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Colorado recovers from slow start to beat Cal 59-46

|Updated
Colorado guard KJ Simpson drives past California forward ND Okafor during an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, in Boulder, Colo.
Colorado guard KJ Simpson drives past California forward ND Okafor during an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, in Boulder, Colo.AP

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Tristan da Silva scored 20 points, Colorado leaned hard on its reserves and the Buffaloes staved off a season sweep against California by beating the Bears 59-46 on Thursday night.

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The Bears beat Colorado 80-76 on New Year's Eve for their first Pac-12 Conference win of the season.

Da Silva and KJ Simpson were the only Colorado (13-11, 5-8 Pac-12) starters to score for the Buffs in the first 30 minutes of play until 7-foot-1 center Lawson Lovering buried a jumper with 9:43 remaining. Simpson had 10 points and the bench scored 25 — led by nine points each from Jalen Gabbidon and Luke O'Brien.

Kuany Kuany was the only Cal (3-19, 2-9) player to score in double digits with 10 points. The Bears piled up 22 turnovers and 22 personal fouls.

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Despite that, Cal controlled the first half and built a 27-17 lead on a pair of Joel Brown foul shots with 2:38 left. Colorado closed the half with a 7-0 run and used runs of 13-0 and 11-0 in the second half to clinch the win.

Cal plays at Utah on Sunday. Colorado hosts Stanford on Sunday.

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