No. 8 Arizona makes quick work of Buffs

CU gets jump on Wildcats but can not hold on

TUCSON, ARIZ. >> It was a fun start. Unfortunately for Colorado, the fun didn’t last long.

The CU men’s basketball team couldn’t have scripted a better start as it attempted to conjure an upset bid at No. 8 Arizona. The Wildcats quickly flipped that script, however, gradually pulling away to hand the Buffs a 78-68 defeat on Saturday night at the Mckale Center.

CU remains winless at Mckale (0-11) since joining the Pac-12 Conference, and the Buffs have lost 13 consecutive road games overall at Arizona.

It was a sloppy start for the Wildcats, who committed four turnovers in the game’s first 1 minute, 46 seconds. The Buffaloes took advantage, hitting six of their first nine shots while jumping to a quick 18-6 lead.

Yet that opening burst basically summed up all the highlights for CU.

The Wildcats abruptly came alive and buried the Buffs in a hurry, outscoring CU 40-16 over the remainder of the first half to take a 46-34 lead at halftime. After the opening flurry of miscues, Arizona committed just one more turnover during the rest of the first half.

One of the early sparks for CU was provided by junior forward Tristan da Silva, who made three of his first four shots to post nine early points. But he picked up his second foul with 11:33 still to play in the first half, and head coach Tad Boyle opted to keep da Silva on the bench until the second half. While da Silva sat, Arizona outscored the Buffs 28-14.

CU (15-13, 7-10 Pac-12) scored the first five points of the second half to pull within 46-39, but the Wildcats scored the next five and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Da Silva finished with 18 points and five rebounds, and Luke O’brien was a bright spot in his second consecutive start, recording another near-doubledouble with nine points and nine rebounds. Javon Ruffin added 13 points off the bench. Overall, though, the Buffs struggled offensively, recording a .387 field goal percentage while going 7-for-24 on 3-pointers.

Arizona forward Oumar Ballo recorded his 10th double-double of the season, posting 18 points with a career-high 16 rebounds.

It was the final road game of the regular season for the Buffs, who return home to face USC on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN2).