TUCSON, Ariz. — By a fraction of a second, the Arizona Wildcats are still unbeaten.
Colorado’s Sabatino Chen banked in a 3-pointer at the end of regulation, but officials waved it off after reviewing the video, and the third-ranked Wildcats went on to win 92-83 in overtime on Thursday night.
Some replays indicated the shot was taken in time. Others showed that perhaps it wasn’t.
“It came down to fingertips, maybe," Chen said.
Maybe.
Chalk up another heart-stopping victory for Arizona, following a 65-64 win over Florida on Mark Lyons’ layup at the buzzer and 68-67 over San Diego State on Nick Johnson’s late block.
“We have a great group of guys but we can get a lot better," Johnson said. “We’ve escaped with some tough wins but we’re going to go back to practice and get better."
This one — in the Pac-12 opener for both — was the most improbable of all. Arizona (13-0, 1-0 Pac-12) outscored the Buffaloes 10-2 over the final 1:35 of regulation to force overtime. The Buffaloes (10-3, 0-1) missed four of six free throws in that span.
“We would have gotten what we deserved if we had lost," Arizona coach Sean Miller said.
When Chen banked in the 3-pointer, it looked like that would be the outcome. But after huddling for several minutes, the officials said no. Referee James Breeding told a television announcer that the ball was on Chen’s fingertips when the lights around the backboard went on.
“If it’s the wrong call, I’m really, really sick to my stomach," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said, “because we had guys in this locker room that deserved to win that game."
Askia Booker led Colorado (10-3, 0-1) with 18 points.
The Wildcats were down by 17 points in the first half and 16 with 12:40 to go in regulation.
Arizona’s 13-0 start is the second-best in school history and best since the Wildcats won their first 16 in 1932-33.
Also on Thursday:
No. 2 Michigan 94
Northwestern 66
EVANSTON, Ill. — Trey Burke scored 23 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. added 21 and Michigan (14-0, 1-0 Big Ten) remained unbeaten.
No. 10 Gonzaga 78
Pepperdine 62
MALIBU, Calif. — Elias Harris scored 18 points and Kelly Olynk had 16 to lead Gonzaga (14-1, 1-0) in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.
UCLA 79
California 65
LOS ANGELES — Kyle Anderson had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and UCLA (11-3) won its sixth straight, defeating California. Allen Crabbe, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, had 16 of his 21 points in the second half for the Golden Bears (8-5).
USC 71
Stanford 69
LOS ANGELES — Jio Fontan scored 15 points including a pair of tiebreaking free throws with 6.9 seconds to play as USC (6-8, 1-0 Pac-12) won. Andy Brown had 17 points for Stanford (9-5).
