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No. 7 Arizona faces Colorado Thursday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 2/26/2015  at  6:11:00 AM
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ARIZONA WILDCATS (24-3)

at COLORADO BUFFALOES (12-14)

Coors Events Center – Boulder, CO
Tip-off: Thursday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: N/A

Colorado tries to post a signature win during a miserable season when it hosts No. 7 Arizona on Thursday night.

The Wildcats have ripped off 10 wins in their past 11 games (8-3 ATS), which started with a 68-54 blowout of the Buffaloes on Jan. 15. That was one of Colorado's three losses to top-25 teams this season, as the club was also blown out twice by Utah by margins of 25 and 28 points. The Buffs are 3-9 SU (4-7-1 ATS) in their past 12 games, which includes a 2-3 mark (SU and ATS) at home where they are 10-4 SU (8-5-1 ATS) this season. Arizona is 6-3 SU (5-4 ATS) in true road games this season and is also 12-2 SU (9-5 ATS) with a +17.3 PPG margin after having at least three days of rest. Colorado is 5-6 (SU and ATS) in this heavy rest scenario. The Wildcats have dominated this series recently with five straight wins SU, all by double-digits and a +16.6 PPG margin, but the Buffaloes hold the 5-3 ATS advantage in the past eight meetings. This includes Colorado SU wins at home in 2012 and 2013, but Arizona rolled to an easy 88-61 road win in this series last February with 57 second-half points, marking its first victory in Boulder since 1973.

Can Arizona cover the hefty spread in a tough environment? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts selections every week throughout the entire 2013-14 season. The experts have been heating up since Dec. 23, combining for a 57% ATS mark (129-98-3) in college basketball Best Bets. StatFox Gary is a strong 60% ATS (28-19) during this timeframe to improve to 60% ATS (46-31) for the season. StatFox Brian is 65% ATS (26-14-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 28 to put him at 58% ATS (43-31-1) this season, while StatFox Zach is on a 58% ATS (22-16) Best Bets run since Jan. 1 and has a 55% ATS mark (42-34) this season. StatFox Scott is a lofty 60% ATS (27-18-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 23, and StatFox Dave is 67% ATS (8-4) since Feb. 6.

Arizona is excellent in nearly all facets with 75.6 PPG and only 58.7 PPG allowed for a whopping +16.9 PPG scoring margin. The team outshoots opponents by nearly 10 percent, with an offensive clip of 49.0% FG, while posting a 39.7% FG Pct. on defense. The Wildcats are able to do this with an admirable 1.2 Ast/TO ratio and +2.9 turnover margin. The only areas Arizona's offense isn't particularly strong in are three-point shooting (4.9 per game, 35.3% threes) and foul shooting (68.7% FT). The Wildcats have a very balanced offense with six players averaging at least 22.5 MPG and 8.8 PPG. The team's scoring leader is freshman swingman Stanley Johnson (14.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.4 SPG), who shoots 47% FG and 36% threes. He lit up Colorado for a career-high 22 points (7-of-15 FG, 8-of-9 FT) and eight rebounds on Jan. 15, but is coming off his worst offensive showing of his career on Saturday when he made just 1-of-9 FG in the win over UCLA. Junior F Brandon Ashley (11.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds (4 offensive) to go along with seven points in last month's win versus the Buffaloes. He has also scored 11+ points in eight of his past 10 games, but was dreadful in Saturday's win with just five points on 2-of-10 shooting. F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (11.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG) shoots 53% FG, but was 1-for-6 FG in Saturday's win and 0-for-3 from the floor in the victory over Colorado earlier this season. But entering Saturday, the sophomore had posted 11+ points in six straight contests where he knocked down 62% of his shots. PG T.J. McConnell (9.9 PPG, 6.0 APG, 3.8 RPG) has a 50% FG clip and a stellar 3.1 Ast/TO ratio this season. He posted a well-rounded eight points, seven rebounds and six assists in the Jan. 15 victory over the Buffaloes, and is riding a five-game streak of double-figure scoring (14.0 PPG). Seven-foot C Kaleb Tarczewski (8.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG) scored 14 points (5-of-7 FG) in just 25 minutes versus Colorado last month, and has 12.3 PPG on 70% FG (14-of-20) with 7.3 RPG in his past three games.

The Buffaloes only real chance in this game is to dominate the glass as it has done so often this season (+4.2 RPG margin). The team also blocks 4.0 shots per game, which helps limit opponents to 65.3 PPG on 41.0% FG. But this is not a good offensive club, averaging a mere 66.7 PPG on 42.4% FG and 35.1% threes. It also holds a minus-1.8 turnover margin with 13.4 turnovers committed per game. The one consistent scorer for Colorado this season is G Askia Booker (17.0 PPG, 3.3 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.4 SPG) who shoots 39% from the floor and 36% from three-point range. Booker scored 30 of his team's 54 points in the loss at Arizona last month, as he drained 11-of-17 shots (6-of-9 threes) with four rebounds and three assists to keep the final score somewhat respectable. Booker will need to improve greatly on Saturday's performance when he made just 2-of-14 FG in the 14-point loss at Oregon State. C Josh Scott (12.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1.8 BPG) is a presence down low with a soft touch to pull opposing big men away from the rim, and he finally looks healthy after a long absence due to a back injury. Scott didn't play in the loss in Tucson on Jan. 15, but has yanked down 30 rebounds in his past three contests to go along with 7.0 PPG. The team's third option on offense is junior swingman Xavier Johnson (11.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG) who is coming off a strong 12-point, nine-rebound effort in Saturday's loss. Johnson did not play versus the Wildcats last month, but faced them three times last season with very different results. After scoring 21 points (7-of-12 FG) in Tucson, he made just 1-of-10 shots at home for five points, before posting a respectable 11 points and five rebounds in the Pac-12 Tournament loss to Arizona last March.


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