No matter how the game ended, Colorado surely made their case to the NCAA Tournament selection committee that they deserve a spot in this year’s big dance.
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Star of the game: Josh Scott.
The Washington State Cougars take on the Colorado Buffaloes in one of the college basketball games on Wednesday, start time at 5:30 PM ET, at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas Nevada.
The Pac-12 Tournament represents the last game(s) the Cougars will have to play this season.
Allonzo Trier scored 23 points, Ryan Anderson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 15 Arizona held on to beat Colorado 82-78 on Thursday in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals. “We were jumping ball screens, plugging right, boxing out, getting rebounds, going defense to offense”. We’re not flawless. We’ve got great character and great toughness.
King had 22 points, and Josh Scott finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Colorado, which had 26 second-chance points.
The Buffs are also 6-0 in conference tournament openers under Boyle, 5-0 in the Pac-12.
On the other side of the competition, the Wildcats shot 45.8 percent for the night (22-of-48) and hit half of their 12 three-point shots.
Junior guard Ike Iroegbu led the Cougars with 13 points, and fellow junior guard Que Johnson chipped in 11.
Scott scored a season-high 26 points in CU’s home win against Arizona two weeks ago but garnered far more intensive defensive attention this time around, though he still recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
“I was trying to get to the free throw line, but it didn’t happen”, Scott said.
Colorado and Washington State met twice during the regular season and the Buffaloes won both: 75-70 in Pullman, 88-81 in double overtime in Boulder.
The Buffs opened up a double-digit lead late in the first half and prevented WSU from ever making a serious run the rest of the game.
It’s not that Arizona didn’t have its fair share of spectacular plays in the second half, when Colorado outscored it 58-45.
“Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed”, head coach Tad Boyle said.
Arizona faces No. 8 OR in the semifinals Friday night.
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Halftime: Arizona 37-20. 3-Point Goals: Colorado 5-19 (King 2-5, Fortune 2-9, Akyazili 1-2, Fletcher 0-1, Talton 0-2), Arizona 6-12 (Trier 3-4, Allen 1-1, Jackson-Cartwright 1-1, York 1-5, Tollefsen 0-1). The Buffaloes lead the all-time series with WSU 9-2.
