Arizona routs Long Beach State to end season-opening homestand

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

Wildcats’ next four are away from McKale Center

Following Thursday’s much-closer-than-it-should-have-been win over South Dakota State, Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller began his press conference with a four-minute rant in which he aired a number of grievances, including:

• Taking poor, quick shots, particularly from 3-point range
• Not getting the ball to Zeke Nnaji early on
• Not getting to the foul line enough in the first half

Based on Sunday night’s performance against Long Beach State, his players got the message.

Arizona shot 50 percent from three, Nnaji had 11 of his 21 points in the first half and the Wildcats took 16 free throws before halftime en route to a 104-67 route of the Beach on Sunday night at McKale Center.

Nico Mannion led Arizona (6-0) with 22 points and eight assists, hitting 3 of 6 threes. Reserve guards Jemarl Baker Jr. and Max Hazzard combined to go 7 of 9 from outside, with Baker chipping in seven assists and three steals, as the Wildcats were 12 of 24 from deep and shot 58.7 percent overall.

Arizona led 38-33 at the half, an edge that should have been much larger if not for seven missed free throws and eight turnovers.

The second half was much more efficient, with a 15-2 run–capped by back-to-back threes from Baker and Mannion—putting the Wildcats up 55-39 with 14:46 to go.

Less than four minutes later Arizona was up 69-43 after an 11-0 run, with strong defensive possessions leading to seemingly nonstop transition opportunities. Long Beach (2-4) turned it over 21 times, leading to 31 Wildcat points, and shot 40.7 percent overall including 28.6 percent from 3 and 56.5 percent from the line

Nnaji, who didn’t attempt a shot against South Dakota State until early in the second half, was 4 for 8 in the first half on Sunday and also got to the line twice. His 11 first-half points came despite only getting a touch on 12 of the 26 possessions he was on the floor for.

Several of those Zeke-less possessions came during a nearly four-minute span late in the first half that saw Long Beach go on a 12-2 run to lead 31-30 with 3:16 left. The Wildcats were outscored 13-3 in between Nnaji’s seventh and eighth shot of the first half.

Nnaji finished 9 of 13 from the field, which lowered his season shooting percentage to 80.7 percent.

It’s Arizona’s first 6-0 start since the 2014-15 season. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents by 179 points so far, their highest scoring margin through six games since 1920-21. That team, which went 7-0 overall, won its first six games by 247 points.

Now comes a prolonged period away from McKale, starting Thursday night against Pepperdine at the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim, Calif. Following three games in four days there, Arizona plays Dec. 7 at Baylor before its next home game Dec. 11 against Omaha.

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