Nebraska’s Toney McCray, left, works against Colorado’s Andre Roberson (21). Nebraska defeated Colorado, 79-67, on Tuesday in Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska 79, Colorado 67

Lincoln, Neb. — A smiling Doc Sadler pumped his fist a couple times as he walked off the court at the Devaney Center.

Most seasons, a victory over Colorado wouldn’t mean that much. But Tuesday night’s victory against the surprise team of the Big 12 meant a lot, especially after two tough road losses to No. 13 Missouri and No. 2 Kansas.

Nebraska (14-4, 2-2 Big 12) matched its 2009-10 conference win total, improved to 13-0 at home and did it by holding the Buffaloes 17 points under their season-scoring average.

“You realize how long it took us to get two wins last year?” said Sadler, Nebraska’s fifth-year coach. “It’s something to be excited about. It’s exciting to be the coach here. I told y’all, this team could be something, and I believe in them. I really do.”

The Huskers finished last in the Big 12 last season and didn’t get their second league win until their 14th game, in late February. Picked 10th this season, the Huskers head to Texas Tech on Saturday with a chance to go over .500 in conference play for the first time since February 2009.

Toney McCray matched his career high with 18 points, Jorge Brian Diaz had 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting and Lance Jeter and Drake Beranek added 10 points apiece.

The Huskers shot 57 percent from the field and were even better on the defensive end. They forced 16 turnovers and allowed the Buffaloes, who had been shooting a Big 12-leading 26 free throws a game, only nine shots from the line.

“I can’t even imagine it, and they probably shouldn’t have shot nine, because we had a couple bad fouls late,” Sadler said. “That’s the difference.”

The Huskers, who had lost two straight to the Buffaloes, bounced back strongly after they blew a 10-point, second-half lead against the Jayhawks on Saturday.

“We definitely had to get a win,” said Jeter, who also had nine assists and six rebounds. “Protect our home, that’s what we did. The crowd was outstanding and gave us that extra burst that we needed. Our team played good defense, and Coach Doc just wanted to make sure we kept them out of the lane. They’re a driving team and they get a lot of fouls, so we wanted to keep them out of the lane and not foul them that much.”

The Buffaloes had started Big 12 play with victories over nationally ranked Missouri and Kansas State, then came from 10 points down to beat Oklahoma State on Saturday for their seventh straight win. But they struggled to defend a Nebraska team that had a marked size advantage.

Nebraska led 31-30 at halftime and used a 13-2 run early in the second half to break the game open.

Oklahoma 83, Texas Tech 74

Norman, Okla. — Cade Davis needed a boost, perhaps more badly than Oklahoma did after equaling its worst start ever to Big 12 play.

Davis followed his lowest-scoring game of the season by matching his career high with 25 points, and Oklahoma snapped a 12-game losing streak against Big 12 competition Tuesday night by beating Texas Tech.

Davis missed Oklahoma’s game at Baylor a week earlier following the death of his grandmother, then scored only three points before fouling out in Oklahoma’s loss at Texas on Saturday. That defeat put the Sooners at 0-3 in Big 12 play for only the second time.

“It was so uplifting for me to come out and play the way that I did,” Davis said. “I knew I’d had some emotional baggage carrying with me those last few games, and obviously, it affected the way that I played.”

Davis missed his first four three-point attempts but went 4-for-4 when it mattered most as the Sooners (9-9, 1-3) prevailed in a meeting of the last two teams without a conference win.

The first two three-pointers came during a 10-2 run after the Red Raiders had pulled within 33-30 early in the second half.

Tech (8-11, 0-4) never got closer than six afterward.

“It’s good for these guys to have some success and to get in here and to have a win,” coach Jeff Capel said. “Hopefully we feel good about it and hopefully it makes us hungrier to come back and to get back in the gym and to get better.”

Oklahoma finished last season with nine straight losses, the last in the Big 12 tournament, then started conference play this season with three losses by a combined 51 points with a completely revamped roster featuring eight new players.

“We can’t do anything about the past,” Capel said.