Colorado Basketball: Buffaloes outlast Air Force, move to 9-3

Dec 19, 2016; Colorado Springs, CO, USA; Air Force Falcons guard Zach Kocur (5) defends as Air Force Falcons forward Lavelle Scottie (12) goes up for a rebound against Colorado Buffaloes guard George King (24), forward Tory Miller (14), guard Dominique Collier (15) and guard Thomas Akyazili (0) in the second half at Clune Arena. The Buffaloes won 75-68. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 19, 2016; Colorado Springs, CO, USA; Air Force Falcons guard Zach Kocur (5) defends as Air Force Falcons forward Lavelle Scottie (12) goes up for a rebound against Colorado Buffaloes guard George King (24), forward Tory Miller (14), guard Dominique Collier (15) and guard Thomas Akyazili (0) in the second half at Clune Arena. The Buffaloes won 75-68. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

To this point, the Colorado Buffaloes basketball team is winning the games it is supposed to.

On Monday night, the Buffs went into Colorado Springs and defeated Air Force, winning a back-and-forth game 75-68. With the win, the Buffs improve to 9-3 on the season.

Colorado had five players in double figures, with Xavier Johnson leading the way with 14 points. A balanced scoring effort has contributed to the Buffs last two wins, as George King, Derrick White, Wesley Gordon and Deleon Brown scored 10 points or more.

Gordon and King also had nine rebounds apiece.

Colorado shot the ball as well as it has all season, making 54 percent of its shots. The Buffs also knocked down 10 three-point shots and that ended up being the difference against a game Falcons squad.

Air Force led by as many as five points in the first half but Colorado took a 27-21 lead into the break. However, if the Buffs thought they’d be able to put it on cruise control in the second half, they were wrong.

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Colorado got up by as many as eight points but Air Force fought back and took a 35-34 lead with just under 15 minutes to play. A layup by Gordon put the Buffs back on top. Yet, the Falcons weren’t going away.

Johnson and Brown would hit three pointers down the stretch that would be huge factors in Colorado’s victory, but it was one that didn’t come easily.

C.J. Siples led the way for Air Force with 15 points, despite averaging less than four points per game on the season.

Colorado will face Eastern Washington (8-3) in Boulder on Thursday night in what will be the team’s final game before conference play starts on January 1 against Utah.