Arizona Vs Colorado 🏀 Game Preview/Discussion Thread 1/4/24 At 730pm ESPN

[WILD]

Arizona Vs Colorado 🏀 Game Preview/Discussion Thread 1/4/24 At 730pm ESPN

The Colorado Buffaloes (11-2, 8-5 ATS, 7-6 O/U) take on the Arizona Wildcats (10-3, 10-3 ATS, 7-6 O/U) in a conference showdown on Thursday evening. The Buffaloes posted a home win against Washington State in their previous clash. The Wildcats were stunned by Stanford on Sunday. Arizona recorded a 78-68 home win against Colorado in the lone meeting last season.

Colorado Extends Winning Streak
The Colorado Buffaloes head into one of their most challenging games of the season with confidence. Colorado has recorded six straight wins propelled by the scoring. This includes a 73-69 home win against Washington to begin conference play and were 6.5 point favorites in a 74-67 home win against Washington State on Sunday to improve to 2-0 in Pac-12 play. The Buffaloes have covered in four of their last five games.

KJ Simpson continues to dominate. The junior guard has scored at least 20 points in five straight games including 34 on Sunday and has recorded an average of 21.1 PPG on the season. Tristan Da Silva did not play last month due to injury and is questionable for this one. The senior forward is a key player, averaging 15.7 PPG and 5.4 RPG. J'Vonne Hadley has scored double-digits in five straight games. The senior guard has improved his season average to 10.2 PPG on 54% shooting.

The Buffaloes are ranked 25th in DI in Ken Pomeroy's ratings and narrowly missed out on a spot in the AP Top 25. They lost their only road game against Colorado State. Colorado has reached 80 points in three of their last five games and is scoring an average of 84.2 points on the year, good for 25th. They are holding opponents to 68.8 points, positioning them 124th.

Arizona Dealt Upset Loss
The Arizona Wildcats are attempting to rebound from a bad loss. Arizona was 8-0 to begin the season but has not been as dangerous since.  They lost to Purdue along with an OT loss to a ranked FAU squad. Arizona won the conference opener by a convincing 100-81 score against California but were marked huge 13-point favorites in a surprising 100-82 road loss to Stanford on Sunday. The Wildcats have covered the spread in two of their last five games.

Caleb Love continues to shine, collecting at least 22 points in three consecutive games. The senior guard is one of the best players in the conference. Love is sporting an average of 17.4 PPG and 5 RPG. Oumar Ballo is difficult to defend. The senior forward is a double-double threat. He scored 17 points in the win against California and is averaging 13.2 PPG along with 8.2 RPG. Pelle Larsson has shot at least 50% in all but three games this season. The senior guard is posting an average of 12.1 PPG.

The Wildcats are marked 4th in the country in Ken Pomeroy's ratings and plummeted six spots to #10 in the AP Top 25 after the loss to Stanford. Arizona is 6-0 at home including a win against Wisconsin. They are averaging 92.3 points on the season, good for second in the country. The Wildcats are conceding an average of 73.4 points, placing them 239th.

BDU's Free Pick
The Colorado Buffaloes are tough to beat. They have only lost two games one of which was in OT. They have won six consecutive games including the opening two PAC-12 games. Arizona has cooled down, dropping two of their last three games including a stunning loss to Stanford on Sunday.

Colorado has the scoring to keep pace. They are shooting a dazzling 51.8% on the season compared to 49.5% by Arizona. The Buffaloes also have a strong enough defense to keep this Arizona squad in check. Wildcats win, but the Buffs keep it close.

Arizona is favored at 11 and the Over/Under is 162

Let's talk about the Wildcats Vs Buffalo!

BEARDOWN!!!

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[Cactus🌵Cat]

t. lloyd is 1-2 in the last 3 regular season PAC conference games with losses to Stanford and @ McKale to ASU.

#BearDown and win the conference

[arxpert]

Eddie Lampkin owns Arizona. His injury mid-TCU game is the only reason we advanced.

KJ Simpson is better than Boswell. If Kylan wants to shut me up he will have a dominant game vs KJ. Only way. The game within the game. If Boswell wants to go pro, he will have to show dominance against KJ.

Expecting to see more of the Caleb Love show if Tommy isn't going to flip the script.

[Deb]

Buffs have only played one true road game this season: @Colorado St, which they lost.

The great Lumpkin had 2 pts.

[KansasCityCats]

Eddie Pumpkin played the entire 2nd round game against Arizona. The only time he was pulled was when he picked up his 4th foul...which was a brief break.

[arxpert]

Eddie Pumpkin played the entire 2nd round game against Arizona. The only time he was pulled was when he picked up his 4th foul...which was a brief break.

You can omit the injury all you want, but he had a dominant game up until his ankle went capoot then he hobbled to the finish as we barely got to OT. I'll take winning by any means necessary, but I'm not going to flex about it when I know better

[LeftCoastCats]

Plumpkin bulletin board material:

"I owe them from two years ago," Lampkin said. "They beat us in March Madness and I've been waiting on this for two years. I hope they're ready."

https://www.buffzone.com/2024/01/02/mens-basketball-eddie-lampkin-familiar-with-cu-buffs-rivalry-against-arizona/

Let's not give this guy or this team another career high.

[KansasCityCats]

He looked pretty awful in the win over Wazzu. Tripping over his own feet, throwing the ball away and out of position for rebounds.

I'm sure he'll play with a renewed energy against us but if DaSilva is still out, we shouldn't have any issues in this matchup. If CU is at full strength, I'll be a tight one.

[arxpert]

He looked pretty awful in the win over Wazzu. Tripping over his own feet, throwing the ball away and out of position for rebounds.

I'm sure he'll play with a renewed energy against us but if DaSilva is still out, we shouldn't have any issues in this matchup. If CU is at full strength, I'll be a tight one.

Ballo is a big liability. If I were Tommy I wouldn't let him leave the gym without making at least 250 Free Throws per day and each time he is under 70% per every 25 shots, he should have to run suicides. Conditioning and Free Throw Shooting are the only things he is required to work on. He is good enough at what he is in all other phases.

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

There's a possibility Cody Williams & Tristan da Silva could be back to play tonight. Cody sounds highly likely. Tristan sounds like an ambitious 50/50 chance at best.