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 No. 4 Wildcats Surge Past Buffs In CEC Finale

Coach Boyle: “We deserved what we got.”

BOULDER – Arizona started fast and finished faster Saturday night at the Coors Events Center, spoiling Colorado’s Senior Night and a day of ESPN College GameDay hoopla with an 88-61 romp past the Buffaloes.
It was CU’s worst home loss of the four-year Tad Boyle era, surpassing a 74-50 defeat by Stanford in 2012, and only the second Buffs loss in 18 games this season at the CEC.
It also was a night of firsts for the No. 4 Wildcats, who won for the first time in Boulder since 1973 and swept CU for the first time since the Buffs became members of the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. Arizona (25-2, 12-2) now is 3-0 in its last three meetings with CU (20-8, 9-6).

“The worst we’ve played”

 
“It was a disappointing performance by our team and I have to look square in the mirror on that,” Boyle said. “As their coach, I didn’t do a very good job tonight.”

The Buffs go on the road for their final three regular-season games, traveling to Utah on Saturday, then wrapping up at Stanford (Wednesday, March 5) and California (Saturday, March 8). The Pac-12 Tournament is March 12-15 in Las Vegas, and Boyle might need that long to digest this weekend’s letdown.
After crediting Arizona for its performance, he reflected on the magnitude of the night and the depth of the disappointment. The Wildcats, he said, “whipped us in every which way you can whip a team . . . our fans were so ready for this game, this win; we gave them nothing. That’s a sick feeling to go home and live with. I don’t know what to say.
“I haven’t been embarrassed many times as a coach, but I was embarrassed by the way my team played . . . we have to own it and accept it. The pit in my stomach has more to do with our fans and seniors. They deserve more (but) we deserve what we got tonight.”
CU has but two seniors – center Ben Mills and guard Beau Gamble. Mills made his first career start, played 7 minutes total and closed out the Buffs’ scoring with the first trey of his career. Gamble made his first appearance of the night in the final 3 minutes, entering the game with the Wildcats leading 78-53.
After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, CU cut Arizona’s lead to 31-26 at the half and to 37-33 early in the second half. But the talented Wildcats answered with a 14-6 run that put them ahead 51-39 and effectively put the game away with just over 12 minutes remaining..
Arizona came to Boulder as the Pac-12’s top defensive team, allowing just 57.6 points a game. But the Wildcats put on an offensive clinic in Saturday night’s second half, shooting an uncanny 84.6 percent (22-for-26) to end any thought of a Buffs comeback on an eagerly awaited day and night for them and their fans.
“Colorado’s a good team,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “We knew we weren’t going to run away with it that early, our offense really kicked into another gear in the second half.”
But, said Boyle, the Wildcats “were struggling to score coming in here.” And when the Buffs cut the deficit to four early in the second half, “You have to have a mindset to dig in and get stops. We didn’t do that.”
The Buffs also had their offensive problems, but the nasty Wildcats’ defense was to blame for many of those.  “I can’t emphasize how good they are defensively; there are 11 other teams in the Pac-12 and then there’s Arizona,” Boyle said. “It’s not even close (on the defensive end). Our frustrations on offense led to a dunk-fest.”
Boyle said his team lacked patience offensively, pointing to a manageable nine turnovers as evidence that the Buffs rushed their shots: “We shot the ball so darn quick that we didn’t have a chance to turn it over. We took such bad shots and quickly, that it was like a turnover and they were able to get out in transition.”
Josh Scott (18 points) and Askia Booker (10) were the only two CU players in double figures while three Arizona players – led by freshman Aaron Gordon’s 23 – reached double digits. Nick Johnson added 20 and Kaleb Tarczewski had 13.
The Pac-12’s top defensive and rebounding team held CU to a season-low 32 percent shooting from the field (17-of-52) and out-boarded the Buffs 38-30. The Wildcats, meanwhile, finished at 60 percent from the field (35-of-58), including their incredible four-miss second half.
After falling behind 18-4 in their 69-57 loss at Arizona last month, the Buffs wanted no part of a sluggish beginning Saturday night. It happened anyway. There weren’t many ways the Buffs’ start could have been any worse.
Missing its first 15 field goal attempts and four of its first seven free throw attempts, CU fell behind 22-5 before freshman Jaron Hopkins hit a 3-pointer with 9:49 left before intermission for the Buffs’ first field goal. It was CU second-longest field goal drought of the season, following a 14:36 span last month in – where else? – Tucson.
But Hopkins’ trey from the left wing launched a 13-4 run that brought CU to within five points (26-21) with 4:39 left in the half. The Wildcats responded with four straight points and went ahead 30-21 before Booker got his first points of the night on a 12-foot jumper 2 seconds before the break.
That brought CU to within 31-25 – and given the way most of the half unfolded, a six-point deficit might have been a blessing.
Booker, who had averaged 19.6 points in his last five games, said the Buffs “got ourselves back into the game – we were down six at half, and that’s not a bad spot to be . . . but we just gave it away in the second half.”
Booker finished the half 1-for-8, Xavier Johnson 0-for-4. The Buffs’ 22.2 percent first-half shooting was their second worst of the season. For the night, Booker was 4-for-14 and Johnson 1-for-10 with five points.
“I think we got a little jump shot happy but I think that’s a credit to (Arizona),” Scott said. “I think we turned over the ball a couple times at some key points in the game and it’s mainly because they pack the paint, so that you’re pretty much there to take those shots. We should have attacked that more.”
Obviously needing a more efficient second-half start, the Buffs got it on a baseline jumper by Scott to pull to 31-27 – the closest they’d been since trailing 5-1. CU and Arizona traded baskets until Gordon hit back-to-back baskets – one a 3-pointer – to push the Wildcats ahead 42-33.
When Gordon hit his trey from the left corner, “I said here we go,” noted Boyle. “That’s not his game.”
But Arizona was about to find its trey touch – and more. Consecutive long balls by Johnson and Gabe York push the Wildcats back to a double-digit lead – 49-39 – then to 51-39 on a shorter Johnson jumper half a minute later. The Wildcats were 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc in the second half and 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) for the game.
Getting stops was becoming a CU problem, and it was beginning to be compounded by the clock. If the Buffs had another rally in them, it needed to happen – and fast. It was nowhere to be found.
A 13-4 run, capped by a Tarczewski dunk, produced a 21-point Arizona lead (64-43) with 9:16 to play that went to 23 points (66-43) on a pair of Johnson free throws at the 7:50 mark. The Wildcats led by as many as 30 before the final buzzer, the Buffs never led.
Booker said the Buffs “didn’t have the most energy,” but didn’t blame that on any possible distraction from ESPN’s basketball GameDay crew being in Boulder for the first time.
“We’re used to all the cameras being here and all these people setting up their stuff,” he said. “It’s not like we’re doing interviews at half time or right before the game. We barely knew they were here, and yeah, we knew they were preparing but it has nothing to do once we step on the court and the ball goes up. It’s not an excuse.”