Michael Lev: 5 takeaways from No. 2 Arizona basketball’s 82-55 victory over Colgate

Hello, basketball. Nice to see you again, old friend.

Made my way to McKale Center on Saturday to cover a basketball game for the first time in over seven years. New role, new responsibilities, new discoveries!

The building was loud. The crowd was animated. The action was fast and furious. It was a fun way to spend a December afternoon.

No. 2 Arizona defeated Colgate 82-55, somehow limiting the Raiders to one offensive rebound — the very last rebound of the game, quite possibly after the buzzer.

Here are my top five takeaways from a routine but interesting UA triumph:

1. On being No. 1

This was the preamble. The warmup. The get-back-on-the-court, get-back-in-the-groove game.

Colgate is an excellent mid-major program. It isn’t Wisconsin. Or Purdue. Or Alabama. Or FAU.

That’s the stretch that lies ahead for the Wildcats, who put together arguably the toughest nonconference schedule in the country this season. It’s a brilliant strategy with minimal downside in a sport where 68 teams make the playoffs. It’ll toughen the Cats up for March.

But it isn’t just the schedule that will prepare Tommy Lloyd’s team for what lies ahead. They’ll be accustomed to pressure in a new and different way.

Arizona likely will be ranked No. 1 when the next Associated Press Top 25 comes out Monday. Current No. 1 Purdue lost to the Wildcats of Northwestern on Friday night. One day and one state over, No. 3 Marquette lost to Wisconsin.

Lloyd seemed to embrace the idea of being No. 1 when asked about it after Saturday’s game. That surprised me a bit. I expected him to dismiss it.

“I think it’s great,” Lloyd said. “It’s what we want in this program. I think we’ve got to get comfortable being in this position. We’re not going to get big heads or make it too big of a deal.

“I know when I came to this program, my dream (was) to make it one of the best in the country. If you’re one of the best in the country, you’re going to stumble into being No. 1 once in a while. So you know what? Handle it.”

2. Ballo is back, folks!

In the first six games, Oumar Ballo hadn’t played up to the standard he set last season. He entered Saturday averaging 12 points and 5.2 rebounds — down from 14.2 and 8.6 in 2022-23.

In the first half alone, Ballo matched his 2023-24 season averages, recording 12 points and five boards. He finished with 13 and 10 for his first double-double of the season.

One sequence in particular impressed me. With a little over seven minutes left in the first half, Ballo contested a shot by Jalen Cox in the lane. Ballo grabbed the rebound, passed the ball and sprinted downcourt into post-up position — as big men are schooled to do under Lloyd.

Ballo didn’t get the ball. No worries. Soon after, he got involved in pick-and-roll action with Filip Borovicanin, who fed Ballo for a layup.

“Sometimes the ball finds you, sometimes it doesn’t,” the ever-humble Ballo said. “I was just trying to be there for my team.”

The Wildcats need this version of Ballo to be all they can be this season. Motiejus Krivas has rare size (7-2, 260) and an advanced skill set for his age. But he still looks like a freshman at times.

When Arizona returned to the court after the under-12 media timeout in the second half, Pelle Larsson appeared to be instructing Krivas on how to go up strong. He was 1 for 3 at that point. On the next trip downcourt, Krivas put back a teammate’s miss with a two-handed slam. He then missed a makeable layup.

3. A new Love story

Caleb Love entered Saturday shooting 39.1% from the floor, including 27% from 3-point range. Those numbers were more or less in line with his stats over three seasons at North Carolina. “Low-percentage volume shooter” isn’t a label any basketball player aspires to achieve.

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But if Love has proved anything during his brief tenure as a Wildcat it’s that he’s not a one-dimensional player.

Love played exceptional defense Saturday, totaling four “stocks” (steals plus blocks). With 6:20 to play, Love blocked a Colgate shot. Seconds later, he fired the ball down the floor to KJ Lewis for a dunk.

Love finished with a well-rounded line: 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists in a team-high 30 minutes. He set the tone for the Wildcats in ways that didn’t involve shooting and/or scoring.

Love appears to have completely bought into Lloyd’s system and style. That wasn’t a sure thing entering the season.

“He’s really talented,” Lloyd said. “He’s a good basketball player. I just told him, ‘You’re going to come to Arizona, you’re probably not going to score 25 a game.’ It’s the way we’re kind of built. But you can have a big impact.

“Here’s some of the things we can do offensively. But I’m also going to demand you be good in every other area. And he’s been 100% receptive to that.”

4. All’s well that ends well for Boswell

Kylan Boswell had a quiet first half Saturday — on the heels of a quiet second half against Michigan State. In both halves, he failed to score.

I liked the way he responded against Colgate. He remained patient. He didn’t force up any wild shots.

Boswell finished with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. He had a 6-to-2 assistant-to-turnover ratio. He played the way a true point guard should.

“He should be a true freshman right now. So we can’t forget that,” Lloyd said. “He’s having a lot of experiences and learning a lot, how to how to respond to those.

“You’re gonna have a good half. You’re gonna have a quiet half. You’re gonna have a bad half. It’s kind of how it goes, and hopefully it doesn’t affect the next one.”

Boswell, still a pup at 18 years old, spoke two days earlier about “not trying to force the game to myself.”

“If you’re not scoring,” he said, “you gotta facilitate another way, help the team win any other way I can.”

Boswell is doing it. He’s growing up before our eyes.

5. Reveling in the noise

The last time I attended a UA men’s basketball game as a member of the media was Feb. 14, 2016. I had been with the Star for about a month. The game was against USC, whom I had covered for years for the Orange County Register. The Register asked me to “string” the game — i.e., cover it as a freelancer.

It was a largely forgettable contest. Arizona won 86-78, with Gabe York outscoring Jordan McLaughlin 17-15. It wasn’t nearly as memorable as the USC-UA game I covered here in 2010.

That was a double-overtime thriller. Arizona won 86-84, defeating former coach Kevin O’Neill, whose team was playing under a self-imposed postseason ban.

Two things stand out from that game:

(1) My in-laws brought my older son, who was not quite 2 years old at the time. He fell asleep at some point during the second half despite — or perhaps because of — the roar of the crowd.

(2) The media still sat courtside in those days. Never before or since have I heard such foul language from fans directed toward the officials. It was appalling.

Fast-forward to Saturday. The media now sit in the corner behind the opposing team’s bench, adjacent to the ZonaZoo. You can’t hear any courtside chatter. But compared to covering a football game at Arizona Stadium — where the press box has windows that don’t open — it’s an auditory avalanche. You can really get a feel for the crowd, the vibe, the atmosphere.

It was good to be back.

Photos: Arizona Wildcats stay unbeaten with 82-55 win over Colgate, college basketball