BOULDER, Colo.- Tad Boyle's team needed a wake up call after rising into the AP Top 25 last week. They got that and so much more against an upset minded Texas Southern squad, but ultimately pulled away for an 85-80 win in double-overtime. Sophomore guard Spencer Dinwiddie led the way with 24 points for the Buffs.

The Buffs had two opportunities in regulation and the first overtime, to win the game but a shot clock violation and a missed three-point shot from Askia Booker (15 points, six rebounds) sent the game on into the night. Colorado would get five quick points from freshman Josh Scott (18 points, 12 rebounds) in the final period, a lead they would never relinquish.

Boyle was relieved to escape with a win, but that is as far as his satisfaction went.

"To me the story of the night was Texas Southern," he said. "It wasn't the Colorado Buffaloes. In many respects I thought they deserved to win the game. We have to tip our hats to them…we were fortunate to win."

Colorado shook off a first half that would see them trail by 13 at one point, but a three-pointer by Booker would cut the lead to 39-29 heading into the break. The slow start had many of the 8,325 in attendance in disbelief.

"I didn't have them ready to go," Boyle said. "We looked at the scouting report and we saw (Texas Southern's) 1-5 record and thought these guys are going to be a piece of cake. We didn't respect them going into the game…that's my job as a coach to have them ready. It is on me."

Dinwiddie confirmed his coach's read of the situation.

"As a group we didn't come out with the same kind of urgency as the other games," he admitted. "We kind of had this false sense of security."

An 11-0 run in the opening minutes of the second half got the Buffs back into the game and their first lead, 40-39, since the opening three minutes of the game. The leadership and production of Dinwiddie sparked that run. He finished the game 16-of-18 from the free throw line.

"We were down so I didn't want to be down," he said. "We weren't hitting shots so I decided I was going to hit shots."

It was also sparked by a halftime speech from Boyle that Dinwiddie said he could not repeat to the media. Boyle said that his response was a stern one.

"I let them know that's not acceptable and that's not what we talked about," he said. "You have twenty minutes to figure it out."

Colorado held the Tigers to just 20-second half points and 1-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc. But the Buffs would go the final eight minutes only hitting one field goal attempt.

"You got to see the make up of the team," said Dinwiddie. "We didn't crumble or anything. They punched us in the mouth and we came back…it was a dog fight from there."

Going forward, Boyle said that improvement is vital and must come quick. The next four games include road trips to Wyoming, Kansas and Fresno State with a home tilt against rival Colorado State.

"We've got to get better from tonight," he said. "If we don't we're going to blink our eyes in a week and a half we we're going to be 6-4 instead of 6-0."

Much to the dismay of coach Boyle, that process can't start tomorrow. The NCAA dictates that the team must take a day off.

"I told them they should all write the NCAA and thank them for the day off," Boyle said.


Notes

•Andre Roberson fouled out with 1:30 remaining in the second half but did record a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

•The team's trip to Laramie, Wyoming will be their first true road game of the season. The Buffs played three games in Charleston, South Carolina but on a neutral floor.

"We're going to be playing at 7,000 feet and they are going to have the advantage of the altitude," Boyle said. "We're going to have to overcome that and people up there that don't like the Colorado Buffaloes."

•While much attention has been paid to the Wyoming and Kansas tilts, Boyle said he sees Colorado State as one of the best teams in the country.

"They're playing awful well," he said. "If we play like we did tonight, Colorado State is going to beat us by 20."

•Boyle also said he sees a lot of similarities between Roberson's freshman year and the one Xavier Johnson is going through right now.

"If you look back at Andre's freshman year, he played twenty-some minutes a game," Boyle said. "He was in foul trouble a lot. Xaiver Johnson is going through the exact same thing that Andre went through. He has to learn from that…he's a physical player but he's got to be physical without fouling."

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