Barrington Hargress had 15 points and 11 assists, Alon Michaeli scored 20 points and Colorado beat Providence 97-88 in Boulder, Colo., on Friday night.
Elijah Malone contributed 17 points and Isaiah Johnson scored 15 points off the bench for the Buffaloes (3-0).
Jason Edwards finished with a game-high 24 points, one of five Providence players to score in double figures. Jaylin Sellers added 15 points, Corey Floyd Jr. had 13 points, Stefan Vaaks scored 11 points and Ryan Mela contributed 10 for the Friars (2-2).
Mela opened the second half with a layup to give Providence its first lead of the night, 40-39, but the Buffaloes responded with six straight points to retake the lead.
The Friars cut the deficit to one again but Colorado made seven straight shots to stretch its advantage to 62-56 with 12:35 left.
After Edwards connected on two free throws, Josiah Sanders made a layup and Sebastian Rancik hit a 3-pointer off a Providence turnover to make it 67-60. The teams traded baskets until Sellers converted a three-point play to make it 74-71.
Michaeli answered with a personal scoring run to extend the Buffaloes’ advantage. He had a three-point play, hit a floater in the lane and two free throws to make it 81-73 with 4:01 left. The Friars got within five with 3:17 left, but Johnson drained four straight free throws and Holland hit two from the line to make it 90-80 with 1:02 left.
Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to make it 93-81 and Providence got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Colorado jumped out to a quick seven-point lead in the first half before the Friars chipped away. Mela’s layup with 5:11 left before the break cut it to 31-28 but the Buffaloes scored the next six points to open up a nine-point advantage, their biggest of the half.
Providence used a 10-2 run to close out the first 20 minutes and went into halftime down just 39-38.
