Junior guard Prentiss Nixon made four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points and Colorado State thwarted a Colorado comeback attempt en route to a 72-63 victory on Saturday in nonconference play in Fort Collins, Colo.

Junior guard J.D. Paige also scored 16 points for the Rams (4-4), who posted a 46-32 rebounding advantage. Senior forward Che Bob added 11 points, and junior forward Deion James collected 10 rebounds for Colorado State.

Freshman guard McKinley Wright IV had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Buffaloes (6-1). Senior guard Dominique Collier added 10 points for Colorado.

The Buffaloes trailed by 17 points with under seven minutes remaining but pulled within four points in the final minute before the Rams closed it out.

Colorado State began to open some distance early in the second half with an 11-1 surge to take a 12-point lead. Paige capped the run with a 3-pointer to give the Rams a 52-40 edge with 13:42 to play.

A short time later, Paige drove through traffic in the lane and delivered an authoritative dunk to make it a 14-point margin with 12:22 remaining.

Sophomore guard Anthony Bonner drained a 3-pointer to increase Colorado State's lead to 63-46 with 7:40 left. But Wright took over with 11 straight points on two 3-pointers, a three-point play and a layup as the Buffaloes pulled within six with 5:28 remaining.

Nixon scored 11 points as the Rams held a three-point halftime lead.

The Buffaloes led 18-17 after senior guard George King's dunk with 9:32 left in the first half before Colorado State reeled off eight straight, capped by Nixon's layup with 7:28 to play.

Collier drained a 3-pointer with 1:38 left to give the Buffaloes a 33-32 advantage but Nixon later connected on a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining to give the Rams the 38-35 halftime edge.