The No.4-seeded Arizona Wildcats (24-7) and Colorado Buffaloes (22-10) meet in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament at MGM Grand. Action begins at 5:30 pm ET on Thursday, Mar. 10 and can be seen on PAC.
The Wildcats played well in their last game, blowing out Stanford 94-62 in their last matchup. Gabe York was the game’s leading scorer with 32 points on 9-for-15 shooting. The Buffaloes, meanwhile, are coming off an 80-56 win against Washington State in the 1. George King was the game’s top scorer, accounting for 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting.
From an eFG% perspective, this will be a matchup of two heavyweights. Arizona’s sharp-shooting offense is ranked 32nd in the nation in that metric at 54.1%, while Colorado is 33rd-best in the nation at making opponents miss (46.9%). Moreover, the Buffaloes are among the nation’s elite on the offensive backboards, ranking 14th in OR% at 34.9%. But the Wildcats rank second at corralling defensive rebounds with a DR% of 76.6%.
This is the second game of the season between these two teams, with the Buffaloes winning the first matchup 80-56. Ryan Anderson put up 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Notes
Colorado won its last game by a 24-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Arizona is 9-0. Colorado is 5-2 in blowouts this season.
The Arizona Wildcats have a defensive rating of 96.3 (ranked 14th), while the Colorado Buffaloes have an offensive rating of 107.9 (ranked 125th).
Arizona is ranked 17th in the country with an average field goal percentage of 48.6%. Colorado is an even 3-3 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Arizona Wildcats rank higher based on their field goal percentage (17th) than their effective field goal percentage (32nd). The Colorado Buffaloes rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (224th) than their field goal percentage (236th).
Arizona ranks 85th in assists, registering 14.8 per game. Colorado performs worse at 143rd with 13.8 assists per game.
Colorado, the fourth-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 42.2 rebounds per game. Arizona ranks 26th with 40.1.
The Colorado Buffaloes rank 40th in offensive rebounds, and the Arizona Wildcats rank 15th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
On average, Arizona forces a turnover rate of 16.6%. When Colorado turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a solid 11-7 record.
