After a November that saw Arizona go a perfect 6-0 to start the season, its band, donning holiday sweaters, illustrated a new month for the No. 2 UA. After a nine day break, the Wildcats hosted Colgate and dominated the Raiders 82-55 Saturday afternoon at McKale Center. With the victory, Arizona will be in position to jump to No. 1 in the country for the first time since Jan. 27, 2014, following Purdue’s loss to Northwestern Friday night.

When asked about possibly being the No. 1 team in the country come Monday, UA head coach Tommy Lloyd said "it's what we want in this program."

"I think we gotta get comfortable being in this position," Lloyd said. "We're not gonna get big heads or make it a big deal. "When I came to this program, my dream is to make it one of the best in the country and if you're one of the best in the country, you're gonna stumble into being number one once in a while, so you know what, handle it."

The Wildcats were led by Caleb Love, who dropped 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists, as well as Oumar Ballo, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season.

Trading buckets in the first four minutes of the game, the Wildcats were shaky following a nine day layover since its last game, shooting 2-of-6 from the floor. Still, they were able to run away from Colgate early after a 15-6 run after being tied at four apiece, highlighted by a hounding defensive effort by senior guard Caleb Love, resulting in Love stealing and then drilling a 3-pointer, and an alley-oop slam by Oumar Ballo off an assist from Pelle Larsson, both of which was followed by a sea of Arizona fans chanting “U of A” chants. The UA spread the ball out well in the first half, dishing out 12 assists and limiting the turnovers, only surrendering six. It was also able to make an impact on the defensive end, logging five steals, and forcing the Raiders to eight turnovers. Love and Ballo led the charge offensively with each with multiple figures to aid their team to a 35-30 halftime lead.

UA freshman forward KJ Lewis said following the game that having that much time off, your bound to have a slow start, but once the game came along, they were able to find their rythym and adjust.

"I think we got the jitters out, we're all excited to be out there," Lewis said.

It appeared that the Wildcats came out of the second half with more urgency with the No. 1 seed on the line. Arizona, which had a slow start in the first half, went on a 20-5 run in the first nine minutes. After going 0-10 over the last two halves he played dating back to the MSU game, sophomore guard Kylan Boswell resurrected in the second half, scoring three straight baskets, and finishing with eight points and six assists.

"Kylan should be a true freshman right now," Lloyd said. "We can't forget that, he's having a lot of experiences and learning a lot how to respond to those and I just see him trending in the right direction and see so much room for growth, that excites me, and Kylan knows I am on him, I'm on him pretty hard behind the scenes because I have high expectations for him and that's the way he needs to be coached to reach those expectations."

The Wildcats played efficiently in the second half, shooting 50%, and only surrendering four turnovers which helped propel them to its seventh straight victory. However, Arizona fell just short of having 5+ scorers score in double digits, the first time it hasn't happened this season.

The UA was also able to able to crash the board efficiently in the second half, outrebounding the Raiders 26-13 and limit Colgate, which came into the game averaging nine offensive rebounds per game, to one second chance opportunity for the entirety of the game.

The unbeaten Wildcats (7-0) will host Wisconsin (6-2) next Saturday at 1:15 (MST) and will be streamed on ESPN.

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