BOULDER, Colo. -- Tad Boyle has been left out of the Big Dance with a 20-win team. He's hoping a signature win in the nonconference season will beef up the Colorado Buffaloes' resume.
Derrick White scored a season-high 23 points, Xavier Johnson had 18, and Colorado beat No. 13 Xavier 68-66 on Wednesday night.
George King had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Buffaloes (7-2).
Boyle has taken the Buffaloes to the NCAA Tournament four times in his first six seasons, and he'd like to make it five out of seven. Getting left out of March Madness in his first season in Colorado when the Buffaloes were 21-13 still stings, which is why beating a ranked opponent means so much.
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"I was in my house six years ago when we got snubbed by the NCAA Tournament Committee," Boyle said. "This is a big game in that context."
Trevon Bluiett led the Musketeers (7-2) with a career-high 27, and RaShid Gaston had 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was Xavier's second straight loss.
The Musketeers lost a lead in the second half at Baylor on Saturday, and suffered the same fate at Colorado.
"We didn't correct the mistakes we made against Baylor going into the second half, and it's the same thing that cost us," Gaston said.
Xavier has lost two straight for the first time since February 2015.
"It's early in the season we're not going to pack our tent and quit playing, but we've gotten a reality check the last couple of times," coach Chris Mack said. "We're willing to go on the road and play in games like this. You get penalized, too, so our team has got to grow up from these type of experiences because they're not fun."
Trailing 47-39 early in the first half, the Buffaloes went on a 15-0 run, holding the Musketeers without a point for 6:20.
Two free throws by Edmond Sumner ended Xavier's drought and a layup made it 54-51 with 5:19 left.
"It was all about stops. That's the most important part," White said of the run. "Offensively we moved the ball and got the best shot."
Bluiett, who was scoreless for nearly 15 minutes after hitting two 3-pointers early in the second half, hit two free throws then stole a skip pass, was fouled on the fast break and sank two more foul shots to get the Musketeers within 61-58.
After Xavier missed two 3-pointers that would have tied it, White hit a jumper as the shot clock expired to make it 65-60 with 1:08 left.
Bluiett's three-point play cut the lead to two with under a minute left, and the Musketeers had a scrambling possession after a Colorado turnover. White's block on Malcolm Bernard's layup with 13 seconds left kept it a three-point game, and Bluiett missed a tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds left.
"Big-time block," Boyle said of White's defense. "Big-time block."
King split a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.
"I don't think we executed well on the offensive end," Gaston said. "We couldn't make our free throws and we gave up a lot of easy baskets toward the end of the game."
The Musketeers trailed 28-23 late in the first half but scored the last eight points before intermission and the first five of the second half to take a 36-28 lead. Bluiett hit four of his six 3-pointers in that stretch.
NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the game for Rashaan Salaam, the former CU running back who was found dead in his car in Boulder on Monday night. Salaam is the only Buffalo to win the Heisman Trophy, doing so in 1994 after rushing for 2,055 yards that season. ... The Musketeers have outrebounded every opponent this season.
