BOULDER, Colo. - After a three overtime thriller on Thursday in Salt Lake City, No. 8 Arizona travels to Colorado on Saturday to take on the Buffaloes at the CU Events Center, a place the Wildcats have not won since 2015. The game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. MST and be televised on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Sean Farnham on the call.
Arizona defeated Utah, 105-99 in three overtimes on Thursday to maintain the one game lead over the rest of the Pac-12 in the standings. Colorado defeated Arizona State, 82-70, in Boulder in a game they led from wire to wire.
STARTING FIVE
1) Thursday's triple overtime win at Utah improved Arizona to 3-1 in overtime games under head coach Tommy Lloyd. It was also the sixth game in Arizona history that went to three or more overtimes, with the Wildcats improving to 4-2 in those games.
2) Senior Caleb Love leads the Pac-12 in scoring on the road in conference play at 25.2 ppg. He posted the first double-double of his career with 19 points, 10 rebounds at Utah.
3) During the 4-game win streak, Oumar Ballo is averaging 13.5 points, 12.8 rebounds.
4) Pelle Larsson scored a career-high 27 points in addition to seven rebounds and a career high eight assists. He's one of six players in the country to post that stat line this year. He has three games of 20+ points this year after none in his previous three seasons.
5) Arizona has 202 steals on the year, marking the third straight season with 200 or more steals for the first time since 2013-15.
SERIES VS. COLORADO
• Arizona leads the all-time series against Colorado, 25-16
• Since Colorado joined the Pac-12, Arizona is 2-7 in games played in Boulder (2014, 2015)
• The Wildcats have lost the last five meetings in Boulder; the last win was in 2015
NOTING THE WILDCATS
• Arizona had 21 assists Thursday at Utah, improving to 48-1 under Lloyd when registering 20+ assists.
• The Wildcats have grabbed 10+ offensive rebounds in 19 of 23 games, including 16 against Utah on Thursday.
• In Pac-12 play, Oumar Ballo ranks first in offensive rebounds (4.3), second in rebounding (11.1) and third in FG% (59.6). He has six double-doubles in Pac-12 play, which ranks third.
• Love was also named to the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award Top 20 Watch Lists and is one of 10 players still in the running for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award.
• Keshad Johnson is one of 10 players named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award late season watch list. He's averaging 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and shooting a career-best 37.3% from the 3-point line. After a scoreless game against Stanford, he rebounded with 17 points, nine rebounds while playing 43 minutes at Utah.
• Johnson has scored in double figures 15 out of 23 games this season at Arizona. In his four seasons, and 113 games at San Diego State, he scored in double figures 25 times. He has set single-game career highs in points, assists, steals, blocks, FGM, FGA, 3FGM, 3FGA.
• Sophomore Kylan Boswell is averaging 10.8 points and 4.0 assists during Arizona's current 4-game winning streak after a 16-point, five assist effort at Utah. For comparison, in seven games during the month of January, Boswell averaged 7.6 points, 2.9 assists.
• Freshman guard KJ Lewis posted a season high 14 points against Cal on Feb. 1 while adding four rebounds and three assists. He added 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists against Stanford. He has 50 assists and just 18 turnovers this year, among the top ratios by a freshman in the country this season. He's second on the team with 30 steals and has a chance to break into the top 10 in steals by a freshman in Arizona history.
• Sophomore Jaden Bradley has 20 assists and four turnovers to go with 12 steals over the last eight games. During the four-game winning streak, he is averaging 5.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.3 rebounds and is 8 of 10 at the free throw line.
• Motiejus Krivas is averaging 6.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and is 16 of 20 at the free throw line in Pac-12 play. He had 18 points at Cal and 15 points against Colorado on Jan. 4. Krivas ranks ninth in the Pac-12 averaging 2.08 offensive rebounds per conference game.
• After the win at Oregon, Arizona has not lost back-to-back games since Tommy Lloyd took over as head coach in 2021-22. The Wildcats are 16-0 following a loss.
• Tommy Lloyd is 44-2 at McKale Center as the head coach of Arizona (12-0 this year). That .957 winning percentage is the best home winning percentage in the country over that span.
• Arizona has 202 steals this season, marking the third straight season with 200+ steals. The last time Arizona did that in three seasons in a row was 2013-15. To reach the top 10 in Arizona single-season steals, the Wildcats would need to get to 275.
• The Arizona offense has posted a 10-0 run 24 times this season, tied for second-most in the country. Conversely, the Arizona defense has surrendered just five runs of 10-0 or better, per EvanMiya.com.
• The Wildcats have been ranked 51 straight weeks and 51 out of 53 weeks under head coach Tommy Lloyd. They have been in Top 10 for 40 weeks and in the Top 5 for 21 weeks.
• Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a record of 79-16, the fourth-most wins of any team in the country over that span.
• Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 49 out of 95 games to lead the nation.
• The 2023-24 season marks the 119th year of men's basketball for the University of Arizona, and the Wildcats have an all-time record of 1,880-982.
ARIZONA IN 3OT GAMES
In chronological order:
2/8/2024 at Utah W, 105-99 (3OT)
1/9/2016 at USC L, 101-103 (4OT)
2/5/2011 at Cal W, 107-105 (3OT)
2/23/1973 Utah W, 101-95 (3OT)
12/20/1965 Colorado L, 73-77 (3OT)
2/3/1965 Bradley W, 85-83 (3OT)
NATIONAL STAT RANKINGS
A look at where Arizona ranks as a team nationally through games played Feb. 8:
Points/game 2nd 89.7
Rebound Margin 2nd +11.4
Rebounds/game 2nd 43.6
Assists/game 4th 19.1
Scoring Margin 8th +16.5
Fastbreak Pts/game 9th 16.2
Offensive Rebs/game 11th 14.0
FT Attempts/game 18th 24.0
Assist/TO ratio 19th 1.57
FT Made/game 20th 17.4
SCORING ON THE ROAD
Top scorers in Pac-12 road games through games played on Feb. 8:
1) Caleb Love (ARIZ) 25.2ppg
2) Keion Brooks Jr. (UW) 18.8
3) KJ Simpson (COLO) 18.5
4) Jaylon Tyson (CAL) 18.4
5) Isaac Jones (WSU) 17.6
