At the Coors Events Center in Denver, Colorado, #7 Arizona defeated the Colorado Buffaloes in a wire-to-wire victory on Thursday night by winning 82-54.
There was not much to say about this game other than the fact injuries have certainly hurt the Buffs all season long and showed again tonight. Arizona played their trademark smothering defense holding Colorado's shooting to just 39%. Meanwhile, the Cats made 27 out of their 51 attempts from the field. Sean Miller always stresses rebounds and should be pleased with the fact that they outrebounded the opposition by 13. The only thing he might complain about is that his squad could have had more offensive boards.
It was freshman guard Stanley Johnson who took over the second half as he scored all but four points in the second half of the basketball game -- finishing with a game high of 15. Kaleb Tarczewski was also impressive tonight, as he got easy looks around the rim all night and Wesley Gordon and Xavier Johnson to a combined four points. Although senior point guard TJ McConnell only had six points on the night but played smothering defense and moved the ball around and got everyone involved on offense.
For Colorado, they never really good on the offensive side of the ball all night. Askia Booker finished with a team high 14 points, but was the only Buffalo to score in double digits. Gordon, who only played 18 minutes, made just one free throw shot all night and did not even attempt a single field goal. Xavier Johnson also attempted just three shots, but one of them did go through the hoop as he finished the night very quietly, made no impact whatsoever.
Colorado's next opponent, Arizona State, won their last three games before losing heavily to Utah tonight, will come to town Sunday evening. Arizona will looking to continue their hot streak as they go to Salt Lake City on Saturday with the conference championship on the line.