Colorado's Cory Higgins, right, tries to knock the ball from the hands of Oklahoma's Tommy Mason-Griffin during an NCAA basketball game in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/The Camera, Mark Leffingwell)

After keeping it close in the first half, OU fell in Boulder to the Colorado Buffaloes 77-67 Wednesday evening.

The Sooners trailed 33-30 at the end of the first half, but were outscored 44-37 in the second half.

Sophomore guard Willie Warren made his return to the squad after missing the Oklahoma State game in Stillwater with a mild case of mononucleosis. Also making his return was freshman forward Tiny Gallon, who missed the OSU game with a team suspension the basketball team has yet to make a comment about.

Freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin led the Sooners along with Warren, both putting up 19 points each. Mason-Griffin added three boards and three assists but had seven turnovers in the loss.

Freshman forward Andrew Fitzgerald had nine points in the first half, an unusual trait for the young athlete, however, he did not continue his streak into the second half as he did not score any additional points.

As a team, the Sooners shot 7-20 from the 3-point line, or 35 percent, while shooting 24-55 from the field, 43.6 percent.

Colorado had four starters in double digits at the game’s end. As a team, the Buffaloes shout 28-56 (50 percent), including 6-14 (42.9) from behind the arc.

Oklahoma fell to 13-12 on the season, 4-7 in Big 12 play after the loss while Colorado improved to 12-13 and 3-9 in conference after starting the conference schedule 1-1.

The loss extends the Sooners’ losing streak to three games. OU has lost five of its last seven as they enter the most difficult part of its schedule to end the season.

OU will return home Saturday as they take on the No. 7 Kansas State Wildcats. The Sooners have lost just one game at home this year, which came against Texas Tech on Feb. 9.