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No. 1 Arizona tops Colorado, runs record to 19-0

Jan 24, 2014 - 5:34 AM Tucson, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Nick Johnson netted 18 points, Brandon Ashley scored 15 and No. 1 Arizona led wire-to-wire in a 69-57 triumph over Colorado Thursday at McKale Center.

Aaron Gordon donated 12 points and grabbed four rebounds for Arizona (19-0, 6-0 Pac-12), which matched the longest winning streak in program history with its 19th straight win.

"We did some really good things," Arizona head coach Sean Miller remarked. "You always like to point out individual performances. I thought that Aaron Gordon, Brandon Ashley and Nick Johnson did an excellent job."

Xavier Johnson drained all four of Colorado's 3-pointers en route to a game- high 21 points, while Josh Scott tallied 15 points and 11 boards for the Buffaloes (15-5, 4-3), who fell to 0-16 all-time against No. 1 ranked opponents.

Arizona opened the game on a 13-2 run behind seven points from Ashley, while the Buffaloes didn't bury their first field goal until nearly 5 1/2 minutes into the game.

Askia Booker's layup finally gave Colorado its first basket with 14:35 on the first-half clock, but Gordon followed with a dunk and Gabe York drilled a trey after a Booker turnover to push Arizona's lead to 18-4 less than six minutes in.

"We dug ourselves a hole," Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said. "We had trouble scoring the ball and they made shots. We didn't have an offensive rhythm all night."

Colorado countered with a quick 10-2 surge to get within six, but the Buffaloes went the next six-plus minutes without a field goal, allowing Arizona to build a 39-24 lead by intermission.

Gordon helped Arizona extend the margin early in the second half, pouring in six straight points from in close to push the spread to 51-31 with 15:13 to play.

A Xavier Talton jumper had Colorado within 58-44 with just under eight minutes remaining, but Ashley answered with a layup to spark a 6-1 swing that increased Arizona's advantage to 64-45 with 5:17 left.

The Wildcats cruised to victory from there, never allowing Colorado to get closer than 11 the rest of the way.

"Our second half maybe wasn't as good as our first but there are always good lessons to be learned from that and still leave with the win," Miller continued.

Game Notes

Colorado hasn't won at Arizona since Dec. 3, 1960 ... Booker finished with 11 points for the Buffaloes ... Arizona scored 44 points in the paint, compared to 26 for Colorado ... The Wildcats scored 23 points off 16 Colorado turnovers ... Arizona shot 49.2 percent (29-of-59) from the floor.