If Arizona can put consistently put together games like the one it had Monday night then the Wildcats will be on their way to an impressive season. UA (7-1, 1-1 Pac-12) put together a complete game en route to an 88-74 victory over Colorado in a makeup game from earlier in the month.
The Buffaloes jumped out to an early lead, but UA was able to gain control midway through the first half before another run from CU helped them regain the lead. However, the Wildcats used an 8-0 run over the final two minutes of the first half to take a six-point lead into the locker room.
UA would never look back from that moment as it controlled the game and held a lead for the entire second half to lock up the important home win at McKale Center.
"I think in the Pac-12 right now you should be worried about every game," Arizona head coach Sean Miller said. "We have a terrific conference, a lot of returning players from a year ago, a lot of teams that are hungry to have great Januarys and Februarys now that the holiday season is over. Colorado is one of those teams.
"I believe they're a postseason team. ... They're a skilled group. They have size, they play defense, they play offense and I think they have an excellent team. So, when you beat an excellent team you feel good about what you accomplished."
The Wildcats once again leaned on redshirt sophomore point guard James Akinjo who continues to prove that he is more than just a scorer who happens to have the ball in his hand. The Georgetown transfer has been able to showcase his playmaking ability as a facilitator this season, and he did so once again Monday night in the win over CU. Akinjo had a game-high eight assists to go with a game-high 22 points in the victory.
"I wanna come in, I wanna stay aggressive get my team off to a good start in the Pac-12," he said. "Nothing changed. My teammates keep giving me confidence, my coaches keep giving me confidence and I come out with the same mindset every game."
The struggles that Akinjo had against Stanford less earlier this month feel like a lifetime ago as he has bounced back with two impressive performances since then. Miller has talked about Akinjo's importance to this year's team, but the rest of the Wildcats feel that, too, heading into the rest of the Pac-12 schedule.
"We believe in James a lot," graduate transfer guard Terrell Brown Jr. said. "He's the engine to our team, h's the head of the snake. So, we don't harp too much about the past games. We go to the next one and he was prepared today. He's always prepared to play, and we believe in him a lot."
Much like Akinjo has started to settle in with his new team this season, Brown has done the same and he turned in one of his best performances of the year in the win over Colorado. The senior, who joined the Wildcats this year after playing at Seattle University where he finished as one of the top 20 scorers in college basketball last season, has taken on a new role this year at Arizona.
His ability to create shots for others and play the role of distributor has suited him on this team and he shined in that area once again on Monday. Brown finished the game with seven assists to go with 12 points in addition to not having a turnover in the win. Brown's experience is something that is working in his favor this season, but there is still a learning curve with his new team. Monday night he took a step forward.
"He came here to embrace a role and he's playing that role well," Miller said. "We're on him to rebound better on defense. We're on him to be detailed and learn our system on defense. No matter how experienced you are this is the first time he's every played for us. It takes some time, and I feel like every game that he's playing he's getting more comfortable getting used to playing for a new coach, new style.
"But, he really plays his role well."
Arizona was able to get the job done on both ends of the floor limiting its mistakes while finding balance on offense. Five different players scored for the Wildcats in the game, which was moving at a rapid pace early. Jemarl Baker Jr. (14 points), Jordan Brown (10) and Christian Koloko all finished in double figures while freshman power forward Azuolas Tubelis nearly reached that mark with nine points to go with six rebounds.
Koloko was particularly impressive in his best performance of the season as he collected a team-high eight rebounds in the win. He was much more aggressive at the rim with several dunks. The sophomore has been having some issues finishing plays at the rim forcing Miller to move him out of the starting lineup in favor of Tubelis.
Monday he didn't have those problems and his teammates were happy to see it.
"He played out of his mind, I think," Brown said. "He took that break and I feel like he came back energized and ready to play again. ... That's what we need him to do."
Defensively the Wildcats mixed up their looks, including throwing some zone into the mix at times, to thwart a potent offense led by senior point guard McKinley Wright IV. The veteran Colorado guard ended up with just 10 points in the game as the Wildcats did a good job of limiting the offense for CU in the second half after both teams hit plenty of shots in the first 20 minutes.
UA held the Buffaloes to 30 points in the second half while also forcing them into mistakes resulting in 16 points off turnovers to just four for CU. UA ultimately only turned the ball over eight times in the win.
Arizona will now prepare for a quick turnaround as it heads to the Pacific Northwest this weekend for its first weekend road trip with games against Washington and Washington State.
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