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The two schools meet Friday night in the semifinals of the
Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.
Fourth-seeded Colorado (21-10) easily beat Arizona 79-63 on Feb.
24 at home in Boulder. It was a milestone victory that matched
the school mark for highest-ranked opponent beaten. Colorado
also beat No. 2 Oklahoma State on Feb. 12, 1992.
Top-seeded Arizona (29-3) thumped Colorado 76-55 at home in
Tucson on Jan. 13, but it was the recent game that was alarming
when it came to the Wildcats. Arizona again struggled in
Thursday's quarterfinals before holding off ninth-seeded
Stanford 84-80 to advance.
"I'm going to give them some credit," Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd
said of Stanford. "They made some shots, made some shots
normally you would live with, and then they started making
enough of them, so we had to make some adjustments in our
coverages.
"That's how these games go. It's a single-elimination game. It's
not the NBA where it's 1 of 82, make them today and, well, we'll
get them next time. It's a make or miss deal."
The Buffaloes earned another shot at Arizona with a solid 80-69
win over fifth-seeded Oregon.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle knows Arizona is looking to exact some
revenge.
"They'll be ready to play the Buffs," Boyle said. "They'll be
mentally ready, they'll be emotionally ready. I know Tommy
Lloyd, he's a competitive dude. But we're going to be ready,
too."
The sentiment that Colorado needs to win the Pac-12 tournament
title to reach the NCAA Tournament is definitely grating on
Boyle.
He doesn't agree with the opinions of the talking heads and
bracket experts around the country.
"If you don't think we're one of the top 68 teams in the
country, you're sorely mistaken," Boyle said.
Colorado looked the part in the win over Oregon. Evan Battey had
19 points and a season-best 12 rebounds and Jabari Walker added
18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. The Buffaloes limited
the Ducks to 34.3 percent shooting from the field and owned a
55-42 rebounding advantage.
"We're a young team and there's no expectations with that," said
Battey, a senior. "We're playing hard just trying to get to the
next game and the next win."
Walker registered 15 points and 14 rebounds and Tristan da Silva
scored a game-high 19 points in the recent win over Arizona. In
the January loss, Walker, who leads the team in scoring (14.8
per game) and rebounding (9.6), had just four points and five
boards and da Silva scored only seven points.
Arizona will likely be without point guard Kerr Kriisa after he
departed with an ankle injury late in the win over Stanford. He
was shown in a wheelchair in a hallway outside the locker room
area.
"I have no idea the severity of it or anything like that," Lloyd
said minutes after the conclusion of the game. "Obviously, it's
a quick turnaround so it will be tough. We'll just play it by
ear."
Christian Koloko and Bennedict Mathurin were the key figures in
the close win over Stanford. Koloko made 10 of 12 shots while
recording 24 points and nine rebounds and Mathurin (team-leading
17.3 points per game) added 20 points and seven rebounds as the
Wildcats won their fourth straight game.
"We have a young team, so I think we need those kind of games
just to get ready for what's next for us," Koloko said. "I think
we did a pretty good job, just executing the game plan and
following everything Coach taught us in the game."
--Field Level Media
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