No. 10 Arizona wastes little time putting away Colorado

Field Level Media|published: Thu 4th January, 23:56 2024

Jan 4, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Keshad Johnson (16) and Colorado Buffaloes forward Bangot Dak (12) go for a rebound during the first half at McKale Center. credits: Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports

Pelle Larsson had 18 points and seven rebounds and No. 10 Arizona mauled Colorado from the outset while posting a 97-50 victory on Thursday night in Pac-12 play at Tucson, Ariz.

Caleb Love had 16 points and Motiejus Krivas added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (11-3, 2-1 Pac-12). Kylan Boswell made four 3-pointers while registering 14 points and three steals for Arizona, which never trailed.

Javon Ruffin scored 11 points for Colorado (11-3, 2-1), which had a six-game winning streak halted.

Buffaloes star KJ Simpson had 10 points and seven rebounds but was just 5-of-17 from the field. Simpson entered the game with a Pac-12-leading 21.1 scoring average.

Colorado played without starters Tristan da Silva (ankle) and Cody Williams (wrist). Second-leading scorer da Silva (15.7 points per game) missed his third straight game and third-leading scorer Williams (14) sat out his sixth consecutive contest.

The Buffaloes shot just 36.4 percent from the field, including 4 of 15 from 3-point range.

Arizona shot 56.3 percent from the field and made 11 of 20 from behind the arc. The Wildcats had a 45-25 rebounding advantage and a 58-30 edge in points in the paint.

The Wildcats dominated from the outset.

Boswell knocked down two 3-pointers during a 13-0 burst that saw Arizona take a 23-6 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half.

The lead reached 20 when Jaden Bradley connected on a trey to make it 31-11 with 10:58 remaining.

Love's layup with 1:44 left capped the first-half scoring as the Wildcats led 50-23 at the break.

Boswell had 12 points on four 3-pointers in the first half for Arizona, and Love added 11 points. Simpson had six in the half for Colorado.

The Wildcats pushed the lead above 30 when Love scored on a layup to make it 54-23 with 18:24 remaining.

Later, the Wildcats used a 12-1 surge to increase the lead to 40 as Filip Borovicanin's jumper made it 82-42 with 4:06 remaining.

The lead topped out at 50 points when Luke Champion drained a 3-pointer with 24.3 seconds remaining.

—Field Level Media