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NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- Ebi Ere scored 20 points and Hollis Price added 19 and the senior duo keyed a decisive first-half run as ninth-ranked Oklahoma posted a 69-54 triumph over Colorado in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.

Oklahoma (10-2) won its fourth straight game and built on its recent success following wins over nationally ranked Michigan State and Connecticut. The Sooners also ran their home winning streak to 31 games - the second longest streak in the nation behind Brigham Young (42).

Colorado (10-4) had won six straight games and eight of nine but was blitzed late in the first half and never recovered.

The Buffaloes were within 16-14 with six minutes to go in the first half when Ere buried a 3-pointer. Ere had another 3-pointer with 3 1/2 minutes to go and Price gave Oklahoma a 31-19 edge with a 3-pointer just before halftime.

Price, the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, opened the second half with a 3-pointer and a jumper and Ere and Quannas White had layups 30 seconds apart as the Sooners pushed the edge to 40-19.

"Every team has a best player. Every team has a kid who carries the load. Hollis is that guy for us," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "That guy has to be the first one to practice and the last one to leave. That guy has to be your hardest worker. That's Hollis Price. A lot of players want to be the best player, but they don't want to assume the responsibility that goes along with that."

Price was 4-of-11 from the field but 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Ere was 7-of-19 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

"We knew coming in that those guys would take the majority of the shots," Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said. "We knew that they would be hard to defend and they were. They always find a way to step up during big games."

Sampson improved to 12-1 against Colorado since taking over at Oklahoma in 1994. The Buffaloes have dropped 20 straight games in Norman.

Michel Morandais led Colorado with 18 points and nine rebounds but shot just 5-of-17 from the field.

Colorado shot just 31 percent (19-of-61) from the field, including 2-of-13 from 3-point range. The Buffaloes made just 25 percent (7-of-28) of their shots in the opening half.

"I thought our post defense was really good," Sampson said. "We were a little helter-skelter on offense. Offensively, it wasn't a very good day. We had a lot of good looks. When you get to this point in the season, you're just trying to win games."

"I think we had a couple of guys who got frustrated," Patton said. "Give credit to OU. We took some bad shots early and they did a good job of doubling down on us. They always do a good job of going after you defensively."

Oklahoma did not shoot much better, making 35 percent (22-of-63) of its shots but the Sooners were 8-of-19 from 3-point range and held a 52-41 edge on the boards.

"We got some defensive rebounds and some good defensive stops early in the second half which keyed our transition offense," Ere said. "We're a really good running team when we can get out into the open floor."

Colorado trailed by as many as 26 in the second half.