BOULDER, Colo. -- — Freshman backup Isaiah Johnson scored 24 points and Elijah Malone posted a double-double and Colorado beat Montana State 84-78 in season-opener for both teams on Monday night.

Calvin Holden's 3-pointer with 15:01 left gave the Bobcats a 48-41 lead. From there, the 6-foot-1 Johnson carried the Buffs down the stretch scoring 22 points.

With 3:07 left he made three foul shots to get Colorado within 74-73. Then, 31 seconds later, Johnson made a 3-pointer to put Colorado up by two. Montana State's Patrick McMahon tied it with a jumper with 2:06 left before Johnson's layup with 1:19 left put Colorado back up by two.

Johnson, Sebastian Rancik and Felix Kossaraseach made two foul shots in the final minute to seal the win. Rancik scored 13 points, Bangot Dak 12, Barrington Hargress 11 and Malone 10 while grabbing 13 rebounds.

McMahon scored 24 points for the Bobcats, Holden 14 and Christian King and Jed Miller 10.

Colorado improved to 14-2 in season openers and 16-0 in home openers under head coach Tad Boyle.

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