Maybe the Colorado men’s basketball team still has a February run in the mix to create a postseason push.
But that goal just became much more difficult.
No. 8 Arizona displayed zero signs of fatigue after playing a triple-overtime game just 48 hours earlier, outplaying CU in every facet to hand the Buffs a 99-79 defeat on Saturday night at the CU Events Center.
Arizona ended a five-game losing streak in Boulder while retaining sole possession of the top spot in the Pac-12 Conference standings. It was CU’s first loss at the Events Center this season after the posting the first 13-0 home start in program history.
It was a more palatable final score than the 47-point drubbing the Buffs endured at Arizona a month ago, when CU played without Tristan da Silva and Cody Williams. Yet it had the feel of a much more deflating loss as the Buffs, playing at full strength, fell behind by 20 points a little more than five minutes into the second half.
“Sometimes it’s necessary that you’ve just got to tip your cap to the other team,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “I thought Arizona played great tonight. They deserved to win. They were the more aggressive team. They made shots and they were physical. We didn’t play well enough to win. And that was obvious.”
The Buffs trailed by only one point when CU center Eddie Lampkin Jr. fouled Arizona big man Oumar Ballo on a putback basket with 10 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first half.
Ballo converted the 3-point play while Boyle opted to keep Lampkin on the bench the remainder of the half with two fouls. The game was never that close again. Ballo took advantage of CU’s void inside, authoring a tip dunk and another offensive rebound that led to a Caleb Love 3-pointer as the Wildcats built a 12-point lead late in the first half. CU scored the final four points of the frame to cut Arizona’s lead to 47-40 at the break.
If the Buffs gained any momentum from that brief burst to end the half, it evaporated quickly. Lampkin missed an open layup on the first possession of the second half, and Arizona promptly received back-to-back 3-pointers from Love and Keshad Johnson. CU remained within 10 points after a 3-point play from da Silva with 17:09 to play, but the Wildcats scored the next 10 points to push their lead to 20. The Buffs never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
CU couldn’t slow UA the entire night, as the Wildcats ended with a .529 field goal percentage, the third-highest mark by a Buffs foe this season. Arizona’s .455 mark from 3-point range (10-for-22) also was the third-highest by a CU foe this season, and the Wildcats became the fourth team to hit at least 10 3-pointers against the Buffs this season.
Both teams had six turnovers at halftime, but CU finished with 16 while the Wildcats posted only nine, leading to a 23-12 advantage for UA in points off turnovers. The Wildcats also turned 12 offensive rebounds into a 23-15 edge in second-chance points.
“I feel like we gave them too many buckets off of turnovers, off of second-chance points,” da Silva said. “You’re just giving away possessions on offense. And on defense, if you don’t rebound obviously the possession is never going to be over until you get that board.”
Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: Arizona shot .529 from the field and made 10 3-pointers while CU finished with 16 turnovers.
Three stars:
UA’s Oumar Ballo: Recorded his fourth consecutive double-double, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
UA’s Caleb Love: Went just 6-for-15 overall but was 4-for-6 on 3-pointers with 19 points.
CU’s KJ Simpson: Went 0-for-4 from long range, but still finished with 20 points and a career-high nine assists.
Up next: CU begins its final Pac-12 trip through Los Angeles on Thursday night at UCLA (7 p.m., ESPN).
ARIZONA (19-5, 10-3)
Johnson 2-4 0-0 5, Ballo 5-9 6-8 16, Love 6-15 3-3 19, Larsson 7-11 2-3 18, Boswell 6-12 0-0 15, Krivas 3-3 2-2 8, Bradley 6-9 2-2 14, Lewis 0-3 0-0 0, Borovicanin 0-0 0-0 0, Martinez 1-2 2-3 4, Weitman 0-0 0-0 0, Murauskas 0-0 0-0 0, Menaugh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-68 17-21 99.
COLORADO (16-8, 7-6)
Williams 3-7 2-4 8, da Silva 8-13 3-3 20, Lampkin 2-3 0-0 4, Hadley 2-5 8-8 13, Simpson 7-16 6-6 20, O’Brien 2-4 0-0 5, Hammond III 2-5 3-5 9, Diop 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 22-26 79.
Halftime — Arizona 47-40. 3-point field goals — Arizona 10-22 (Johnson 1-1, Love 4-6, Larsson 2-4, Boswell 3-8, Bradley 0-2, Martinez 0-1); Colorado 5-17 (Williams 0-1, da Silva 1-2, Hadley 1-3, Simpson 0-4, O’Brien 1-2, Hammond III 2-4, Diop 0-1). Rebounds — Arizona 33 (Ballo 13); Colorado 31 (Hadley 6). Assists — Arizona 14 (Boswell 4); Colorado 12 (Simpson 9). Turnovers — Arizona 9 (Ballo, Boswell 2); Colorado 16 (Williams 5). Total fouls — Arizona 23; Colorado 17. Technical fouls — Johnson, Simpson, Hadley. Attendance — 10,548.
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