Allonzo Trier and the Wildcats chop down the Lumberjacks on Opening night

Opening night for the Arizona Wildcats against the Lumberjacks was a success. They ran away with this one 101-67.

The first game of the 2017-18 season is officially in the books as the Arizona Wildcats were too much for the Lumberjacks to handle for 40 minutes.  With that win, head-to-head matchup, Arizona is now 36-0 vs. NA. That is not a typo!  Allonzo Trier led the team with a career-high 32 points and showed why he is one of the best college basketball players in the country.

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Before the game started, it was announced that assistant coach Mark Phelps and senior Keanu Pinder had violated team rules and would be suspended (Phelps for five days and Keanu Pinder for one game. Note: This had nothing to do with the current on going FBI investigation). Brandon Randolph would also sit out tonight’s game with a concussion along with Dylan Smith who is sitting out due team violations. And still no Rawle Alkins, but good news though he was not wearing his boot!

The Wildcats started out on fire on the offensive end, with Trier leading the charge early. Layups, three-pointers, dunks, he was not wasting any time this season – because that’s what All-American’s do!

The Lumberjacks were holding their own, not intimidated at all, keeping it within a respectable margin for most of the half before the Wildcats would pull out to a 47-29 lead.

Before the first half would end, the Lumberjacks went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 47-36. Lack of focus on the defensive end and on the glass led to this run. Early on in the season, this is expected and against a team like an NAU they can get away with it. Against teams like UCONN and the Pac-12, the Wildcats will need to prevent that from happening.

The stats the Wildcats put up in the first half were UNREAL:

In the second half, Arizona played Arizona ball. They were locked in and put more pressure on the ball on the defensive end.  On offense, they continued to SPLASH away! DeAndre Ayton, who had a “slow” start in the first half with 12 points and six rebounds, stepped it up a few notches in the second half, including this block – what was that guy thinking?!

Dusan Ristic and Alex Barcello also had solid performances in tonight’s win. Ristic was able to use his size, strength, and footwork to his advantage, while Barcello’s athleticism shined with his smooth looking jump shot and spot-on assists.

The closest the Lumberjacks got was within ten early in the second half, before the Wildcats just imposed their will and finished out the game like a No. 3 ranked team should!  Coach Jack Murphy tried everything he could to give his team a realistic chance for an upset, but the Wildcats were just on another level!

Similar to the two exhibition games, their opponent had their work cut out for them, and the Wildcats took care of business. As the season progresses, this team will continue to gain confidence in themselves, in their teammates and Sean Miller‘s coaching system.

Key stats in tonight’s victory:

• Trier finished with a career-high 32 points. Zo now has a total of 741 points in 46 games played – that’s good!
• Both Ristic and Ayton had double-doubles. Ayton now becomes the 4th player in Wildcat history to record a double-double in his debut!
• Wildcats out rebounded the Lumberjacks 43-23
• Parker Jackson-Cartwright lead the team with eight of the Wildcats 21 assists – that’s some teamwork!
• Alkins was looking good on the sideline without his boot. Rawle, we can’t wait to have you back on the floor representing that “Savage Life.”
• Wildcats finished 28-32 from the charity stripe – that’s huge!

Must Read: Arizona Football: 30 reasons why you need to go to the Oregon State game

There is much more Wildcat basketball to enjoy, but Zona Zealots would like to congratulate the team on a standing ovation opening night performance and Zo on a career night!