Arizona beats Colorado 82-72 to reach Pac-12 Conference Tourney final

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Pac-12 Tournament Semifinal

Arizona  82  Colorado  72

The 2nd-ranked Arizona Wildcats played without their point guard tonight and needed someone to step in and get the job done.

How about everyone?

Seven Wildcats scored eight points or more and five players combined for 14 assists as Arizona wore down the Buffaloes from the opening tip for a 82-72 semifinal win over Colorado at the Pac-12 Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

Azuolas Tubelis set the tone with 18 first-half points and finished with 20 points on the night, along with 11 rebounds and two assists, while Justin Kier took over for Kerr Kriisa, who was stuck on the bench, in a boot, nursing a sprained ankle. Kier finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists in 32 grueling minutes on the court. 

Dalen Terry (photo above) contributed 12 points, while Bennedict Mathurin added 10 points and Oumar Ballo chipped in 10 points. Pelle Larsson added nine points, while Christian Koloko was a force underneath the bucket with eight points in his 30 hard-nosed minutes of playing time.

Arizona (30-3) shot 52 percent from the field (26 of 50), made 6 of 15 from long range and canned 24 of 25 free throws. The Wildcats out rebounded the Buffaloes 36-27.

A total team effort without Kriisa, who received a lot of love from the Arizona fans in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena as they all wore headbands similar to the one the flamboyant Arizona sharpshooter wears when he's in action on the court.

Tonight, Kriisa nervously sat on the bench and cheered on his teammates. Kriisa will hopefully be back in action next week at the NCAA Tournament. Time will tell. If not, chances are the headbands will resurface.

Kriisa has at least one more game to watch from the sidelines and that is tomorrow night at the T-Mobile Arena as his teammates play for the Pac-12 Conference Tourney title.

Go, Wildcats!