National Basketball Association
Colorado 75, Arizona 72
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Where: Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colorado
Officials:
# Kevin Brill, # Shawn Lehigh, # Deron White
Attendance:
11309
By The Sports Xchange
Senior center Josh Scott has only one more home game left in his Colorado career.
His second-to-last game was one of his best.
Scott scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Buffaloes boosted their NCAA Tournament resume by hanging on for a 75-72 victory over ninth-ranked Arizona on Wednesday night in Boulder, Colo.
"I think this is a very quality win, but I don't believe you can ever know what is going to happen on Selection Sunday," Scott said. "All you can do is win the next game."
Colorado, which blew a 15-point second-half lead last week in a loss at Southern California, was able to hold on in a wild finish.
The Buffaloes led by 11 in the second half, but Arizona got within 75-72 with 51 seconds left on an alley-oop dunk by center Kaleb Tarczewski.
Scott turned the ball over on the dribble, giving the Wildcats a chance to tie. The ball went out of bounds with 13.6 seconds left, apparently off the foot of a Colorado player, but officials reviewed the play and gave the ball to the Buffs.
Scott then traveled in the backcourt with nine seconds left, but Arizona guard Allonzo Trier missed a 25-footer off the rim in an attempt to tie at the buzzer.
Colorado, which entered the game having lost four of its past six games, improved to 20-9 overall, 9-7 in the Pac-12. Arizona (22-6, 10-5) had a six-game winning streak snapped.
"There were two NCAA Tournament teams playing tonight," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said.
Scott took over in the second half, when he scored 17 of his points. He added three blocks for the game.
"I admire Josh Scott as a player," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "When you see guys like him playing his heart out down the stretch of his career, you have to be able to take your hat off.
"But we didn't have it tonight. They were the harder-playing team. They ran faster. The energy they played with was outstanding."
Scott led the way as Colorado neutralized Arizona's big and talented front line. Buffaloes power forward Wesley Gordon had eight points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
"He had seven offensive rebounds, and we couldn't stop him from getting second shots," Miller said.
Power forward Ryan Anderson led Arizona with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Trier added 15 points.
Colorado forward George King scored 14 points and had three of the team's five 3-pointers.
The Buffaloes ended a six-game losing streak to Arizona. Fans stormed the court after the game.
"We wanted to get payback. They have kind of beaten up on us the past two, three years," Scott said. "It's important for us to get this W."
Scott will wrap up his home career Sunday against Arizona State.
"This environment is special," Scott said. "There are the last two games I am going to have in Boulder, so I wanted to go out with a bang."
The play was physical early, with neither team able to get a clean look in the paint. The teams combined to make just five of their first 20 shots -- with five attempts blocked -- and it remained difficult to score from the field for most of the half.
Arizona didn't make a basket outside of the paint until guard Gabe York hit a 15-footer with 3:15 before halftime to cut Colorado's lead to 29-27. Meanwhile, the Buffaloes were just 11-for-30 from the field in the first half.
The difference was Colorado's ability to draw fouls. The Buffs were 13-for-17 from the free-throw line, led by Scott's 5-of-6 effort. Scott nearly banked in a shot from beyond half-court at the buzzer, but Colorado took a 37-33 lead into the break.
NOTES: Arizona coach Sean Miller picked up a technical foul with 16:48 left. ... Because of the Pac-12's unbalanced schedule, this was the only meeting of the regular season between Arizona and Colorado. ... Colorado sophomore PG Dominique Collier returned to the starting lineup after being replaced in the last game by freshman Thomas Akyazili. Collier, who started the first 27 games, scored three points Wednesday. ... Arizona wore new red "Hyper Elite Disruption" jerseys from Nike. This was the only time the Wildcats will wear the uniforms this season. ... Colorado won its 400th game at the Coors Events Center, which opened for the 1979-80 season.
Top Game Performances
| Arizona |
|
Colorado |
|
Ryan Anderson 19 |
Scoring |
Josh Scott 26 |
|
Parker Jackson-Cartwright 3 |
Assists |
Wesley Gordon 6 |
|
Ryan Anderson 10 |
Rebounds |
Wesley Gordon 12 |
|
Ryan Anderson 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Josh Scott 6 |
|
Ryan Anderson 2 |
Steals |
Dominique Collier 3 |
|
Kaleb Tarczewski 5 |
Blocks |
Josh Scott 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Arizona
|
72 |
46.8 |
3-11 |
11-15 |
11 |
34 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
| Colorado
|
75 |
41.5 |
5-15 |
16-20 |
11 |
35 |
4 |
5 |
9 |
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