BOULDER, Colo. (AP) Tighter defense in the second half by Colorado turned a close game into a runaway.
Josh Scott tied a season-high with 24 points and Colorado pulled away to beat Fort Lewis 95-71 on Wednesday night.
Josh Fortune had 17 points and Tre'Shaun Fletcher 13 for Colorado (6-1), which won its sixth in a row since a season-opening loss at Iowa State. Scott added a game-high 15 rebounds.
''We knew this team could shoot,'' Scott said. ''The only adjustment we made was people took it upon themselves. We were going to go out there and guard them and I think the percentages showed that.''
After converting nearly 55 percent of their shots from the field in the opening half and trailing by just two at the break, the Skyhawks made only one third of their shots in the final 20 minutes.
''I thought defensively, we did a much better job getting around screens and being aware of the ball in the second half,'' Colorado coach Tad Boyle said.
Joshua Blaylock led the Skyhawks with 13 points. Kofi Josephs added 11 points for Fort Lewis, a Division II school based in Durango, Colorado. The game was considered an exhibition for the Skyhawks.
Cade Kloster's 3-pointer pulled Fort Lewis to within 58-53 but Scott hit a jumper to start an 8-0 run that Fletcher and George King finished with successive 3s. The run gave Colorado a 13-point lead with just under 11 minutes remaining. Colorado gradually extended its lead and began substituting freely in the game's last few minutes.
''The first half we played them well,'' Kloster said. ''Their size and strength took over in the second half. They just went on a run and we didn't have much left in the tank.''
Fort Lewis trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half but outscored the Buffaloes 7-2 in the last 1:19 of the half to pull to within 46-44 at halftime. Blaylock converted a 4-point play to start the Skyhawks' spurt.
After Fort Lewis scored the game's first five points, the Buffaloes ran off 17 points in a row. The teams were tied at 23 but Fortune and Dominique Collier hit successive 3s to put Colorado back in front in to stay.
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TIP-INS
Fort Lewis: Rasmus Bach, averaging a team-leading 18 points per game, did not play because of a sore knee.
Colorado: Scott has had three double-doubles this season and 26 for his career, moving him ahead of David Harrison (2001-04) into 10th on the school's all-time list. ... Fletcher's seven assists represented a career-high.
UP NEXT
Fort Lewis: visits Adams State on Saturday
Colorado: plays at Colorado State on Sunday.
