Arizona Gets Its Second Wind and an Easy Victory

Once the jet lag wore off, the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats woke up.

Playing for the first time since losing to No. 3 Duke in the Maui Invitational championship game Wednesday night at Lahaina, the Wildcats overcame a sloppy start to beat North Carolina Asheville, 97-69, Saturday night at Tucson.

“In the first half I think we were somewhere between here and Maui,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “We were playing like we were a little tired. We had far too many turnovers.”

Arizona turned the ball over on its first six possessions and had 12 turnovers at halftime. They finished with 21.

Arizona didn’t make its first basket until four minutes into the game but took control after that with a 19-4 run to take a 27-13 lead. Michael Dickerson then sparked a 7-0 burst with two dunks to put Arizona ahead, 36-17.

Asheville (2-3) never got closer than 14 points in the second half.

No. 8 Kentucky 76, No. 13 Clemson 61--The Wildcats broke open a close game with a 15-2 run to beat the Tigers in a Premier Classic game at Phoenix.

Kentucky (4-1) outscored Clemson, 34-14, after the Tigers (3-2) took a 47-42 lead on a bank shot by Greg Buckner with 13:52 left.

No. 10 New Mexico 86, San Jose State 57--The Lobos (5-0) missed nine of their first 12 shots then made 13 of the next 17 to build a 43-21 halftime lead as they extended their home winning streak to 31 games.

Kenny Thomas had 21 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high eight assists to lead the Lobos. Thomas, 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, has scored and rebounded in double figures in five straight games.

Arkansas 70, No. 12 Fresno State 69--Tarik Wallace made a three-point basket to tie the score and Nick Davis provided the margin of victory with a free throw in the first game of the Premier Classic at Phoenix.

Davis scored his 15th point with 1:06 left when he made the first shot of a one-and-one, helping the Razorbacks improve to 4-0 for the first time in four years.

Former USC center Avondre Jones had 23 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for the Bulldogs (3-1).

No. 14 Iowa 101, Long Island 69--The Blackbirds, who won their previous game by an NCAA-record 117 points, were on the losing end of a rout at Iowa City.

Ryan Bowen scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes (3-0), who topped 100 points for the third straight game.

The Blackbirds (2-3) never got going against the Hawkeyes. They were outrebounded, 65-36, and shot just 32% from the field.

Charles Jones, who was averaging 41 points a game, was held to 21. Jones scored 53 points in Wednesday’s 179-62 victory over Division III Medgar Evers.

Wisconsin 75, No. 18 Oklahoma 64--Duany Duany scored five points during a 12-0 fourth quarter run to lead the Badgers past the Sooners (3-2) in a consolation game at the Big Island Invitational at Hilo.

Georgia Tech 73, No. 19 Louisville 69--The Yellow Jackets improved to 4-0 by upsetting the Cardinals (2-1) in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Shootout at Bayamon.

Matt Harpring, the tournament MVP, scored a game-high 18 points to lead Georgia Tech. Cameron Murray, a freshman guard from Glendora High, led the Cardinals with 14 points.

Hawaii 82, No. 21 Indiana 65--Alika Smith scored seven points and Anthony Carter added five during a 22-7 run over the final 8 1/2 minutes to break open a close game and enable the Rainbows to upset the Hoosiers in the opening game of the Tipoff Classic late Friday night at Honolulu.

OTHER GAMES

David Sivulich made two free throws with 18 seconds left to enabling St. Mary’s to beat California, 64-61, at the Oakland-Alameda Arena. The Gaels (2-1) broke a 14-game losing streak against Pacific 10 teams dating back to when it beat the Bears (0-2) in December of 1987. . . . Oregon did not make a basket in the final eight minutes at Eugene, Ore., and Santa Clara beat the Ducks, 67-58. The Broncos (2-1) outscored Oregon (1-2) during the span.

Wake Forest extended its nonconference winning streak at home to 23 games with a 71-67 victory over Richmond. Loren Woods led the Demon Deacons (5-0) with 21 points and 15 rebounds. . . . Casey Green scored 39 points to lead Southwestern Louisiana (2-3)) past Alaska Anchorage, 101-80, for seventh place in the Great Alaska Shootout. The Division II Seawolves (4-3) finished last for the first time since 1984. . . . Michael Jordan made three straight three straight jump shots to give Pennsylvania the lead with 3:19 left and the Quakers (2-2) beat Washington State (2-2), 69-67, in the San Juan Shootout at Caguas, Puerto Rico.