Alec Burks is almost famous at Colorado.

The talented true freshman has already been compared to Richard Roby by the head coach and is often confused for the program's current best player when walking around campus.

During the Buffs' 82-58 laugher over Coppin State on Monday night at the Coors Events Center, Burks continued to make college basketball look pretty easy, scoring 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting with three assists, two rebounds and one turnover in 26 minutes.

Cory Higgins, CU's more well known big guard, had a game-high 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting with three steals, three assists, two rebounds and one turnover in 30 minutes.

"I get called Cory all the time around here, so I guess we're quite similar," Burks said. "We can run, shoot, pass ... we like to do it all."

Just about everything the Buffs (2-0) did in the first half was all right with Jeff Bzdelik.

CU made six of its first seven shots, including three from behind the arc, and led 15-0 after Higgins scored off a well-designed in-bounds play.

After a 3-pointer by Keegan Hornbuckle and a basket by Burks, the lead for the home team grew to 26-4 with 11:39 left in the first half.

"I think we just came out focused," senior Dwight Thorne said of the quick start. "We knew last year we lost our second game against Montana State, a team we should have beat. We came out and wanted to blow them out from the beginning and we did that."

Throw in the performances of Thorne (13 points, three steals) and Nate Tomlinson (seven rebounds, three assists) and it added up to a pretty impressive evening for the Buffs backcourt.

"Cory's not our only option," said Bzdelik, who had four starters in double figures and nine different players score points. "I think you can see that."

At times Bzdelik's

lineup on the floor featured two sophomores and three freshmen. The upgrade in talent and depth would have been even greater had point guard Shannon Sharpe not been lost for the season with a knee injury.

"It's a shame people have to wait to see Shannon Sharpe," Bzdelik lamented after praising most of his newcomers during the post-game press conference. "We had a heck of a recruiting class last year. We did. It's a shame because Shannon is really talented as well."

Marcus Relphorde, the team's "point-forward," led the Buffs with four assists. The 6-7 junior also had 14 points, six rebounds and a steal.

"Marcus has been in five different systems in five years, so he's adjusting to understanding the offense and the defense and the philosophy and all that," Bzdelik said of his first junior college transfer. "We need everybody playing as well as they can play. I'm really pleased with the way we share the ball. I'm really pleased with shot distribution. We just need to keep improving."

Higgins drained a 3-pointer from the corner and then scored a transition hoop to give CU its largest lead of the first half, 41-13, with 3:40 remaining.

The Buffs led 45-20 at the intermission after shooting 53.8 percent (14-for-26) from the field and holding Coppin State to 22.7 percent (5-for-22). CU scored 16 points off 11 turnovers by the visitors and had an 18-12 edge on the boards through the first 20 minutes.

CU continued to pour it on in the second half and led 73-34 with 11:02 remaining before exhaling and allowing the Eagles (2-1) to go on a 14-0 run and eventually win the second half 38-37.

"I'm pleased with the attitude, the effort, the passion and the enthusiasm," Bzdelik said. "Those are things we can control."

The Buffs will attempt to start 3-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 season against Texas Southern on Wednesday night (7 p.m., FSN).

Colorado 82, Coppin State 58

FG FT Reb

COPPIN ST. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Doughty 25 3-6 2-2 0-4 1 3 8

Kucinskas 20 2-3 4-4 1-4 1 2 8

Young 28 5-13 5-6 3-5 2 3 15

Goldsberry 17 1-2 2-2 0-0 1 0 4

Brown 26 2-8 2-2 1-1 0 1 8

Jackson 15 0-5 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Reggins 19 1-3 0-1 0-3 3 2 2

Hayden 9 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 2 0

Landry 22 4-8 0-0 0-2 1 0 11

Coleman 19 1-4 0-0 2-4 0 4 2

Totals 200 19-53 15-17 10-27 9 18 58

Percentages: FG .358, FT .882.

3-Point Goals: 5-17, .294 (Landry 3-5, Brown 2-7, Reggins 0-1, Jackson 0-1, Young 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 2.

Blocked Shots: 4 (Doughty 4).

Turnovers: 15 (Young 3, Reggins 3, Doughty 2, Goldsberry 2, Brown 2, Kucinskas, Coleman).

Steals: 3 (Goldsberry, Landry, Kucinskas).

Technical Fouls: None.

FG FT Reb

COLORADO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Dufault 26 1-6 4-4 2-5 2 1 6

Relphorde 28 4-10 4-4 2-6 4 2 14

Burks 26 6-9 5-5 0-2 3 3 18

CHiggins 30 7-10 2-2 0-2 3 1 21

Thorne II 24 4-7 3-3 0-1 2 0 13

Tomlinson 15 0-3 0-0 0-7 3 3 0

Harris-Tunks 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Coney 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Crawford 7 0-0 1-2 2-2 1 2 1

Hornbuckle 23 2-3 0-0 2-6 1 1 5

Beckley 4 1-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 2

Eckloff 7 1-3 0-0 2-4 0 1 2

Totals 200 26-52 19-21 11-37 19 19 82

Percentages: FG .500, FT .905.

3-Point Goals: 11-21, .524 (C.Higgins 5-6, Thorne II 2-3, Relphorde 2-4, Hornbuckle 1-2, Burks 1-2, Eckloff 0-1, Tomlinson 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 1.

Blocked Shots: 4 (Burks 2, Harris-Tunks, Dufault).

Turnovers: 15 (Dufault 2, Harris-Tunks 2, Relphorde 2, Beckley 2, C.Higgins, Hornbuckle, Eckloff, Burks, Tomlinson, Crawford, Thorne II).

Steals: 7 (Thorne II 3, C.Higgins 3, Relphorde).

Technical Fouls: None.

Coppin St. 20 38--58

Colorado 45 37--82

A -- 3,689.

Officials -- Terry Moore, Jon Stigliano, Kip Kissinger.