Slow starts have been a problem for No. 2 Arizona throughout the season. Against Colorado, the Wildcats fell behind 61-50 with nine minutes left in the second half and finally ran into a hole they couldn't climb out of, losing 79-63 to the Buffaloes.
Arizona has now lost 5-straight games to Colorado in the CU Event Center.
"We knew they were going to play better," coach Tommy Lloyd said following his team's loss to Colorado. "Their program has had a ton of success, and they have a successful coach, and they've got a ton of pride, and he really challenged him, and they were great."
The Wildcats struggled to break the Colorado defense and couldn't find their offensive rhythm ending the game shooting 39% from the field and going 5 for 18 from the 3-point line.
With only two players in double-digits, forward Azuolas Tubelis with a team-high 15 points on 4 for 10 shooting from the field and collected eight rebounds.
On the other side of the court, Arizona's (25-3, 15-2 Pac-12) defense struggled and lost the battle of the paint 56-34 and lost 35-33 on the glass.
"They were way more physical than us," Lloyd said when asked about what the Buffaloes did well. "Then they got the game on their terms when they got that lead in the second half and were able to control the tempo and everything."
Colorado (19-10, 11-8) was able to take advantage of the Wildcats' defense and shot 48% from the field and scored 21 points off of 16 Arizona turnovers.
The Buffaloes' offense was led by forward Tristan da Silva, who scored 19 points on 7 for 10 shooting from the field. However, the play of Jabari Walker with his 15 points and 14 rebounds on 6 for 12 shooting.
Arizona's Benn Mathurin struggled to get his shot going and scored 12 points on 3 for 11 shooting from the field while shooting 33% from the 3-point line.
The starting lineup for Arizona scored 41 points while shooting 28% from the field while the bench shot 69% on 13 shot attempts.
Lloyd's team is at the top of the NCAA in assists per game this season by averaging 20.8 assists. In Saturday night's game, the Wildcats had a season-low 11 assists for a (-5) assists-to-turnover ratio.
The Wildcats will finish their 3-game road trip with a matchup against No. 16 USC (24-4, 13-4) at 9 p.m. (MST) on ESPN.
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