National Basketball Association
Arizona 63, Colorado 43
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, March 14, 2014
Where: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials:
# Tony Padilla, # Michael Reed, # Mike Scyphers
Attendance:
N/A
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 4 Arizona 63, Colorado 43: Nick Johnson scored 16 points as the Wildcats dominated the second half against the Buffaloes in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.
T.J. McConnell had 12 points and five assists for top-seeded Arizona (30-3), which advanced to face No. 2 seed UCLA in Saturday’s championship game. The Wildcats held the fifth-seeded Buffaloes to 29.4 percent shooting and have won their first two tournament games by an average of 26 points.
Askia Booker paced Colorado (23-11) with 12 points while Xavier Johnson had 11 points and five rebounds. The Buffaloes, who lost all three meetings against the Wildcats this season, were outscored 36-19 in the second half and trailed by as many as 19 with eight minutes remaining.
The first half featured five ties and ended with Arizona taking a 27-24 lead on Gabe York’s 3-pointer at the buzzer before the Wildcats quickly took control. Colorado missed 11 of its first 13 shots in the second half, and Arizona used a 22-6 run to move ahead 51-32 with just under eight minutes to play.
Arizona, which outrebounded the Buffaloes 41-25, turned in its second straight dominant defensive performance after holding Utah to 12 field goals in Thursday’s 71-39 quarterfinal victory. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 12 points and eight rebounds and Aaron Gordon collected nine points and nine boards for the Wildcats, who won despite shooting 6-of-17 from 3-point range.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Arizona defeated UCLA 79-75 at home on Jan. 9 and won both meetings against Stanford this season. … Colorado was held to less than 50 points for the first time since last season’s 57-49 loss to Illinois in the second round of the NCAA tournament. … Booker and Johnson combined to shoot 8-of-25 from the field for the Buffaloes, who were facing Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament for the third straight year.
Top Game Performances
Colorado |
|
Arizona |
Askia Booker 12 |
Scoring |
Nick Johnson 16 |
Askia Booker 2 |
Assists |
T.J. McConnell 5 |
Askia Booker 6 |
Rebounds |
Aaron Gordon 9 |
Askia Booker 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 4 |
Askia Booker 1 |
Steals |
Aaron Gordon 3 |
Josh Scott 1 |
Blocks |
Aaron Gordon 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Colorado
|
43 |
29.4 |
4-8 |
9-14 |
5 |
22 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
Arizona
|
63 |
46.9 |
6-17 |
11-16 |
16 |
36 |
5 |
7 |
12 |