BUFFS BOW TO ’CATS
No. 11 Arizona too much for CU
TUCSON» Allonzo Trier scored 23 points, Deandre Ayton added 20 and No. 11 Arizona avenged its lone loss of the Pac-12 season by beating Colorado 80-71 on Thursday night.
The 7-foot-1 Ayton, expected to be at or near the top of the NBA draft this year, was 12-of-12 at the foul line as the Buffaloes tried to get physical with the big freshman, without much success.
“There’s a lot of things that separate Deandre from a lot of big guys that he’s compared to,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “He is an excellent free-throw shooter and he has unbelievable agility away from the basket.”
Dusan Ristic added 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting for the Wildcats (17-4, 7-1 Pac-12), who were without forward Rawle Alkins for the second time in three games with a sore foot. He sat out last week’s game at Stanford but played 34 minutes Saturday against Cal.
George King scored 22 points, including 4-of-5 3-pointers for Colorado (12-9, 4-5). McKinley Wright added 15.
Arizona shot 70 percent (16-of23) in the second half. The Wildcats lost in Boulder 80-77 on Jan. 6.
They were cold Thursday in a first half that ended in a 30-30 deadlock. But Arizona opened the second half with a 15-4 run, ignited by Dylan Smith’s 3-pointer, to go up 45-34 on Ristic’s 16-footer with 15-3 left.
The Wildcats stretched it to 5342 when Ristic made a strong spin move for a layup with 12:41 to play.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle drew a technical during the run.