Game info

Who: No. 14 Arizona (12-3, 2-0) at Colorado (9-6, 1-2)

Where: Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colo.

When: Noon Saturday

Watch: Pac-12 Networks

Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Follow: @TheWildcaster (Twitter) / TheWildcaster (Facebook)

Probable starters: Arizona

Probable starters: Colorado

How they match up

The series

Arizona is 16-12 overall against Colorado and 11-4 since the Buffs joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12, but the games in Boulder have been a mixed bag for the Wildcats. The UA is 2-3 in Coors Events Center in Pac-12 games, beating the Buffs by 27 points in 2013-14 and by 28 in 2014-15, but losing in 2011-12 by a point, by 13 in 2012-13 and by three points in their last visit, toward the end of the 2015-16 season. Center Josh Scott had 26 points to lead the Buffs and CU fans rushed the court, prompting vociferous complaints from UA coach Sean Miller.

Colorado overview

A projected NCAA Tournament team last season that underachieved its way into the NIT, Colorado blew it all up in the offseason — and may be just starting to get it together after losing four starters and two role players.

The Buffs snapped a three-game losing streak in style by upsetting ASU in overtime on Thursday, when Namon Wright and McKinley Wright each had 19 points. Overall, though, Colorado still has plenty of work to do. The Buffs’ rotation players average just 1.2 years of experience (the 30th youngest in Division I) and have the 68th lowest “minutes continuity,” a kenpom.com measure of which contributing players from last season are contributing now. As a result, CU is still way off its usual defensive efficiency, allowing 98.9 points per 100 possessions, the 84th best mark in Division I, and they allow opponents to make 3-pointers at a 34.2 percent rate and twos at 47.7 percent.

Like Arizona, the Buffaloes emphasize filling gaps defensively and don’t gamble much, so their turnover (20.4) and steal (9.8) percentages are low. Offensively, CU hits 3s at just a 33.0 percent clip. The Buffs’ lone returning starter, forward George King, averages 13.5 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds from the wing, while scoring-minded point guard McKinley Wright leads the Buffs in scoring (16.2) and assists (4.9).

Colorado is thin up front, with forward Evan Battey taking an academic redshirt and forward Tory Miller-Stewart suffering a broken foot last month, forcing it to rely more on developing 7-foot redshirt freshman Dallas Walton. But there is depth in the backcourt, with Missouri transfer Namon Wright, Dom Collier, Deleon Brown and McKinley Wright all capable of double-digit scoring.

He said it

“We have to dial in for 40 minutes and know they’re gonna make some shots. You have to make them work for everything they get. The one thing you know about Arizona is they are not going to beat themselves." — Colorado coach Tad Boyle

Key player: McKinley Wright

The would-be point guard for Archie Miller, who escaped his Dayton letter-of-intent when Miller moved to Indiana, has been a godsend for the rebuilding Buffs. He plays with a confidence and leadership style not common for a freshman, able to shoot from three-point range, pass and get to the foul line with ease.

Key player: Rawle Alkins

If the environment gets heated in this one, that’s fine with the UA sophomore forward, who typically ratchets up his aggressiveness when adversity strikes the Wildcats. Alkins’ defense will be sorely needed in a likely match up with Colorado’s George King, too.

Understated marksman

Parker Jackson-Cartwright may be known for his 3-1 assist-turnover ratio and steady playmaking for the Wildcats, but he’s again proving to be one of the Pac-12’s best 3-point shooters.

PJC led the conference with a 48.6 percent mark from long range during league games in 2015-16 — averaging exactly the minimum of one 3-pointer per game — and shot the same percentage as a junior last season but finished in fourth place.

After going 3-for-4 from long range Thursday at Utah, Jackson-Cartwright is 4 for 8 in two Pac-12 games and 22 for 42 (52.4 percent) overall this season.

But he won’t make too big a deal about it.

“I just think it’s a testament to great teammates and hard work,” Jackson-Cartwright said. “It’s not in the back of my head but when I’m open I know I can knock it in, and when I have company I’m gonna make every open 3. That’s just my mentality and my teammates do a great job of finding me.”

Court storm OK’d

The fact that Arizona will return to the Coors Events Center two days after Buffs fans stormed the court against ASU — in a manner that did not generate a fine — is fitting.

Two seasons ago, Colorado fans rushed on the court following an upset win over Arizona, with one of them bumping UA center Kaleb Tarczewski, and UA coach Sean Miller complained for over half of his nine-minute postgame afterward. Miller said eventually a UA player would hit a fan out of self-defense if the Wildcats continued to be kept from leaving the court safely.

Three months after Miller’s complaints, the Pac-12 instituted fines for court storming that start at $25,000, but schools are not fined if they allow visiting teams to get off the court safely.

Since then, Colorado has installed more security in front of the student section, and ropes off the area where teams can exchange handshakes, allowing visitors to shake and then head directly off the Coors Events Center floor.

A Pac-12 spokesman said Friday afternoon that the conference reviewed the court storm and decided not to fine Colorado.

Hurley not OK

While the Pac-12 didn’t fine Colorado, it did reprimand ASU coach Bobby Hurley for criticizing the officials Thursday.

Hurley said a fifth foul called on ASU’s Mickey Mitchell in overtime — who appeared to have stripped the ball fairly cleanly from CU’s George King — was “a complete joke … one of the worst things I’ve seen.”

Maybe so — a Pac-12 Networks announcer said “the refs just missed that one” — but those aren’t the sort of words coaches are allowed to use publicly in the Pac-12.

“The Pac-12 membership has established rules that prohibit our coaches from publicly commenting about officiating,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement Friday. “We have an obligation to our members to enforce approved conference rules. As a part of our officiating program, there is a protocol in place for our coaches to provide feedback directly to the coordinator of officials.”

Numbers game

6

Arizona wins in its last seven day games (those that tipoff before 5 p.m.). The Wildcats are 63-22 (74.1 percent) during the day overall since Sean Miller’s first year as UA coach in 2009-10.

7

Years since Colorado beat a top-5 team (No. 5 Texas) before the Buffs beat fourth-ranked ASU 90-81 on Thursday.

9.0

Arizona’s average victory margin in its last three games with Colorado, since the Wildcats’ loss at Boulder in 2015-16.