Christian Koloko scored 16 points to lead five Arizona players in double figures as the Wildcats won their second consecutive game by more than 50 points by routing North Dakota State 97-45 on Tuesday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona (3-0) led 44-23 at halftime and never let up in the second half against the Bison, who were playing their second game in as many nights after losing 64-62 at UNLV on Monday.
Koloko made 7 of 10 shots, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots. Bennedict Mathurin had 15 points with eight rebounds, Azuolas Tubelis added 15 points, Kerr Kriisa contributed 12 and Oumar Ballo had 10.
Arizona, which beat UT Rio Grande Valley 104-50 on Friday night, also played smothering defense. North Dakota State (2-2) shot 26.2 percent and committed 17 turnovers.
Jarius Cook led NDSU with 10 points. Rocky Kreuser, who entered averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game, didn’t score until he drove for a dunk with 17:32 left in the game. He fouled out with two points in 18 minutes.
The Wildcats hit seven 3-pointers — including a trio from Mathurin — in a 31-8 run to start the second half, capped by Ballo’s putback with 12:18 to go for a 75-31 lead. Arizona shot 48.1 percent (13 of 27) from behind the arc for the game.
Arizona, which has not trailed in three games this season, took an 11-0 lead as North Dakota State missed its first five shots and committed three turnovers before scoring a point.
After the Bison made it 11-3, Koloko answered with a jumper in the lane, and the Wildcats led by double-digits for the final 36:13 of the game.
Arizona led by 24 points when Tubelis made two free throws with two seconds left in the half, but Willie Guy drained a shot from just beyond halfcourt at the buzzer to cut NDSU’s deficit to 44-23 at the break.
–Field Level Media
