Colorado cruises past Harvard, moves to 4-0

Colorado cruises past Harvard, moves to 4-0

Andrej Jakimovski scored a game-high 20 points to help unbeaten Colorado defeat Harvard 88-66 on Sunday in nonconference action in Boulder, Colo.Jakimovski, a Washington State transfer, made 7-of-1

Andrej Jakimovski scored a game-high 20 points to help unbeaten Colorado defeat Harvard 88-66 on Sunday in nonconference action in Boulder, Colo.

Jakimovski, a Washington State transfer, made 7-of-14 field-goal attempts and grabbed five rebounds for the Buffaloes (4-0).

Elijah Malone (16), Javon Ruffin (15) and Trevor Baskin (13) also scored in double figures for Colorado, which held a 43-30 rebounding edge. Malone and Baskin each had a game-high seven boards.

Harvard’s Evan Nelson and Chandler Pigge each tossed in 11 points, while Dutch Dowdell and Tey Barbour both finished with 10.

The Crimson’ Robert Hinton, who entered Sunday averaging a team-high 20 points, was held to eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor in 26 minutes.

Harvard (1-4) shot just 37 percent from the floor (24 of 65) and fell to 0-4 on the road.

Colorado used a 9-0 run to take a 14-6 advantage and had its first double-digit lead, 31-21, following a Baskin layup with 5:21 left. Colorado’s 46-34 halftime lead was its largest lead in the first 20 minutes.

The Buffaloes shot 64 percent in the first half (16 of 25), while Harvard shot 33.3 percent in the half (10 of 30). Six of its 10 made field goals were from 3-point range on 13 attempts.

Harvard trailed by 17 with 16:43 to play but trimmed it to six on a Ben Eisendrath free throw with 11:24 left. Colorado struggled from the floor before regaining a double-digit lead at 61-50 on RJ Smith’s 3-pointer with 10 minutes left.

Colorado was up 71-54 after a Jakimovski 3-pointer with 6:45 left, then had a 77-54 advantage when a Malone dunk with 5:42 left capped a 9-0 run.

The Buffaloes’ lead peaked at 24 with less than a minute to play.