Norfolk State Spartans vs Colorado Buffaloes Match Player Stats On Mar 25, 2019

Tyler Bey scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half as fourth-seeded Colorado cruised to a 76-60 victory over eighth-seeded Norfolk State on Monday in an NIT second-round game at Boulder, Colo.

Freshman Evan Battey recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and D'Shawn Schwartz added 11 points for the Buffaloes (23-12), who won their eighth straight at home.

Colorado advanced to Wednesday night's quarterfinal matchup against second-seeded Texas, which posted a 78-76 overtime victory against third-seeded Xavier on Sunday afternoon.

Mastadi Pitt scored 14 points for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season champion Spartans (22-14), who trailed 42-23 at halftime after missing 14 of their final 16 shots and going 1-for-12 from 3-point range. Alex Long had 11 points, and Nic Thomas had 10 in a losing effort.

Norfolk State found its stroke to begin the second half, as Pitt and Thomas each made back-to-back 3-pointers, and Steven Whitley and Pitt scored on driving layups to trim the deficit to 11 at 45-34.

Battey briefly stopped the momentum with three free throws, but Thomas drilled another 3-pointer, and Whitley scored in the paint as the Spartans took advantage of six second-half turnovers by Colorado to pull within nine at 48-39.

The Buffaloes rebounded in short order, as Daylen Kountz drained a trio of 3-pointers in a three-minute span as the advantage ballooned to 20 once again at 62-42.

After Whitley made a pair of free throws to bring Norfolk State within four at 18-15, Colorado put it together from the floor to go on a 25-8 run over the final 11:25 of the first half.

Lucas Siewert drained a 3-pointer and added a dunk to start the surge, and Bey capped an 11-0 run with an emphatic dunk on an alley-oop to push the Buffaloes to a 32-17 lead with 5:52 remaining. Battey scored the final five points of the half for Colorado, highlighted by a three-point play prior to the buzzer.

--Field Level Media