After a slow start, Arizona men’s basketball worked its way back to tie the game 30-30 against Colorado at halftime in the McKale Center. 

Arizona trailed 14-4 in the first eight minutes of the game, but returned with strong defense in the final 10 minutes of the half. 

The Wildcats let Colorado jump to a 8-0 lead in the first three minutes until Dusan Ristic started scoring for the Wildcats with a layup. Arizona continued to struggle, letting the Buffs increase the lead to 14-4 after the second media timeout. 

Halfway through the half, the Wildcats started hitting shots and held the Buffs without a field goal for over three minutes while making a run to tie the game. 

Deandre Ayton led the Wildcats with eight points and four rebounds. Six of his eight came from the free throw line as he shot 1-for-3 from the floor. 

Colorado brought a heavy zone defense and once again Arizona looked slow offensively against the zone. The Wildcats shot 1-11 from the floor until midway through the first half. 

Arizona ended the half shooting 38 percent and 2-of-9 from 3-point range while the Buffs shot 42 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep. 

Once again Rawle Alkins missed the game with soreness in his foot. Alkins broke the foot before the season started and missed the first nine games. He then returned for the next nine games but sat out Jan. 17 when Arizona played at California. He returned to play 34 minutes against Stanford two days later without any trouble. 

Dylan Smith started in Alkins place and hit Arizona’s first three halfway through the first half. Smith scored seven points and hit a last-second jump shot as the shot clock expired late in the half. 

Allonzo Trier took awhile to get going, he didn’t score until midway through the half. Trier ended the half with seven points on 3-for-8 shooting. 

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