Arizona overcame a poor-shooting start to beat Colorado 80-70 on Thursday at McKale Center, but defensive troubles kept the Wildcats from breathing easy until the final minute.
The Buffaloes shot 69.2 percent in the second half Thursday to cut Arizona’s leads of up to 12 points into a one-possession game in the final minutes, scaring them again after winning 80-77 in Boulder on Jan. 6.
The Wildcats were playing without forward Rawle Alkins, who missed his second game in the Wildcats’ past three games because of soreness in his previously broken right foot.
Arizona led by only three entering the final 2:50 but a banked-in 3-pointer from Allonzo Trier and a 3-pointer from a previously scoreless Parker Jackson-Cartwright with a minute left pulled the Wildcats away for good.
While both teams shot in the mid-50s overall, the Wildcats took 15 more free throws than Colorado and scored 17 more points on them, more than the winning margin. Arizona was 22 of 23 from the line and Colorado just 5 of 8, including just 1 of 2 in the second half.
Deandre Ayton had 20 points and six rebounds while going 12 for 12 from the line for Arizona while Allonzo Trier had 23 points and Dusan Ristic had 15 points and eight rebounds.
The win moved Arizona to 17-4 overall and 7-1 in the Pac-12, avenging their 80-77 loss at Colorado on Jan. 6.
George King had 22 points and six rebounds to lead Colorado, which dropped to 12-9 and 4-5.
Tied at 30 entering the second half, the Wildcats busted out of the gate to go on a 15-4 run over the first four minutes. Colorado shot 2 of 5 from the field during that span but had two turnovers and no rebounds.
A technical foul for Colorado coach Tad Boyle, for arguing that a foul wasn’t called on the Arizona defense, led to two free throws from Trier that gave UA a 43-34 lead with 16:25 to go.
But 3-pointers from King and Lucas Siewert helped keep it from getting out of hand, and Colorado was 6 of 6 from the field over the middle of the second half to cut Arizona’s lead to 60-54 with 8:12 left.
The Buffs then pulled within 60-59 after King hit a jumper and McKinley Wright a 3-pointer, prompting UA coach Sean Miller to call a timeout with 6:57 remaining.
Even though Ayton hit two free throws with 4:18 left to go 12 for 12 from the line at that point, the Buffaloes’ Tyler Bey scored inside on the next possession, cutting UA’s lead to just 69-66 entering the final media timeout with 3:35 left.
In the first half, Arizona missed 10 of its first 11 shots and dug a 10-point hole before coming back to tie Colorado 30-30 at halftime.
The Wildcats wound up shooting 38.5 percent for the half against mostly zone defense from Colorado while the Buffs shot 42.3 percent.
Ayton led Arizona with eight points and four rebounds in the half, while Ristic had six points and five rebounds. King had eight points and five rebounds to lead Colorado.
Arizona started off by missing its first seven field goals, dropping behind 8-0 and 14-4. When Colorado held a 13-4 lead at the second media timeout, UA had still made only one of its first 11 shots, a bank shot from the baseline from Ristic.
Arizona didn’t tie the game until Allonzo Trier hesitated and shifted right to hit a 12-foot jumper that tied the game at 22-22.
After the Buffs handed Arizona their only Pac-12 loss so far at Boulder on Jan. 6, Boyle said "hell, yes" in response to a question after the game about whether it meant more to beat a team involved in the federal investigation into basketball.
Boyle’s introduction was met with a chorus of boos at McKale and fans loudly cheered the technical foul on him.
