The University of Colorado men’s basketball beat the Arizona Wildcats 71-58 Thursday, healing the wound left by the teams’ previous encounter.

The last game on Jan. 3 was close, but ended with a “no” call from the refs after a three point basket by senior guard Sabatino Chen sailed into the hoop with less than a second on the clock. The game ended up going into overtime and Arizona won, 92-83.

Sophomore guard Spencer Dinwiddie said the rematch in Boulder on Thursday was a chance for redemption.

“We were disappointed in ourselves with how we closed it off, and we were disappointed with the call at the end of the game as well,” Dinwiddie said.  “As far as the slump we went into, we are not blaming it on the call or the refs. We just played some bad basketball. The mark of a good team is to pull out of that and play some good basketball. We proved that tonight.”

The first half went back and forth between the Buffs and the Wildcats. With eight minutes remaining, Colorado led 18-17. But in the final minutes of the half, they increased their lead by seven points.

The Buffs came out strong in the second half and scored eight unanswered points. The rest of the game was only an extension of that established lead.

“We held Arizona to 58 points, which is good enough to beat any good team because we will generally score 60 or more,” Dinwiddie said.

Colorado’s leading scorers were freshman forward Xavier Johnson with 19 and Dinwiddie with 21.

“I got to give credit tonight to Xavier Johnson,” Dinwiddie said. “He made a ton of shots.”

Johnson said that he did well against Arizona because he played with some of the Wildcats before college.

“I knew them when I grew up,” Johnson said. “It fuels up my fire.”

With the win, the Buffs move to 17-7 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-12. Arizona is now 20-4 overall and 8-4 in the conference. Arizona is ranked third in the Pac-12; Colorado is ranked fifth.

Coors Events Center was electrifying throughout the game. Students with season passes were required to pick up paper versions of their tickets in advance to avoid overflow; all of Coors’ 11,200 seats were filled.

“This was a great atmosphere for college basketball tonight, and the entire state of Colorado can be proud,” Boyle said, noting that the team will need an equal amount of support when they face Arizona State at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Boulder.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jillian Arja at [email protected].

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