Johnson anchors complete effort in Arizona’s semifinal rout of Colorado: By the numbers
Mar 15, 2014, 3:45 AM | Updated: 3:55 am
With a No. 1 seed all but locked up, the Arizona Wildcats are simply having fun at this point in the Pac-12 tournament.
And who could blame them, after all what’s not to love about a few extra days in Las Vegas.
The strip’s biggest attraction of the week dispatched of their second straight Pac-12 tournament foe, Colorado, by a final of 63-43 Friday at the MGM Garden Arena.
With the win, Arizona secured its place in the conference title game, which will be played at 3:00 p.m. MST time Saturday afternoon against the winner of UCLA/Stanford.
Here’s a look back at UA’s dominant semifinal performance by the numbers:
1:
Although not completely wire-to-wire in nature, the Wildcats’ 20-point win was as close as one can get. Outside of Xavier Johnson’s basket to begin the game, Sean Miller’s squad never trailed.
3:
Arizona’s first two wins in the Pac-12 tournament gives it not one but two three-game sweeps over Utah and Colorado.
4:
The Wildcats controlled the boards all night long, grabbing 16 more than the Buffaloes en route to a 41-25 advantage. Five different players had at least four rebounds for Arizona, including eight off the bench from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
6:
Freshman Aaron Gordon finished with nine points and nine rebounds but had his greatest impact on the defensive end. Gordon helped force six total turnovers with three blocks and three steals.
8:
Saturday’s appearance in the tournament final will mark the eighth in program history for Arizona. The Wildcats are 4-3 overall in Pac-12 title games and haven’t won it all since 2002.
15:
Friday night’s rout of Colorado was Arizona’s 15th win in 2013-14 decided by 20 points or more. Of the 15, two have come against the Buffaloes.
30:
Not only did the 63-43 triumph punch Arizona’s ticket into Saturday’s final, it marked the 30th win overall for the program this season. The last time the Wildcats won 30 games was in 2010-11 — the same season in which Miller and Co. made a surprise run to the Elite Eight.
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