EAGLE, Colo. – Soon after he was accused of rape, basketball star Kobe Bryant told Colorado detectives he knew the accuser [Kate Faber] wanted to have sex with him because of the look on her face – but he would pay her off to get the matter dropped, according to a new report.

Bryant made the comments during a 75-minute interview with two Eagle County sheriff’s detectives who taped the conversation surreptitiously.

Lawyers for the L.A. Laker fought hard to get the statements barred, but the judge ruled prosecutors can use it against Bryant at trial, which began last week with jury selection.

What Bryant told the sheriffs in the wee hours of July 2, 2003, has been kept secret by the court, but Sports Illustrated obtained a copy of the investigators’ report.

“Bryant acknowledged talking with the woman … but denied having sex with her. After the detectives said they had evidence to the contrary, Bryant admitted that he did have sex with the woman but denied any use of force,” the magazine reported.

“When asked how he knew the woman wanted to have sex, Bryant said he could tell from the look she gave him.”

Bryant, 26, told the sheriffs he was worried the accusations would poison his marriage and career and said he would pay to make the allegation disappear, the report said.

Since being charged with rape, Bryant has insisted his encounter with the concierge at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera was consensual and said she fabricated the story for attention and money.

The woman, who is now 20, claims that after she willingly kissed and hugged Bryant, he grabbed her neck, ignored her protests, bent her over a chair and forced himself on her.

For the last two days, as Bryant has watched in silence, both sides have grilled dozens of Eagle County residents in private about the case in a bid to find 12 impartial jurors and two alternates by the end of the week.

The difficulty of choosing a jury was highlighted at a hearing yesterday when prosecutor Ingrid Bakke told the court that many people had followed media reports and town gossip about the case. Much of the information is “very prejudicial,” she said, even though the judge has ruled it inadmissible at trial.

Testimony in the case is expected to begin next week. The witness list, obtained by Denver TV station KCNC, shows as many as 150 people may take the stand.

Beyond the accuser, ex-boyfriends and the Cordillera bellman who was the first person the woman spoke to after the alleged attack, other witnesses include a half-dozen Canadians who partied with the woman in Calgary weeks after the incident, a representative of a rehab facility she reportedly attended and a company that made controversial Kobe Bryant “hangman” T-shirts for the Eagle sheriff’s office.