Arizona Wildcats return home and look like themselves again in blowout win over Colorado

In a 97-50 romp over Colorado, their most lopsided conference win in 27 years, the Wildcats hardly looked like the team that suffered three losses in their previous five games, including a dispiriting 100-82 defeat at Stanford on Sunday.

Nor did they look at all like the team that let Purdue, Florida Atlantic and Stanford each shoot 50% or better during their wins over the Wildcats, this time holding Colorado to 36.4% shooting and scoring 25 points off 18 Colorado turnovers.

Having won games after a loss by an average of 20.5 points under coach Tommy Lloyd entering Thursday, this time the Wildcats hit that margin after less than 14 minutes. They went on an early 13-0 run to push the game quickly out of hand, led 50-24 at halftime and by up to 50 points in the second half.

“I think we’ve usually done a good job of responding in games like this,” said wing Pelle Larsson, who led the Wildcats with 18 points and seven rebounds. “We’ve been working hard and really taking a step back and redoing some things. Looks like it’s working, so we gotta stick to that.”

The Wildcats benefited from injuries that kept out two of Colorado’s three top scorers — forwards Tristan da Silva (ankle) and Cody Williams (wrist) — but they made the Buffs’ leading scorer, former UA signee KJ Simpson, work for his 10 points.

Simpson, who signed in 2020 to play for the Wildcats but flipped to Colorado after UA fired former coach Sean Miller, was 5 for 17 from the field while missing all three 3s he took. He had seven rebounds but had eight turnovers to pair with just two assists.

Larsson said the Wildcats made an effort to play the way they had previously this season, having carried Kenpom’s No. 2 ranking in defensive efficiency into Stanford before the Cardinal outscreened and outmaneuvered them in almost shocking fashion.

“It was just being a little bit more handsy, aggressive and most of all, just playing together — moving like one on defense,” Larsson said. “We did a good job on switches today. They got a few backdoor cuts, but nothing too crazy.

“It was just kind of that feeling we all agreed on in our team meetings, that we gotta get back to playing as one on defense.”

The Wildcats won’t be able to gain back those three losses, and maybe not that No. 1 ranking, however. That was the downside of a December schedule that included five straight games away from McKale Center, including the losses to Purdue in Indianapolis, FAU in Las Vegas and Stanford at Maples Pavilion.

Before Thursday, Arizona had not played a home game since it bowled over Wisconsin 98-73 on Dec. 9.

“I ran our team through a gauntlet, and I would have been shocked if we got through it unscathed,” Lloyd said. “Obviously, that’s what we wanted to do, but it didn’t happen. And then luck, or unluck, of the draw and your first two conference games are on the road and the next thing you know, you haven’t played at home for a month.

“I think maybe we got a little worn down, physically and emotionally, and it’s hard to trend up all the time. But it don’t mean a lot if we don’t respond again on Saturday.”

That’s a lesson Arizona also learned last week. The Wildcats actually took apart Colorado early Thursday in the same sort of manner that they had dealt with Cal a week earlier, but two days after clobbering the Bears, they put up a clunker at Stanford. Utah visits McKale on Saturday.

The Wildcats went on a 20-2 run at Cal to put that game away. On Thursday, they expanded an early four-point lead to 17 with a 13-0 run that was powered in part by two 3-pointers from sophomore guard Kylan Boswell.

After struggling offensively in the Bay Area last week, scoring five points in each game and making only 1 of 7 3-pointers at Stanford, Boswell had 14 points while making 4 of 7 3s on Thursday.

He also had four assists, including a particularly unusual one with just under four minutes to go in the first half. Boswell grabbed an errant pass from Colorado’s Julian Hammond under the basket, dribbled to the Buffs’ free throw line — then bowled a pass directly toward Arizona’s basket.

It bounced twice and almost a third time before Larsson reached down to grab it, then rose for a layup.

Larsson laughed when asked after the game if he and Boswell have worked on that pass.

“Maybe yes,” he said. “But I’m just trying to make sure he doesn’t get a turnover. So if he throws it, I’ll go get it.”

To Lloyd, Boswell’s production was just another part of the plan. Of Boswell’s struggles last weekend, Lloyd said during his pregame news conference that “it’s part of the deal — you hang with them, you help them and you love them.”

After Thursday’s game, that sentiment didn’t change much

“Kylan played well. I mean, guys, Kylan’s 18,” Lloyd said. “Give him some space, give him some time, let him develop. That’s what we’re doing.”

Lloyd’s “18” comment actually drew some quiet chuckles, since broadcast media often noted Boswell being a 17-year-old freshman last season. Now the Wildcats have a 19-year-old freshman in Motiejus Krivas, who is also crawling up the college basketball learning curve.

Krivas had 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting while collecting nine rebounds, helping offset the offensive struggles starting center Oumar Ballo had while making 1 of 7 shots. Both bigs had to face Colorado center Eddie Lampkin, the former TCU center who grabbed 14 rebounds in a second-round NCAA Tournament game against the Wildcats in 2022.

Dealing with physicality is “still the most important thing for me,” Krivas said. “I get into these situations every game and I need to get better.”