Arizona Wildcats Survive Buffalo Stampede, Win 82-78

The Arizona Wildcats didn’t have the regular season end the way they had hoped. But a chance to repeat as Pac-12 Conference Tournament Champions is still alive as they beat Colorado. 

The Pac-12 Conference Tournament has taken over Las Vegas once again. The Wildcats saw great success last year, and the fans made it feel like they were in Tucson. With chants of “U OF A” already being heard on the first day, when Arizona didn’t play until the second round, is proof that Vegas is Wildcat Country. Tad Boyle even let his players know that Thursday’s game will be similar to a road game for the Buffalo’s.

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The first time around, Colorado was a force down low. Right away Sean Miller went inside to Kaleb Tarczewski. The Wildcats had three attempts under the rim, with Ryan Anderson getting the and-1 call, and made his free throw attempt. On the other end of the floor, Arizona was playing very physical, which is how they wanted to be all day.

Zeus and Anderson had early blocks in this game. Allonzo Trier even got in on the block party early before he made his first shot, a 3-pointer with nothing but net. Gabe York picked up right where he has left off these last couple of games, and drilled a deep 3 on Colorado. After Kadeem Allen hit a jumper, Arizona held a 13-2 lead at the first media timeout.

Josh Scott had the only Colorado points early in the game. The Buffalo’s run a pick-and-pop with Scott, causing Arizona to extend their defense. Each time Colorado ran this, Scott was able to hit wide-open jumpers. He was able to get to the rim, and score on Ryan Anderson quite easily off of the pick-and-roll. At the 11:22 mark, the Wildcats held a 13-6 lead, with all six of Colorado’s points coming from Josh Scott. We’ve talked about it before, but the weakness for the Arizona big’s is off the dribble defense.

As quick as Arizona came out, they didn’t get another point until the 10:47 mark with Kadeem making 1 of 2 from the free throw line. Chance Comanche saw early action in this game, likely from Miller understanding the need for a quicker PF. His first time on the defensive side, he got a big block down low. This is a lineup Miller likes to have, Zeus and Chance together, and one I would expect to see more of this weekend.

Josh Scott was also the best defensive player for Colorado. He was able to get a couple of blocks, or alter shot attempts, when guarding Zeus. With both teams going cold, the score was only 14-6 with 8:24 left. Both teams were struggling on offense, and struggling with fouls. But Parker Jackson-Cartwright ended the drought for the Wildcats, hitting a big 3 off of the assist from Zeus. After Colorado converted the 1-and-1, Ryan Anderson hit an open jumper, pushing the lead to 19-8 with 7:25 left in the first half.

Allonzo Trier nailed another 3, Anderson hit another jumper, York ran past the Buffalo defenders to receive a sweet feed from Trier, and Kadeem Allen drilled a 3 to bump Arizona out of a lull. After consecutive points by York, a tear drop floater and run out dunk, the Wildcats had their biggest lead of the game at 37-16. At the end of the half, the Wildcats held a 37-20 lead.

Gabe York led the team with 11 points, Trier had 8, and Ryan had 7. At the half, Miller was pleased with what he saw from his team, but wasn’t going to let his team get settled. “We wanted to play with great energy and effort, and I felt like we had that for 20 minutes. But we’ve been a one-half team all season. Those days have to be over for us if we want to continue to move forward. It’s about staying with what we did well in the first half, and doing it all over again in the second.” — Miller

The second half started much like the first. Zeus was fed early on the block, getting Scott way out of position, and drawing the foul. He was able to convert both free throws. After a couple of empty possessions, and sloppy ball handling, Trier started his second half with a 3. Shortly after that, he was able to make a physical, contested, lay-up at the rim.

Unfortunately, bad play began to hurt Arizona with the sloppy ball handling. Trier had the ball stolen, which converted into a wide-open lay-up by Buffalo’s. King for Colorado was able to make his free throws after drawing a foul on Zeus.

The next points came for Colorado due to an unfortunate tip-in on the Wildcats. But the sloppy ball handling was shown again as the Wildcats had another turnover. This turned into a fast break lay-up for Colorado, drawing the foul, and converting the and-1. After a 7-0 run, and another turnover by Arizona, the Wildcats lead was trimmed down to 44-31.

Colorado had the edge when it comes to energy starting the second half. Miller was concerned with his team not continuing the effort he saw in the first half. And early on, it looked as if Arizona was playing slow, and not under control. Offensive fouls, turnovers, and slow defensive rotation was hurting Arizona. Allen was able to get inside for a lay-up, but that was answered by Colorado with an inside shot, which they were seeming to get easily.

After yet another turnover by Arizona, their 11th of the game, Colorado drew a foul on Allen on the fast break. Both free throws were made, cutting into the lead again, 48-37. Zeus took Scott off the dribble, taking it baseline, and finishing on the other side of the rim, to stop the bleeding. Even with a 13-point lead, things didn’t feel the same way as they did in the first half.

It seemed as if Arizona was just going through the motion on both ends. But when things seem to get stagnant, Miller knows what to do: go back inside. Anderson got a nice feed off of the pick-and-roll, drawing the foul, and making both free throws. But Colorado answered right back with a 3, as well as a jumper after the Gabe York miss.

The story for Arizona in the second half was Allonzo Trier. With 8:35 left in the game, Trier led the team with 19 points and 3 assists, 6/10 shooting, and 3/4 from 3-point land. His defensive pressure was consistent from the first half, something we weren’t seeing from other players.

The lead for Arizona has stayed double digits since the first half. But the problem we were seeing was Arizona unable to deliver a knock-out punch. As quick as Arizona was able to go up 16, the lead was then trimmed down to 12 after another Arizona turnover turned into a

Colorado fast break.

The second chance points were there for Colorado, 17-9. After King was able to get back-to-back shots, and Arizona coming up empty on their attempts, the lead was down to 10 with 5:50 to go, 64-54. And of course, Arizona couldn’t even get another try before they turned the ball over.

The Buffalo’s were on an 11-2 run before Allen was able to hit an outside jumper. What do you do when you’re needing offense? Feed your big man. Anderson took the ball inside, getting the and-1, and converting the free throw, putting Arizona back up by 10 with 1:25 left. But Scott was there to answer for Colorado, as they increased their dominance on second chance points, and converted the and-1 for himself.

Colorado just wouldn’t go away. With 19.3 seconds remaining, and a 78-74 lead, Gabe York stepped to the line, and sank both attempts. But with 7.8 seconds left, York missed both free throws, and Colorado drilled a 3. The lead was now only 2 for Arizona, 80-78. With 1.9 seconds left, York was sent to the line again. Splash for the first one. Splash for the second one, sealing the Arizona win, 82-78.

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Gabe York finished the evening with 15 points. Ryan Anderson continued his double-double madness with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Kadeem, having his best offensive performance in a while, finished with 12 points, 2 assists, going 4-4 from the field. The leader of the game was Trier with 23 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, going 3-4 from deep.

With the gut-check win, Arizona will face Oregon Friday for a spot in the Pac-12 championship game. You could see on the faces of the players that they were not happy with how they played today. After allowing Colorado to only score 20 points in the first half, they allowed 58 in the second. Again, and as Miller voiced, the Wildcats are a one-half team right now. It’s March, and they need to put together a complete game to win championships, and York voiced this after the game.

The end was much closer than we hoped for, but all that matters is they got the W. Time to refocus, and regroup. A second revenge game is next, and Oregon is a big step up from Colorado.

Related Story: Arizona Basketball: Allonzo Trier, Should he Stay or Should he go Pro?

BearDown Arizona! Beat Oregon!