TUCSON, AZ — Making his debut as head coach, Tommy Lloyd and Arizona Basketball cruise to the dominating, 81-52 win over Northern Arizona.
It wasn’t the best shooting night for Arizona Basketball as the Wildcats were just 28-69 (40.8 percent) from the field, including 8-25 from three (32.0 percent). Nonetheless, three players still finished in double-figures en route to the 81-52 win.
Sophomore guard Kerr Kriisa had a terrific night as he got the start at point guard for the Wildcats, leading all scorers with 17 points on 6-14 shooting with five assists, two rebounds, and two steals with zero turnovers.
Azuolas Tubelis and Dalen Terry would also have big games, finishing with 13 points and 11 points respectively.
However, it wasn’t all perfect in this one. Arizona would start a little sluggish as they led just 13-10 after the first 10 minutes of play, but as they began to settle down, the Cats would use their stifling defense, turning it into offense.
Over the next 10 minutes, the Wildcats would begin to open things up, outscoring the Lumberjacks 29-12 to lead 42-22 at the half.
A strong second-half performance by Arizona Basketball would put things away for good, giving the Wildcats the 29-point win.
Cranking up the intensity in the second half, Arizona would eventually climb to a 35-point lead after Oumar Ballo made a pair of free throws with 3:49 left to play to make it 80-45.
The Wildcats would even bring in freshmen Shane Nowell and Adama Bal as the two logged some minutes, but didn’t have much of an impact.
And as the Wildcats brought in the deeper parts of their bench, the Lumberjacks would finish the game on a 7-1 run to make things a little closer, but overall, it wasn’t enough as the Cats cruised to the 81-52 victory, giving head coach Tommy Lloyd his first win!
What’s next for Arizona Basketball?
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 1-0 on the year and will have a few days off before they return to action on Friday against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. That game is set for 7:00 P.M. in Tucson and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.