Colorado
15-13,7-10Pac-12
Arizona
24-4,13-4Pac-12
Buffs Fall At No. 8 Arizona
February 18, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
TUCSON, Ariz. — Colorado's offense couldn't match Arizona's firepower Saturday and the Buffaloes dropped a 78-68 decision to the eighth-ranked Wildcats at the McKale Center.
Tad Boyle's Buffs fell to 15-13 overall and 7-10 in Pac-12 play while also losing their 13th in a row to the Wildcats on their home court. Arizona improved to 24-4, 13-4.
Colorado took an early 18-6 lead after forcing five Arizona turnovers. But the Buffs couldn't maintain their hot hand and the Wildcats found their offensive rhythm. The Buffs' offense also took a hit when leading scorer Tristan da Silva went out with his second foul with 11:33 still remaining in the half, and Arizona outscored the Buffs 40-16 in the final 15 minutes to take a 46-34 lead at intermission.
The Buffs momentarily cut the deficit back to seven early in the second half, and they outscored UA 34-32 in the final 20 minutes. But after Colorado's initial surge, the Wildcats pushed their cushion back to double digits and managed to hold the Buffs at bay down the stretch.
Da Silva still led the Buffs with 18 points, Javon Ruffin scored 13 and KJ Simpson added 12. Luke O'Brien finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
Oumar Ballo led four Wildcats in double figures with 18 points, and he also had 16 rebounds.
Colorado shot just 39 percent from the floor (24-for-62) while the Wildcats were 27-for-55. After hitting three of their first five 3-pointers, the Buffs finished 7-for-24 from long range while UA was 5-for-13.
The biggest damage came in the paint, where the 7-foot Ballo helped the Wildcats to a 40-24 scoring advantage. Arizona also held a 37-36 rebound edge.
"I was really pleased with our guys' fight," Boyle said. "But we got to thinking scoring was going to be easy because we played so well offensively out of the chute. Then we came down and we took four or five quick jump shots and those jump shots turned into transition points for them. The one thing you have to be careful of in this building is if you shoot the ball in five seconds, and you don't make it, it's the first pass of their fast break. Their offense got going off of our bad offense. And that's what killed us in the first half."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado jumped out to a hot start, putting together runs of 8-0 and 7-0 to take an 18-6 lead five minutes in. Simpson, O'Brien and da Silva all hit 3-pointers in the burst and the Buffs silenced the McKale Center crowd.
But after committing five turnovers in the first five minutes, the Wildcats' offense finally found its rhythm, reeling off a 12-0 run to tie the game at 18-18.
Colorado did manage to rebuild a three-point lead, getting two free throws from da Silva and an O'Brien bucket.
But da Silva drew his second foul at the 11:33 mark and Colorado's offense went cold while the Wildcats stayed hot, even with star Azuolas Tubelis on the bench with two fouls.
"We got off to a good start, we were moving the ball, really playing well inside out and getting those shots that we wanted," O'Brien said. "Then we kind of got a little selfish towards the middle part of the first half and started jacking up shots that we shouldn't have."
With da Silva on the bench, Colorado scored just 10 points in the next seven minutes while UA tallied 18. CU's deficit finally hit double digits late in the half and a late Arizona bucket sent the Buffs into the locker room at intermission trailing 46-34.
Colorado made one more run early in the second half, cutting Arizona's cushion to seven. Buckets from Nique Clifford and Lawson Lovering pulled CU to within 46-39 less than two minutes in.
But the Wildcats answered again, pushing their edge back to double digits and CU couldn't respond. The Buffs shot just 28 percent from the floor over the first 14 minutes of the half and Arizona's lead hit 16 points with just more than six minutes to play.
CU did manage to cut the deficit back to 10 in the final minutes and the Buffs outscored UA 34-32 in the second half.
Now, the Buffs will prepare for the final three games of the regular season — USC, UCLA and Utah — all at the CU Events Center.
"I told our team in the locker room after the game, and I truly believe this, what our fans need to understand is we have three home games that are all winnable," Boyle said. "They're not going to be easy. USC isn't going to be easy on Thursday. UCLA is not going to be easy on Sunday and Utah the following week is not going to be easy. But we need to finish strong and understand that we can beat any team in this league on any given night when we go to Las Vegas (for the Pac-12 tournament)."
TURNING POINT: CU trailed by only two with just more than five minutes to play in the first half. But the Wildcats reeled off a 6-0 run and outscored the Buffs 15-5 down the stretch to take a 12-point halftime lead and Colorado never came closer than seven again.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs missed a chance for a quality win against a top 10 team on the road and must now win out to maintain their hopes of at least a top-six conference finish
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado shot just 39 percent from the floor (24-for-62) while the Wildcats were 27-for-55 … CU hit three of its first five 3-pointers, but then connected on just four of its next 19 … The Wildcats dominated the paint, outscoring CU 40-24 inside.
NEXT UP: The Buffs return home for three games to wrap up the regular season: Thursday vs. USC (7 p.m.), Sunday vs. UCLA (2 p.m.) and March 4 vs. Utah (3:30 p.m.).
The Pac-12 tournament then follows, running March 8-11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the Buffs likely to play on the opening day.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
