BOULDER — For as much of a fight as Tad Boyle’s team put up, this game may have been decided when the visitors stepped off the bus.

Despite leading for over half the game, Colorado just didn’t have enough size and physicality to compete with No. 2 Arizona as the Wildcats (29-2, 16-2 Big 12) used a strong second half to pull away from the Buffaloes (17-14, 7-11) for an 89-79 win on Saturday night at the CU Events Center.

Granted, CU was missing 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Sebastian Rancik, the team’s third-leading scorer who was out for a second straight game with an injury, but there is a reason a decent chunk of the large crowd that made its way to Boulder was wearing red and keeping the “U of A!” chants going all night long: This Arizona team might have as good of a chance as any team in the country to win the national championship.

Standout five-star freshmen Brayden Burries and Koa Peat combined for 56 points for the Wildcats, while Buffs freshman Isaiah Johnson did all he could with a season-high 28 points, breaking Alec Burks’ freshman-season scoring record in the process.

Despite the loss, this regular season has been an unequivocal step in the right direction for Boyle’s team. CU has more than doubled last year’s Big 12 win total of three and will head to this week’s conference tournament as the No. 11 seed after being picked to finish 15th in the league by the coaches and media.

The Buffs will face No. 14 seed Oklahoma State on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., ESPN+) in the opening round, with the winner set to take on No. 6 seed TCU. Despite entering as the No. 16 seed last season, the Buffs did win a pair of games in the Big 12 tournament before bowing out against No. 1 seed Houston.

Arizona is the No. 1 seed in the tournament after winning the conference by a full two games over second-place Houston.