Christian Koloko scored a career-high 22 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 16 and Arizona earned an early signature victory under new coach Tommy Lloyd by routing No. 4 Michigan 80-62 in the championship game of the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
The Wildcats (5-0) showed a fast, aggressive style that led to nine dunks, including four by Koloko, a junior who also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots while outplaying Michigan preseason All-American center Hunter Dickinson.
While Arizona made its case to be in Monday’s new rankings, Michigan (3-2) committed 15 turnovers and shot 1 of 14 from 3-point range in losing its second game in six days. The Wolverines fell at home to Seton Hall on Tuesday.
Eli Brooks had a team-high 14 points for Michigan. Dickinson had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Arizona shared the wealth offensively, picking up 22 assists. Azuolas Tubelis tallied 13 points and eight rebounds; Dalen Terry contributed 13 points, five rebounds and five assists; and Kerr Kriisa had seven points and seven assists.
The Wildcats, who squandered a 16-point second-half lead Friday night against Wichita State before winning in overtime, never let up against the Wolverines.
Arizona led 37-29 at halftime and expanded the advantage to 56-40 after a 7-0 run that featured a powerful driving left-handed layup by Tubelis, a steal that led to a fast-break dunk by Terry and a 3-pointer from Mathurin with 15:06 left. The Wildcats went on to lead by 20 on three occasions.
Neither team had more than a four-point lead for the first 14 minutes before Koloko threw down an alley-oop pass from a driving Mathurin to cap a 7-0 run for a 27-21 Arizona lead with 5:37 to go before halftime.
The Wildcats had momentum through the rest of the half. Terry scored seven consecutive Arizona points at one stretch, including a fast-break alley-oop dunk. The lead grew to 37-27 in the final minute, before Brooks drove for a high-arching layup two seconds before the break.
–Field Level Media
