ARIZONA BASKETBALL

Kylan Boswell’s double-bounce pass highlights end of Arizona point guard’s slump

Jan 5, 2024, 8:50 AM

KJ Simpon of Colorado is defended by Arizona's Kylan Boswell...

KJ Simpson #2 of the Colorado Buffaloes passes around Kylan Boswell #4 of the Arizona Wildcats during the first half at McKale Center on January 04, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Arizona Wildcats point guard Kylan Boswell had shot above 40% in two of his past eight contests coming into a Thursday game against Colorado.

It was a noticeable streak after he’d hit better than 57% in his first five games of the season.

Viewed as the Arizona Wildcats’ best NBA Draft prospect at present, Boswell shook out of a slump with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting in a 97-50 rout of the Buffaloes. It included four made threes.

But the highlight to Boswell’s evening was his double-bounce pass with some spin to it that set up a Pelle Larsson transition layup.

“He does amazing things like that pretty often. Great guy and great player so I just run and he’ll find me,” Larsson told reporters postgame.

That creativity and some defense on 20-point-per-game scorer K.J. Simpson (5-of-17 shooting, eight turnovers), helped Arizona roll past a now-11-3 team that notably was missing two of its best players, top-five NBA Draft prospect Cody Williams and forward Tristan da Silva.

After the game, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd preached patience for the previously slumping Boswell, who last year played as a 17-year-old freshman coming off a serious injury.

“Guys, Kylan’s 18,” Lloyd told reporters. “Give him … some grace. Give him some space, give him some time, let him develop. That’s what we’re doing. He played really well today and hopefully, he can continue to build on it, but by no means is he a finished product.”

That patience to develop him as a college player will be tested if Boswell plays more like he did Thursday night.

ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony ranks the point guard as the 34th best prospect in his rankings for the 2024 class, ahead of teammates Keshad Johnson (39th) and Larsson (40th).

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