BOULDER, Colo.
Arizona and Colorado once had a steamy basketball relationship that was promoted as “Fire On the Mountain” and “Dogfight in the Desert,” but on Thursday night, the Wildcats broke it off.
It’s over.
Arizona has beaten the Buffaloes six straight times, the last four by an aggregate 86 points. This isn’t just a temporary breakup. The Buffaloes have fallen so far you can’t find them in the lost and found.
“We’re not even on the map in college basketball right now,” CU coach Tad Boyle said after losing 82-54 to the Wildcats. He was so steamed that he said, “I want to fight somebody right now.”
That would be preferable to the performance the once-proud Buffaloes dispensed on Thursday.
“Even passing and catching the ball for us was hard,” said Boyle. “I’m sick of the way we’ve played.”
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When the Buffaloes stung the Wildcats in the 2012 Pac-12 Tournament finals and sold out the Coors Events Center while beating Arizona in 2012 and 2013, it became a made-to-order-rivalry to replace those that had cooled, like Arizona-UCLA and Arizona-Stanford.
Colorado announced Thursday’s attendance as a sellout, 11,120, but there couldn’t have been more than 7,500 in the aging building, and not once was there a run or a bit of drama.
Arizona was so carefree that Kaleb Tarczewski, who celebrated his 22nd birthday by scoring 14 points, laughed and said, “I’m getting old.”
As Arizona walked to its halftime locker room Thursday, leading 37-25, assistant coach Damon Stoudamire gave Stanley Johnson a chat on the finer points of driving into the teeth of a defense, and Sean Miller sought out and asked referee D.G. Nelson about a botched call or two.
Nobody said anything to Colorado guard Askia Booker, who walked alone to the Buffaloes’ locker room, shaking his head, talking to himself.
Booker clanked nine of his 12 first-half shots, many of them forced against Arizona’s defense. In the final 20 seconds, Booker dribbled all the time off the clock and then cast up a desperation air ball.
If Stoudamire and Miller had spoken to Booker, they probably would’ve said, “Keep shooting,” even though he is clearly CU’s best option.
Sometimes in college basketball you don’t have to beat the other guys as much as let them beat themselves.
Such was the case at Coors. It wasn’t an artist at his canvas as much as it was the Buffaloes fingerpainting, making a mess of the place.
Booker finished with a 5-for-16 shooting night, taking nine more shots than any of his teammates. He didn’t score in the final nine minutes because Boyle took him out of the game and didn’t put him back in.
Miller said the right things about the disappearing Buffaloes. “In fairness to Colorado,” he started, and then recounted the difficulties Boyle has encountered with injuries.
“It’s tough when you’re patchwork coaching almost. It’s a situation I wouldn’t wish on anybody.”
Miller has paid his dues at Coors. His 2012 team lost 64-63 on a night his starting lineup included 6-foot 6-inch junior-college transfer Jessie Perry at center, and a backcourt that included Jordin Mayes.
That’s the occasion Miller used his “death by inches” description of his size-challenged Wildcats.
All of that has changed.
The difference between Arizona and Colorado since 2012 is that Miller has recruited as well as anybody in America not named John Calipari.
Boyle’s recruiting has been, well, dreadful. That’s it. You can’t beat the No. 7 team in the nation with Askia Booker firing 16 jump shoots with a hand in his face, and Booker is CU’s only feared weapon until center Josh Scott returns to full health.
Boyle was assessed a technical foul with 1:32 remaining in a blowout, which was more exasperation than anything else.
“I’m tired of this,” he said, his face flush. “I want the players to know it, I want the fans to know it and I want the refs to know it.”
It’s unfortunate Boyle has exhausted his college eligibility (he was a role player at Kansas from 1981-85). His team doesn’t have many better options.
Arizona immediately left Boulder, drove to the Denver airport and took a midnight charter flight to Salt Lake City. There awaits its latest rival-in-waiting, the Utah Utes, who are in 2015 what the Buffaloes appeared to be just two years ago.
Saturday’s showdown at the Huntsman Center is the game of the year in the Pac-12, and Miller appeared pleased at how his team handled preparations on Thursday.
What wasn’t to like? The UA offense clicked everywhere; when CU overplayed a screen, the Wildcats got the ball inside, open, for what turned out to be a layup drill.
Gabe York, who has been terrific recently, scored in double-figures for the fifth time in Pac-12 play. He scored as many points as Booker, 14, but did so with 10 fewer shots.
It’s that type of efficiency that separates Arizona from Colorado.
“We’re 25-3, and it’s not an easy record to have,” said Miller.
In a way, it’s almost like the first 28 games have been a preliminary to the Utah showcase.
March begins Sunday on the calendar, but for Arizona it starts Saturday in Salt Lake City.
