BOULDER, Colo. - Never mind that Colorado was blown out by ASU on its homecourt two days earlier. Or that second-ranked Arizona arrived in town on a nine-game winning streak, with a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed in sight.
Colorado has a little homecourt history with Arizona that appeared to repeat itself again Saturday.
The Buffs handed Arizona a 79-63 loss on Saturday, making UA just 2-7 in Boulder since the Buffs joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12.
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 25-3 overall and 15-2 in Pac-12 play. Combined with USC's 70-69 win at Oregon later Saturday, the Wildcats weren't able to clinch a share of the Pac-12 title, but they'll face the Trojans in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Colorado improved to 19-10 and 11-8, having only lost to UA in Boulder during the Wildcats' Elite Eight seasons of 2013-14 and 2014-15.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he didn’t mention that history to the Wildcats – “it’s not my history,” he said – and maybe it was more than history.
Maybe it was just human nature. The Wildcats had won nine straight, entering the night almost assured of a Pac-12 championship at some point over the next week, and the Buffs were embarrassed.
At least Colorado coach Tad Boyle was. When reminded of Colorado's historical home edge over the Wildcats, Boyle told the Star that “you didn’t see us play (Thursday) night,” clearly steamed about the Buffs’ effort and toughness against ASU.
Lloyd, meanwhile, said after the Wildcats beat Utah by 20 on Thursday that he expected a much different Colorado team than the one that lost to the Sun Devils earlier that evening.
He was proven correct.
“C’mon: You knew they were going to play better,” Lloyd said after Saturday's game. “Their program has had a ton of success and has a successful coach. They've got a ton of pride and he really challenged them and they were great.”
UA shot just 39.2%, committed 16 turnovers that led to 21 Colorado points and, perhaps most surprisingly, the Wildcats were pounded inside, with the Buffs outscoring them 54-26 in the paint.
Azuolas Tubelis led Arizona with 15 points and eight rebounds but Bennedict Mathurin went scoreless in the second half after scoring 12 before halftime, while the Buffs particularly made the night frustrating for center Christian Koloko. He had had just four points, five rebounds and three turnovers over 22 minutes while struggling with foul trouble.
“Christian’s a really good player and I think teams know that,” Lloyd said. “The only chance they’ve got is to be really physical with him and then hope that the game's called as such and that's exactly what happened. I'm not complaining about the refs, because it's probably called like that at both ends. That's just how it goes.”
Boyle said Colorado wanted to attack the paint and force Koloko into some tough decisions, more than just attack him outright.
“We wanted to do is go at Koloko in the ball screens because he kind of stays in that lane and so your guards can get downhill,” Boyle said. “Then he's got to make a decision - 'Do I stay on the guard or do I guard that big who’s rolling in the basket."
As it turned out, Arizona actually still took seven more free throws than Colorado, making 18 of 22 free throws to gain an extra five points at the line over the Buffs (who were 13 of 15). But the points in the paint differential and the Wildcats’ rebounding deficit of 35-33 – against a much smaller team – were statistical evidence of CU’s advantage in toughness.
Nobody on either side disputed that much.
“We got beat by a better team that probably wanted it a little bit more than we did today and played a little bit harder,” Lloyd said.
The Wildcats’ frustrations appeared to hit a peak with 4:20 left in the game, when Evan Battey pulled down a missed 3-pointer from Justin Kier only to have several Wildcats battle him for the ball while he cradled it tightly and smiled. Officials reviewed the play, in which guard Dalen Terry appeared particularly aggressive, but only called a personal foul on Terry.
Colorado went on to a 9-0 run after the play, getting a 3-pointer from Tristan da Silva with 1:53 left that gave Colorado a 75-59 lead and the Buffs coasted to the end, with fans filling the entire floor afterward.
Arizona led 37-32 at halftime but Colorado immediately came out stronger on both ends of the floor. Keeping UA to just 35.3% shooting over the first 12 minutes of the second half while shooting 65.0% itself, Colorado erased UA’s lead less than three minutes into the half.
The Buffs then went on a 9-2 run to take a 54-46 lead by the time former UA signee K.J. Simpson stole the ball from Justin Kier and raced downcourt for a layup with 16:22 left.
“We lost a little bit of our thrust and they did a good job guarding,” Lloyd said. “I don't know if we kind of played a little bit tired or desperate, but obviously we’ve got to be better.”
Colorado later went ahead 63-50 with 7:03 left when Tristan da Silva made a layup, with the sold-out crowd at the CU Events Center getting louder as they sensed a possible upset. Arizona scored seven straight points to cut CU’s lead to 63-57 with 5:28 to go but could get no closer.
During the postgame mob scene that followed afterward, Battey grabbing the microphone and told everyone how much he loved Colorado and how he wants to become the Buffs’ head coach someday.
“How many kids do that?" Boyle said, chuckling. "He loves this place and he's special."
Two nights earlier, it was hard to imagine Battey would leave on such a note, with Arizona on a roll and the Buffs hitting a wall.
Things changed quickly in Boulder.
For the Wildcats, they often do.
“As angry I was (after playing ASU), I’m as proud tonight,” Boyle said. “Make no mistake, we beat a really good basketball team. Arizona, maybe they were due for a letdown. I don't know. I think we had a lot to do with that. Our energy level tonight on offense and on defense was off the charts good.”
Colorado forward Jabari Walker, back, hugs guard KJ Simpson after Simpson hit a basket against Arizona in the second half of Saturday's game in Boulder.
