NCAA
Arizona 88, Colorado 61
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Feb 2022
BOULDER, Colo. — Forward Aaron Gordon scored 23 points, guard Nick Johnson had 20 and No. 4 Arizona routed Colorado 88-61 on Saturday night.
Center Kaleb Tarczewski added 13 points for Arizona (25-2, 12-2 Pac-12), which shot a blistering 60.3 percent from the field, nearly double Colorado’s shooting percentage of 32.7 percent.
Forward Josh Scott had 18 points and guard Askia Booker 10 for Colorado (20-9, 9-6), which lost at home for only the second time this season.
The victory was the first for Arizona in Boulder since defeating the Buffaloes 91-76 on Dec. 3, 1973. It was also the first time the Wildcats had won at Colorado in three trips since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 Conference three years ago.
Colorado missed its first 14 shots from the field and did not make a field goal until 9:50 remained in the first half, the longest drought to start a game this season.
Colorado, though trailed by six at the break and pulled to 37-33 on layup by forward Dustin Thomas with 17:05 remaining in the game before Arizona reasserted itself with a dominating stretch.
Guards Gabe York and Johnson hit successive 3-pointers around two free throws by forward Xavier Johnson as the Wildcats stretched their lead to 49-39 with 13:40 left.
The teams briefly traded scores before Arizona put together a backbreaking 11-0 run that stretched the Wildcats’ lead to 62-41 with 9:50 left.
The flurry included two dunks by Gordon and a 3-pointer by guard Elliott Pitts and effectively crushed any thoughts of a comeback by Colorado, which faded the rest of the way.
The Buffaloes had a tough night shooting in the face of Arizona’s relentless defense and rebounding. Colorado’s first field goal did not come until 10:10 into the game when guard Jaron Hopkins connected from 3-point range after Arizona had pulled out to a 22-5 lead.
The Wildcats built their advantage by working their inside game, getting 14 of their points in the first half inside the paint.
After trailing by as many as 17 points earlier, the Buffaloes pulled to 31-25 when Booker, who missed his first seven shots from the field, hit a baseline jumper at the first-half buzzer.
NOTES: Arizona won its third straight against Colorado, including a 69-57 win at the McKale Center on Jan. 23, when the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the country. … Colorado senior center Ben Mills and senior guard Beau Gamble played their final regular-season home after being honored in pregame ceremonies. … The longest previous field goal drought by Colorado was in the first meeting with Arizona, when the Buffaloes did not make their first basket until 14:56 remained in the first half. … Arizona improved to 9-2 in road games this season.
