Caleb Love scored 23 points, Arizona led 56-33 at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half to defeat Samford 96-64 on Wednesday night at McKale Center. Arizona improves to 5-5 overall with its final non-conference game on Saturday versus Central Michigan.
Arizona took its first double-digit lead 30-19 with 8:10 left in the first half and it never fell below 11 points the remainder of the game. The Wildcats extended a 16-15 lead to 39-21 with a 23-6 run and were in command the remainder of the game. Arizona committed only four turnovers in the first half against a Samford team adept at forcing them.
Arizona shot 61.3 percent in the first half. Love led the way with 18 points in the first half on 5-7 from the floor, 2-4 on three-point attempts and 6-8 from the free throw line. Trey Townsend scored 14 points and had eight rebounds and Anthony Dell'Orso also scored 14.
The win is a solid one for Arizona. Samford is just outside quadrant two as the 80th-ranked team in the NCAA Netratings. Home games in quad two are versus teams from 31st through 75th in the netratings. Samford could move up in the rankings to turn the game into a quad-two win for Arizona.
Goodnight from McKale pic.twitter.com/aGIQrUyRzw
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) December 19, 2024
Samford was led by Jaden Brownell with 13 points. Julian Brown and Trey Fort were the only other Samford players in double-figures with 11 points. Samford shot 36.7 percent from the floor and made 12 out of their 35 three-point attempts. Arizona outrebounded Samford 42-23, had a 48-20 edge in points in the paint and 37-12 in fast break points.
Arizona held the lead for 38:30 and the game was tied for 1:13. The Wildcats continued to struggle from three, making only seven of its 22 attempts. Tommy Lloyd started Tobe Awake, Jaden Bradley, Dell'Orso Love and Townsend together for the first time this season.