Arizona had four turnovers in the first four minutes of the first half and found themselves down by 12 at home to a feisty Colorado team with upset on the mind. Just hours after being revealed as a No. 2 seed in the projected NCAA Tournament field and the sixth overall seed, Arizona looked out of sync.

Didn’t last long.

Oumar Ballo got a jumper to fall. Cedric Henderson Jr. nailed a triple. Ballo knocked down another. Courtney Ramey sank a 3. Pelle Larsson got to the rim. And suddenly a 12-0 Arizona run tied things at 18. All in about three minutes. A 14-4 run later in the half sent the eighth-ranked Wildcats into the locker room with a 46-34 halftime lead and they never looked back.

Ballo finished with 18 points and a career-best 16 rebounds, Henderson added 15 points, and Arizona (24-4, 13-4 Pac-12) dominated the rest of the way for a comfortable 78-68 win over Colorado on Saturday.

Ballo added three assists and a block. He shot 8-for-13 from the floor. And then he walked into the postgame press conference with a “money calling” shirt on.

 

With Azuolas Tubelis limited again — 22 minutes, four turnovers, two fouls — Henderson and Ballo picked up the slack inside. The duo combined to shoot 14-for-21 from the field. Larsson added 11 points (on 9-of-11 shooting from the free throw line), five boards, and five assists.

“I was just getting mad. Somebody had to give us a spark,” said Henderson, who had his best scoring performance since Dec. 20.

Ballo stressed after the game that every player goes through rough patches, and they’re not worried about Tubelis’ recent shooting slump. But after averaging 21 points a game through Arizona’s first 25, Tubelis has averaged just 9.3 a game over the last three. Fouls have been an issue.

“It’s not part of the plan, Zu sitting,” said coach Tommy Lloyd. “Part of it maybe is a little bit of bad luck and part of it is self-inflicted wounds by him. He’s got to be smarter and he’s got to play better. He’s had an amazing year, and I think he’s the conference MVP … but we’re still fighting out this season.

“Zu’s gotta play better. He’s a really good player and hopefully he’ll figure it out here.”

Arizona was able to get past Colorado, but Lloyd wasn’t pleased with the overall performance.

“We didn’t play great tonight by any stretch,” Lloyd said, adding that the selection committee’s 2-seed reveal on Saturday is meaningless at this point. “And I don’t think we played like that kind of team tonight.”

A pair of turnovers in the first two minutes of the second half saw Colorado get within seven just 70 seconds in, but a Kerr Kriisa triple 30 seconds later put Arizona back ahead by double-digits and the Buffs never got the margin below 10 from then on.

After getting the score down to seven, Arizona held CU without a make from the field for over five minutes.

Arizona stretched its lead up to as many as 17 points in the second half. Colorado closed out Arizona State on Thursday with a 17-3 run to come from behind and stun the Sun Devils. Arizona afforded no such opportunity for late theatrics.

Tristan da Silva finished with 18 points to lead the Buffs, who shot 39% from the field and 29% from the 3-point line.

Arizona gets an extended break before taking the floor again. Lloyd said they need the break. The Wildcats host Arizona State next Saturday at 11 a.m. PT (CBS) for Senior Day.

The Buffaloes (15-13, 7-10 Pac-12) host USC next Thursday at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2.