Colorado
9-10,0-8Big 12
Arizona
13-6,7-1Big 12
Buffs Unable To Keep Up With Wildcats On The Road
January 25, 2025 | Men's Basketball
TUCSON, Ariz. – An efficient second-half shooting performance from Arizona was too much for Colorado to handle, leading to a Wildcats 78-63 win Saturday afternoon in the McKale Center.
The Buffs dropped their eighth consecutive game, falling to 9-10 on the season and 0-8 in the Big 12. It's the first time Colorado has dropped eight games in a row since losing its last 12 of the 2008-09 season.
"I'm proud of our guys for not losing their fight, and that's what it's going to take to win a game in this league," head coach Tad Boyle said. "And eventually I think we will, but I thought our game plan was good coming in here."
After a close first half, Colorado was unable to find a rhythm from the floor in the second period, shooting just 12-for-27 (44.4%) as a unit while Arizona shot 17-for-30 (56.7%) from the field.
Colorado lost the turnover battle 15-10, with the Wildcats capitalizing on it, outscoring the Buffaloes 19-10 off those miscues. Arizona also outscored Colorado 36-24 on points in the paint.
Julian Hammond III led CU with 19 points, including going 4 for 6 from downtown. He also had a team-high four assists.
Javon Ruffin chipped in 12 points and two assists on 5 for 9 shooting overall.
Anthony Dell'Orso led Arizona with 20 points, nailing 6 of 9 from the 3-point line.
DECISIVE MOMENT
After a Hammond 3-pointer with 8:33 left in the second half pulled the Buffaloes to within six at 52-46, the Wildcats drilled back-to-back 3-pointers from Dell'Orso and Henri Veesaar. It gave Arizona a double-digit lead that the Buffaloes could not catch up with the rest of the way.
WHAT IT MEANS
Boyle and the Buffs drop their eighth contest in a row, still looking to crack through in the win column in Big 12 play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Arizona came out of the gates with a 9-3 run, forcing a Colorado timeout at the 17:18 mark. Back-to-back scores from CU freshman Sebastian Rancik and RJ Smith brought the Buffaloes deficit to just two, 14-12, with 12 minutes left in the first half.
A shot beyond the arc from Andrej Jakimovski brought him to eight points on the afternoon with just under eight minutes to go, with the Buffs trailing by four. He would score again on the next CU possession, reaching double-digit points in the score column. Hammond captured the first lead for Colorado with a mid-range jumper at the 3:54 mark, giving his team a 26-25 advantage. A pair of Caleb Love 3-pointers propelled Arizona back into the lead headed to break up 33-31.
Five points out of the break from Dell'Orso pushed the Wildcats lead to 40-35, at the first media timeout of the second half. The Buffs responded quickly with buckets from Hammond and Malone to tie the game up.
A near three-minute scoring drought for the Buffs opened the door for Arizona to build an eight-point lead, forcing a timeout with 10:15 left in the game.
Colorado struggled to nail shots consistently like Arizona over the final 10 minutes, with Dell'Orso drilling another four 3-pointers.
UP NEXT
Colorado will head back home this week for a match-up with Arizona State at the CU Events Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m..
