Colorado will host No. 2 ranked Arizona on Saturday, March 7, at the CU Events Center in Boulder. The game is scheduled to tip off at 9:05 p.m. Mountain Time and will be broadcast on ESPN2. Radio coverage will be provided by KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM, with additional online streaming available through Sirius XM.
The Buffaloes currently hold a 17-13 overall record and are tied with Arizona State for 11th place in the Big 12 Conference standings at 7-10. With one regular season game remaining, Colorado can finish no higher than the No. 11 seed for the upcoming Big 12 Championship in Kansas City if they win against Arizona or if Arizona State loses its final game against Iowa State. A loss combined with an Arizona State victory would drop Colorado to the No. 12 seed.
Colorado recently ended a seven-game road losing streak by defeating Utah 92-78 on March 3, ensuring a winning record for the fourteenth time in sixteen seasons under head coach Tad Boyle. The team has also more than doubled its conference win total compared to last year.
The Buffaloes have demonstrated scoring depth this season, with at least four players reaching double figures in twenty of thirty games and six different players leading the team in scoring at various points.
Freshman Isaiah Johnson leads Colorado with an average of 16.6 points per game, ranking third in the Big 12 and seventeenth nationally among freshmen scorers. Johnson also leads his team in free throws made and attempted, three-pointers made, and steals.
Junior Barrington Hargress is Colorado’s top playmaker with a team-high in assists (133) and shooting percentages both from the field (.542) and beyond the arc (.505). He holds one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios nationally among guards listed at six-foot-one or shorter.
Sophomore Sebastian Rancik ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.6 per game) and free throws made while leading Colorado—and standing third in the conference—in free throw percentage at eighty-six percent.
Junior forward Bangot Dak leads Colorado with an average of 6.5 rebounds per game and is fourth on the roster in scoring (11.3 points per game). Dak recorded his fifth double-double of the season during their recent win over Utah.
Freshmen Jalin Holland and Josiah Sanders have started together recently, contributing significantly during their time on court; freshman guard Ian Inman has also emerged as a key contributor off the bench late in conference play.
Colorado’s NET ranking stands at seventy-one as of March 4 after peaking at thirty-nine earlier this season.
Arizona enters Saturday’s matchup having already clinched the Big 12 regular season title with a record of twenty-eight wins and two losses overall (15-2 conference). The Wildcats lead all major offensive categories within their conference—averaging over eighty-six points per game while holding opponents to just under sixty-nine points defensively—and are recognized for their balanced attack featuring seven players averaging nine or more points each night.
Freshman Brayden Burries leads Arizona’s scoring efforts (15.5 ppg), supported by contributions from senior Jaden Bradley (13.9), freshman Koa Peat (13.3), junior Motiejus Krivas (10.8), freshman Ivan Kharchenkov (9.8), senior Tobe Awaka (9.6), and senior Anthony Dell’Orso (9). Awaka tops all Big 12 players—and ranks fourteenth nationally—in total rebounds this season.
This weekend marks the forty-fourth meeting between these programs; Arizona holds a twenty-seven to sixteen advantage all-time but trails twelve to four when playing on Colorado’s home court.
