A solid win for Arizona, which beats Colorado 71-57 for its third consecutive victory.
The Cats didn’t shoot well from distance — only 3 of 16 from beyond the arc — but made up for it by being feisty on the boards against the best rebounding team in the Pac-12 at plus-5.9 per game.
Arizona had a 43-31 edge on the glass, and Jesse Perry and Solomon Hill each had two rim-rattling follow dunks late in the game after missed 3-pointers. Hill finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
UA will try to make it a four-game winning streak Saturday at noon against Utah, which lost at Arizona State tonight. It shouldn’t be hard for the Cats to keep the momentum going.
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Jesse Perry follows up a 3-point miss by Brendon Lavender for a 62-50 lead with 3:35 left. McKale erupts … and the Buffs are in a tight spot.
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Josiah Turner quietly have a good game. Not doing anything fancy — other than the occasional laser into the lane — but he has six points, four rebounds and two assists as the Cats lead 58-48 with 4:14 to go. Maybe UA can avoid having a game go down to the wire?
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That was a key offensive stretch for Arizona, which scored on six consecutive possessions to take a 51-42 lead with 8:23 to go. To recap:
A layup by Jesse Perry, a three-point play from Josiah Turner off a lob pass from Nick Johnson, a Kyle Fogg 18-footer, two free throws by Johnson after a drive to the hoop, a driving layup by Fogg along the baseline and a free throw by Hill.
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Can’t complain about Solomon Hill’s all-around game. He had 13 points in the first half, now has 10 rebounds and dropped off a nifty pass to Jesse Perry for a layup and a 41-39 lead with under 11 minutes to go.
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It’s turned into a pitchers’ duel of sorts at McKale Center, with the teams inching along offensively, with the Cats leading 39-38 with 11:55 to play. Are Arizona’s defensive numbers so good this season because there are so few scary-good offensive players in the Pac-12? Just wondering…
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Angelo Chol with a 18-footer along the baseline? (Rubbing my eyes …)
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There is something about Colorado that disrupts Arizona’s shooting eye. The Cats were 3 of 20 from 3-point range in the first meeting and are 3 of 12 here early in the second half.
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Halftime: Arizona leads 34-28. Each team shot 10 of 25 from the field in the first half.
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How ’bout that Arizona defense? The Cats held Colorado without a basket for 9:02 after Spencer Dinwiddie made a three-point play with 9:53 to play in the half. Over the next nine minutes, Colorado missed eight shots from the field and committed six turnovers.
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Nick Johnson ends Arizona’s field goal drought with a 3-pointer with 3:30 to play. He then comes down and soars to block a shot at the rim. Think of how good he can be a in a year or two.
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We’re at the final media timeout of the first half — 3:58 to play — and the Cats haven’t scored a basket since 11:17, when Solomon Hill scored to give UA a 20-18 lead. How bad has the offense been on both sides since then? Consider that Arizona still leads 25-23.
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As often happens when Arizona plays, the game has turned into a mess offensively. The Cats have missed seven shots in a row with 5:32 to go in the half, but it’s solid defense against Colorado is mostly keeping the game at a standstill. The Wildcats won’t be crisp offensively for any significant length of time until at some point next season.
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A softball update: Arizona wins its season-opener over McNeese State, 8-1, at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe.
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Arizona, with its lack of size, has little business being as good on the boards as it is, coming into tonight with a plus-2 per game margin in conference games. Colorado (with a plus-5.9 rebounding margin for all games) is the conference leader in that category, but the Cats have the edge so far, 10-6, with 7:58 to go in the first half.
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Josiah Turner picks up his second foul with more than nine minutes left. With Jordin Mayes out with a foot injury, foul trouble for Turner is the last thing the Cats need.
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Some fast and furious non-stop action, as the first media timeout doesn’t come until the 11:36 mark — it is always taken after the first stop in action past the 16:00 mark.
As play resumes after the timeout, Solomon Hill puts in a basket for his seventh point as Arizona takes a 20-18 lead.
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Arizona coach Sean Miller praised Colorado senior guard Carlon Brown at his weekly press conference. Brown had 19 points in the first meeting vs. UA. “He’s relentless with his effort,” Miller said. “He’s big and physical and strong, but he’s really skilled.”
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Good news for former Arizona Wildcats player Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s been selected to his first NBA All-Star Game.
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Arizona will try to avenge its one-point loss at Colorado last month as the Buffs visit McKale Center for the first time since 1974.
As if often the case, the Wildcats figure to need every point (considering five of the past eight games have been decided by four points or less). And that means the UA needs to shoot free throws better.
Arizona was 30 of 54 (55.6 percent) from the line in two games last week, when they still managed to sweep Cal and Stanford. The Wildcats relied on hot 3-point shooting and excellent defense to get those victories, but could stand to give itself a little more margin of error by making more of the freebies.
The Cats are shooting only 65 percent from the line in conference games, with freshmen being among the biggest offenders.
Point guard Josiah Turner is at 60 percent (27 of 45) in league games. Nick Johnson is at 55.2 percent (16 of 29. Angelo Chol has taken only four attempts, making two.
This will be our spot for in-game coverage and analysis, so keep checking back as the Cats try to improve to 17-8 overall and 8-4 in the Pac-12.