LAS VEGAS — The Pac-12 tournament’s top-seeded Arizona Wildcats defeated the No. 5 seed Colorado 63-43 in front of a sold-out crowd Friday evening in the first semifinal match of the night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Arizona will face off against the winner of the Stanford/UCLA contest in the tournament final tomorrow at 3 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
After a close first half which ended with a three-point lead for the UA, Arizona began to gradually widen the gap and at one time, led Colorado by as many as 22 points.
Midway through the second half, the Wildcats had a 12-point advantage over the Buffaloes. With 6:28 left on the clock, Arizona had pulled ahead by 20.
Junior guard Nick Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed four rebound. Junior point guard T.J. McConnell scored 12 points, grabbed four rebounds and compiled five assists and a steal.
Sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski pulled down seven rebounds and scored five points. Freshman forward Aaron Gordon contributed nine points and nine rebounds to accompany three assists, three blocks and three steals.
Freshman forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson emerged for the Wildcats after a slow start and scored all of his 12 points in the final half. He also ended with eight boards, an assist, block and steal.
—Follow Evan Rosenfeld @EvanRosenfeld17
