Colorado visits No. 10 Arizona for huge Pac-12 basketball matchup
A gallon of milk cost 37 cents, The Byrds’ Turn! Turn! Turn! topped the Billboard charts, and Deion Sanders wasn’t even born the last time the Colorado Men’s Basketball team defeated the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson. Thursday, the Buffaloes will try to win there for the first time since December 20, 1965.
Colorado is 16-24 all-time against Arizona, but 0-11 at the McKale Memorial Center since joining the Pac-12 Conference. Tad Boyle’s squad (11-2, 2-0 Pac-12) enters Thursday night’s tilt having won all six games they played in December. No. 10 Arizona (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) is coming off a 100-82 loss at Stanford on New Year’s Eve.
If the Buffaloes hope to win in Tucson, they’ll have to shut down a high-powered Wildcats offense. Arizona has the second ranked scoring offense (92.3 PPG) in the nation behind Alabama. Led by senior Caleb Love (17.4 PPG), all five of the Wildcats’ starters average 10-or-more points per game.
Both teams crash the boards. Arizona has outrebounded their opponents by 13 a game. Colorado by 11. Where the Buffs should be able to capitalize is behind the arc. Through 13 games, the Wildcats have allowed a total of 113 three-point field goals (8.69 per game) to opponents. The Buffaloes have only attempted 91 three-pointers in their 13 games but shoot the rock effectively. Colorado ranks sixth in the country with a 40.39 three-point field goal percentage. They are also 12th in the nation from the charity stripe, knocking down 78.01 percent of their free throws.
The Buffaloes are led by junior KJ Simpson who is coming off a career-high 34-point performance Sunday against Washington State. Simpson has scored at least 20 points in each of his last five games. Freshman Cody Williams, projected by many to be a lottery pick in June’s NBA Draft, has missed the last five games due to a wrist injury. Senior Tristan da Silva (ankle) is also uncertain after missing the Washington and Washington State games. “Don’t know. Still wait-and-see,” Boyle said regarding the status of Williams and da Silva for Thursday’s game. “Getting closer for Cody, but not 100% sure yet.”
Tipoff is set for 9:40 p.m. ET on ESPN. Dave Pasch and Bill Walton will be on the call.
