AP Sports
NORMAN, Okla. - Ebi Ere and Hollis Price led the way on offense and No. 9 Oklahoma dominated the game on defense, beating Colorado 69-54 on Saturday in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Ere scored 20 points and Price had 19 as Oklahoma (10-2) won its 31st straight at home. The Sooners have won 20 in a row over Colorado in Norman and are 40-3 against the Buffaloes since 1982.
Colorado (10-4) got 18 points from Michel Morandais but found baskets hard to come by.
The Buffaloes, who came in averaging 79.6 points per game, were held to their lowest point total since a 78-35 loss to Texas in the 2000 Big 12 tournament. They had just 19 points at halftime and trailed by as many as 26 in the second half.
Oklahoma held Colorado to 31 percent shooting, including 25 percent (7-of-28) in the first half. The poor first-half shooting was compounded by poor rebounding - the Buffaloes had just four offensive rebounds at halftime.
Oklahoma didn't get much going, either, going 11-of-28 from the field in the first half. But the Sooners were able to put together two short bursts to take control.
The first was an 11-2 run that turned a 7-5 deficit into a 16-9 lead. Oklahoma then went six possessions without a basket and Colorado cut the deficit to 16-14 before Ere made two 3s in a 10-2 spurt that gave the Sooners a 26-16 lead.
Oklahoma scored the first nine points of the second half to push the lead to 40-19. The Buffaloes made only two field goals over the first nine minutes of the half in falling behind 53-27.