BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — After spending last season backing up star guard Chauncey Billups and averaging a meager 4.7 points per game, Marlon Hughes is beginning to make a name for himself.

Twice this season, Hughes has scored 24 points — his career high — including last Tuesday when he hit a basket to force overtime in a game Colorado would lose to Oklahoma State 86-74. Hughes hit the game-winner that beat Texas A&M on Jan. 28.

He was at it again on Saturday, scoring 17 points to lead the Buffaloes to a 70-52 romp over an Iowa State team that went cold from the free-throw line in the second half.

“I’ve been working on my shot, and I was able to stick it this afternoon,” the 6-foot senior guard said.

Charlie Melvin added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Buffs (11-9 overall, 5-5 in Big 12), who won their fourth straight conference home game.

Asked where he expected the Buffs to be in March, Hughes said confidently, “I see us in the NCAA tournament. I think we’re going to shock a lot of teams. We’re 5-5 (in the conference) now, and we have a good chance of going 5-1 in the last six games. We’re playing very well. Everybody’s getting really ready to get down and dirty. We’re looking forward to coming out every game and taking it to the other team.”

Colorado increased its 10-point halftime lead to 17 midway through the second half on Hughes’ running one-hander in the lane. To that point, The Cyclones had missed its first five free-throw opportunities in the half and wound up hitting just 4 of 14 after intermission.

In contrast, Colorado hit 12 of 14 free throws in the final four minutes.

For the game, ISU was 6 of 17 from the line compared to Colorado’s 17 for 20.

Paul Shirley had 10 points and was the only player in double figures for ISU (10-13, 3-7), which now is 0-6 in conference road games this season and has lost eight in a row dating to last season.

“We just shot poorly at the start of the second half,” ISU Coach Tim Floyd said. “Our missed free throws deflated us. They guarded us well at the start of the second half. Colorado’s defense was great.”

Referring to last year’s 70-45 loss here in a game that saw Floyd ejected in the first half, the coach said, “This has been a tough place for us to play.”

Freshman Marcus Fizer, ISU’s leading scorer, had eight points on 4-of-12 shooting.

Fizer played 25 minutes but didn’t start. Explaining that decision, Floyd said, “We weren’t pleased with Marcus’ defensive effort in the past few weeks, and we liked the matchups we had.”

Colorado Coach Ricardo Patton said his defense “played how we needed it to play to win the ball game. We did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half (three turnovers in the second half after seven in the first half).

“During one of the timeouts, I told the guys, ‘Let’s try to play from the neck up.’ You have to play smart, not just play hard,” Patton said.

ISU has five freshmen and three sophomores on its roster, prompting Patton to observe, “I think Coach Floyd has the team of the future in this league.”

Colorado didn’t hit the first field goal of the second half until Howard Frier’s hook shot with 13:47 left, but ISU was even worse. Jerry Curry’s layup accounted for the Cyclones’ first basket and first points of the half with 13:02 left.

Hughes’ 10-footer put Colorado ahead 45-28 with 10:33 to go, and four straight free throws by Hughes gave the Buffaloes their biggest lead, 62-42, with 2:43 remaining in the contest.

Melvin scored Colorado’s first eight points and had 10 in the first half, and Hughes scored nine of the Buffaloes’ last 14 points in the half, sparking Colorado to a 35-25 halftime lead.

“They were not double-teaming me,” Melvin said, “so I just took my time and my jump hook was falling.”

The Buffs shot 55 percent in the half compared to ISU’s 48 percent and outrebounded the Cyclones 16-10.

With the score tied 11-11, Colorado put together an 8-0 run, capped by two baskets from Frier, the first a fastbreak layup after a steal in the Cyclone backcourt.

Ronnie DeGray, Colorado’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, played only the first six minutes of the half after picking up two early fouls.