No. 8 Arizona Basketball puts a beatdown on the Buffaloes in Boulder
BOULDER, CO - Fresh off a 3OT win over Utah, No. 8 Arizona Basketball (19-5, 10-3) had no problem at Colorado (16-8, 7-6), beating the Buffaloes 99-79.
After escaping Salt Lake City with a triple-overtime win, No. 8 Arizona Basketball was back in action against a solid Colorado team in Boulder. And for those who were worried about the Wildcats' stamina coming into this one, Arizona showed no signs of fatigue.
Jumping out to a commanding, 12-point lead in the first half, the Wildcats continued to assert their dominance in this one, cruising to the comfortable, 99-79 win!
Fueled by a complete team effort, the Wildcats had five different players finish in double-figures with Caleb Love leading the way with 19 points on 6-15 shooting, including 4-6 from three.
Once again, Pelle Larsson was outstanding, scoring 18 points and grabbing four rebounds, meanwhile, Oumar Ballo finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Kylan Boswell looked unimpacted by the shoulder injury, finishing with 15 points and four assists.
Arizona's bench got a lot of valuable minutes on Saturday evening, and while they weren't necessarily at their best, Jaden Bradley did score 14 of the benches 26 points!
Leading by seven at halftime, No. 8 Arizona Basketball was able to continue to maintain control en route to the 20-point win!
Looking to assert itself quickly in this one, No. 8 Arizona Basketball did fall behind 8-2 early on, but from there, the Wildcats seemingly had little trouble, responding with a 16-2 run to lead 18-10 after a converted and-one from Pelle Larsson.
Unfortunately, Colorado would answer with a 7-0 run of their own, but that was as close as they would get in this one.
Moments later, Colorado would once again pull within two, this time after a pair of free throws from Julian Hammond III made it 23-21.
But luckily for us, Arizona would answer with yet another large run, outscoring Colorado 17-7 over the next five-plus minutes of game action when a second-chance three-pointer from Love made it 40-28.
Unfortuantely, Colorado would close out the half on a 12-7 run, but that didn't come without a bit of controversy. With time winding down in the half, Caleb would score on a deep three, but that bucket was waved off an "illegal screen" from Ballo was called.
Heading into halftime with a seven-point lead, Arizona would need to continue to assert its dominance if they were to come away with a win in this one!
Fortunately, Arizona wasted no time in doing so. Opening the the second half on an 18-5 run, the Wildcats pulled ahead by 20 when Love hit yet another, second-chance three-pointer to make it 65-45 with 14:54 to play.
Both teams would continue to trade buckets for much of the second half, but luckily, Colorado was never able to get within less than 14 points as Arizona maintained control.
Leading comfortably, Arizona would eventually cruise to the dominant, 99-79 win over the Buffaloes, handing yet another team their first home loss this season!
With the win, the Wildcats now improve to 19-5 (10-3) on the season and will have a little break before taking on ASU next Saturday in Tucson. Tip-off against the Sun Devils is set for 7:30 PM MST with the game being broadcast on FS1.
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