Colorado beats N. Alabama behind Da Silva’s career-best 25

BOULDER

Tristan da Silva scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Colorado to an 84-60 victory over North Alabama on Thursday night.

Da Silva, who entered averaging 14.5 points and shooting 49% in his last four games, was 10 of 17 from the floor against North Alabama. KJ Simpson added 12 points for Colorado (6-5), which shot 51% (31 of 61) overall. J’Vonne Hadley and Luke O’Brien had 11 points apiece.

Colorado used a 24-14 run in the last 10 minutes of the first half to take a 42-28 lead. Da Silva scored 11 points and Hadley had eight as the Buffaloes shot 51.5% (17 of 33). North Alabama pulled to 57-46 with 10:52 to play, but the Buffaloes answered with an 18-3 run and led 75-49 with 5:31 remaining. Da Silva and Simpson scored six points apiece with a dunk during the stretch.

KJ Johnson had 16 points for North Alabama (6-5), which is 0-9 against Power Five schools since moving to Division I in the 2018-19 season.

It was the first meeting between the schools.

Colorado will look to make it three straight wins when it hosts Northern Colorado on Sunday. North Alabama plays at Mississippi on Dec. 20.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25