game.

Cooper's third 3-pointer pulled the Hawks to within 56-26, but the Buffaloes took off again on a 12-4 burst capped by Scott's three-point play to open a 37-point advantage.

Hartford responded with its only strong stretch of the game, getting a pair of 3-pointers from Wes Cole and outscoring the Buffaloes 12-0 over a nearly four-minute span before Colorado again halted their momentum with a 10-0 burst sealing the game.

Overall, the Hawks were outrebounded 52-21 and outscored from up close 44-11. It was the most points allowed in a game by Hartford this season.

Colorado scored the first 11 points of the game, starting with a dunk by Roberson 18 seconds into the contest and finished with its second highest scoring first half of the season in taking a 45-21 lead.

Hartford didn't collect its first rebound until John Peterson pulled one down off a missed jumper by teammate Yolonzo Moore II. By then, the Buffaloes had put together separate runs of 18-3 and 8-0 for a 26-6 lead over Hartford, which got all of its first-half points from seven 3-pointers, including three by U'u on 7 of 27 shooting from the floor.