Arizona routs Houston Baptist in tale of two halves to open regular season

Sloppy first half, better second half

Breaking in five new starters and a bevy of new faces, Sean Miller said he plans to be more patient than usual this season as his team works out its kinks.

Perhaps Wednesday’s season-opener was a microcosm of what’s to come this year.

After a sloppy first half laced with more turnovers than made field goals, the Arizona Wildcats surged in the second half en route to a 90-60 win over the Houston Baptist Huskies.

The Wildcats shot 38 percent in the first half with 11 turnovers and nine made field goals. Still, they led by nine, partly because of their defense and partly because Houston Baptist played like a team that went 6-25 last season.

The Huskies, who broke the rim during pregame layup drills and delayed tipoff by 15 minutes, seemingly tried their best to shatter it in the game, posting a dismal .32/.24/.41 shooting line.

Arizona was much more cohesive in the final 20 minutes, outscoring HBU 57-36. The Wildcats shot 59 percent in the second half, only committing two turnovers.

A corner 3 by Emmanuel Akot off a feed from Justin Coleman extended Arizona’s lead to 46-33 with 14 minutes to play, its largest advantage at the time. The Wildcats led by double figures the rest of the way.

Arizona was once again led by Brandon Randolph, who had a career-high 25 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting. Brandon Williams had 13 points but on 2-of-11 shooting, but went 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and had a team-high four assists.

The Wildcats were 28 for 36 at the charity stripe as team, entering the bonus early in both halves. Arizona did not fare as well from the perimeter, shooting 6 for 22 from 3, somewhat discouraging after it shot a high percent in exhibition season.

Chase Jeter, making his first start, had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes.

Dylan Smith and Ryan Luther each grabbed eight boards. The Wildcats outrebounded the Huskies, 48-39.

Ira Lee (suspension) did not play, serving his one-game suspension.

Arizona returns to action Sunday against Cal Poly.

This story will be updated.

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